Dante, a linguistic Darwin, held a heretical theory. Europe’s languages, he thought, had not been made in a single moment, in a biblical Babel, but had evolved. Four centuries later, a British judge and polyglot called Sir William Jones arrived in Calcutta and was struck by the similarities between Latin and Sanskrit words for terms such as house (domus, dam) and god (deus, deva). Clearly they had “sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists”. The world’s languages were not a babel but a brotherhood. This “common source” now has a name: “Proto-Indo-European” (PIE). It was first spoken by as little as a few dozen people around the Black Sea then, roughly 5,000 years ago, spread with rapidity “from Ireland to India”. Today, its offshoots include Irish and Hindi, and more or less everything in between. Almost half of the world’s population speaks a descendant of it. To learn that English “mother”, Latin mater and Sanskrit mata share a root provokes a pleasing etymology.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the central idea of the above passage?
(a) The etymological similarity of words like "mother" across various languages is a curious linguistic coincidence that pleases linguists.
(b) The passage primarily celebrates the intellectual foresight of Dante and Sir William Jones in challenging established doctrines about language.
(c) Proto-Indo-European (PIE), originating near the Black Sea, is the sole ancestor of all languages spoken globally today.
(d) The modern understanding of many world languages which were believed to be separate, have evolutionary divergence from a common proto-language.

Question

Dante, a linguistic Darwin, held a heretical theory. Europe&rsquo;s languages, he thought, had not been made in a single moment, in a biblical Babel, but had evolved. Four centuries later, a British judge and polyglot called Sir William Jones arrived in Calcutta and was struck by the similarities between Latin and Sanskrit words for terms such as house (domus, dam) and god (deus, deva). Clearly they had &ldquo;sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists&rdquo;. The world&rsquo;s languages were not a babel but a brotherhood. This &ldquo;common source&rdquo; now has a name: &ldquo;Proto-Indo-European&rdquo; (PIE). It was first spoken by as little as a few dozen people around the Black Sea then, roughly 5,000 years ago, spread with rapidity &ldquo;from Ireland to India&rdquo;. Today, its offshoots include Irish and Hindi, and more or less everything in between. Almost half of the world&rsquo;s population speaks a descendant of it. To learn that English &ldquo;mother&rdquo;, Latin mater and Sanskrit mata share a root provokes a pleasing etymology.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the central idea of the above passage?
(a) The etymological similarity of words like "mother" across various languages is a curious linguistic coincidence that pleases linguists.
(b) The passage primarily celebrates the intellectual foresight of Dante and Sir William Jones in challenging established doctrines about language.
(c) Proto-Indo-European (PIE), originating near the Black Sea, is the sole ancestor of all languages spoken globally today.
(d) The modern understanding of many world languages which were believed to be separate, have evolutionary divergence from a common proto-language.

ONLiNE UPSC · Accepted Answer

Statement (a) is not correct: The similarity is presented not as a mere coincidence but as evidence for a "common source" and linguistic "brotherhood," which is a significant scientific understanding, not just a pleasing curiosity.

Statement (b) is not correct. While Dante and Jones are pivotal figures, the passage uses their contributions to trace the development of a larger idea &ndash; the evolutionary origin of languages from a common source (PIE). Their foresight serves this broader narrative.

Statement (c) is not correct. The passage states PIE's offshoots as, "Almost half of the world&rsquo;s population speaks a descendant of it" implying it is not the ancestor of all global languages, but of a very large and widespread family.

Statement (d) is correct. The passage contrasts Dante's evolutionary idea and Jones's "common source" hypothesis (leading to PIE) with the "biblical Babel" (single moment creation). It shows a paradigm shift in understanding language origins for a vast family, from a belief in separate, instantaneous creation to a theory of evolutionary divergence from a common ancestral proto-language.

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M Question 1	⏱ 0
Dante, a linguistic Darwin, held a heretical theory. Europe’s languages, he thought, had not been made in a single moment, in a biblical Babel, but had evolved. Four centuries later, a British judge and polyglot called Sir William Jones arrived in Calcutta and was struck by the similarities between Latin and Sanskrit words for terms such as house (domus, dam) and god (deus, deva). Clearly they had “sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists”. The world’s languages were not a babel but a brotherhood. This “common source” now has a name: “Proto-Indo-European” (PIE). It was first spoken by as little as a few dozen people around the Black Sea then, roughly 5,000 years ago, spread with rapidity “from Ireland to India”. Today, its offshoots include Irish and Hindi, and more or less everything in between. Almost half of the world’s population speaks a descendant of it. To learn that English “mother”, Latin mater and Sanskrit mata share a root provokes a pleasing etymology. Which one of the following statements best reflects the central idea of the above passage? (a) The etymological similarity of words like "mother" across various languages is a curious linguistic coincidence that pleases linguists. (b) The passage primarily celebrates the intellectual foresight of Dante and Sir William Jones in challenging established doctrines about language. (c) Proto-Indo-European (PIE), originating near the Black Sea, is the sole ancestor of all languages spoken globally today. (d) The modern understanding of many world languages which were believed to be separate, have evolutionary divergence from a common proto-language.