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.

Based on the above passage, the following most logical and rational inferences have been made:
1. Shared roots for words provides tangible evidence supporting the abstract theory of a common ancestral language connecting disparate cultures and histories.
2. Dante, much like Darwin in his field, proposed a theory of gradual change and development in languages that challenged the prevailing static views of his time.
3. The "biblical Babel" theory of language origins was universally accepted until Sir William Jones's findings in Calcutta.

How many of the inferences given above are valid?
(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) All three
(d) None

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.

Based on the above passage, the following most logical and rational inferences have been made:
1. Shared roots for words provides tangible evidence supporting the abstract theory of a common ancestral language connecting disparate cultures and histories.
2. Dante, much like Darwin in his field, proposed a theory of gradual change and development in languages that challenged the prevailing static views of his time.
3. The "biblical Babel" theory of language origins was universally accepted until Sir William Jones's findings in Calcutta.

How many of the inferences given above are valid?
(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) All three
(d) None

ONLiNE UPSC · Accepted Answer

Statement 1 is correct: Learning of such shared roots like "mother," "mater," and "mata", offers a concrete example ("provokes a pleasing etymology") validating the grander, more abstract idea that languages like English, Latin, and Sanskrit are part of a "brotherhood" stemming from a "common source" (like Proto-Indo-European, PIE). It connects seemingly distant languages and the people who speak them.

Statement 2 is correct: Darwin is known for his theory of biological evolution through gradual change, which challenged creationist views. By calling Dante a "linguistic Darwin," the passage implies Dante similarly proposed that languages "had evolved" (gradual change) in contrast to being "made in a single moment" (a static, creationist-like view, exemplified by Babel).

Statement 3 is not correct: The passage mentions, &ldquo;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&rdquo;, implying the Babel theory was dominant but not universally accepted without question even before Jones. Dante's view was a challenge to it.

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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. Based on the above passage, the following most logical and rational inferences have been made: 1. Shared roots for words provides tangible evidence supporting the abstract theory of a common ancestral language connecting disparate cultures and histories. 2. Dante, much like Darwin in his field, proposed a theory of gradual change and development in languages that challenged the prevailing static views of his time. 3. The "biblical Babel" theory of language origins was universally accepted until Sir William Jones's findings in Calcutta. How many of the inferences given above are valid? (a) Only one (b) Only two (c) All three (d) None