How do we know Proto-Indo-European existed?

No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists. Far more work has gone into reconstructing PIE than any other proto-language, and it is the best understood of all proto-languages of its age. Over many centuries, these dialects transformed into the known ancient Indo-European languages.

What are the three important branches of primitive Germanic?

Scholars often divide the Germanic languages into three groups: West Germanic, including English, German, and Netherlandic (Dutch); North Germanic, including Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Faroese; and East Germanic, now extinct, comprising only Gothic and the languages of the Vandals, Burgundians, and a …

Which theory of Indo-European diffusion do you find most likely and why?

The Kurgan hypothesis (also known as the Kurgan theory or Kurgan model) or Steppe theory is the most widely accepted proposal to identify the Proto-Indo-European homeland from which the Indo-European languages spread out throughout Europe and parts of Asia.

Was Proto-Germanic influenced by some Semitic language?

One of the hypotheses supported by Theo Vennemann and other linguists is that Proto-Germanic was influenced by some Semitic language.

How do we know that Proto-Indo-European languages existed?

While there can be no direct evidence of prehistoric languages, both the existence of Proto-Indo-European and the dispersal of its daughter dialects through wide-ranging migrations and elite-dominance dispersal are inferred through a synthesis of data from linguistics, archaeology, anthropology and genetics.

Are there any Germanic words that do not trace back to pie?

One third of Germanic roots do not trace back to PIE, and some of these words seem to have common roots with Semitic languages. For example, Proto-Germanic *furkhtaz, Proto-Semitic *prkh, ‘fright’; Proto-Germanic *magaþ, Early Semitic makhat, ‘maiden’.

How did the Sintashta and Bactria-Margiana cultures influence the Indo-Iranians?

Out of the Sintashta culture developed the Andronovo culture (2000–900 BCE), which interacted with the Bactria-Margiana Culture (2400–1600 BCE). This interaction further shaped the Indo-Iranians, which split at c. 2000–1600 BCE into the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians. The Indo-Aryans migrated to the Levant and South Asia.