Indo-European ablaut
So, when people were first starting to talk, they made different sounds to mean different things. These sounds eventually turned into words and those words turned into languages.
Now, some words in a language can sound similar but have different meanings. For example, the word "cat" and "hat" sound similar but mean different things.
But sometimes, even within the same word, some sounds can change to mean different things. This is called ablaut.
For example, in English, we have the word "sing." But if we change the vowel sound and say "sang" or "sung," it means something different.
The Indo-European language family has a lot of words that use ablaut. So, if you take a word like "know," it can become "knew" or "known" depending on the tense.
People who study languages use this to learn about the history of languages and how they evolved over time.
Now, some words in a language can sound similar but have different meanings. For example, the word "cat" and "hat" sound similar but mean different things.
But sometimes, even within the same word, some sounds can change to mean different things. This is called ablaut.
For example, in English, we have the word "sing." But if we change the vowel sound and say "sang" or "sung," it means something different.
The Indo-European language family has a lot of words that use ablaut. So, if you take a word like "know," it can become "knew" or "known" depending on the tense.
People who study languages use this to learn about the history of languages and how they evolved over time.