Alfredo Trombetti (16 January 1866, in Bologna – 5 July 1929, in Venice), was an Italian linguist active in the early 20th century.
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Alfredo Trombetti | |
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![]() Portrait of Alfredo Trombetti | |
Born | 16 January 1866 Bologna, Italy |
Died | 5 July 1929 Venice, Italy |
Nationality | Italian |
Occupation | Linguist |
Academic background | |
Academic work | |
Institutions | University of Bologna |
Main interests | Comparative linguistics |
Notable ideas | Monogenesis |
Trombetti was a professor at the University of Bologna. He was a member of the Italian Academy.
He is best known as an advocate of the doctrine of monogenesis, according to which all of the world's languages go back to a single common ancestral language. His arguments for monogenesis were first presented in his book L'unità d'origine del linguaggio, published in 1905.[1] This doctrine is still extremely controversial.
A selection of Trombetti's proposed global etymologies:[1]
Meaning | Root |
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to hear; ear | kul (kur) |
water | ma; wad (wad, wed, wod), ud |
dog | ku (ku-ari, ku-ri, etc.) |
hair | tuk, suk |
behind, back | kata, taka |
foot | ganga; pat |
earth (clay, ash) | tu |
dust | twar, tur (< tu 'earth') |
woman | na (nai) |
man (person) | ku, etc. |
man (male) | mar |
egg (testicle) | umu (mu-n, mu-r, etc.) |
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