The basics.

From: Mark Odegard
Message: 776
Date: 2000-01-06

junk I think it is reasonable that everyone here should be familiar with the online Encyclopædia Britannica:

http://www.Brittanica.com/

It has an extensive set of articles on Indo-European topics, as well as on the individual IE languages. If you lack the basic textbooks, the EB itself is a fine introduction to the subject. And, as a world-class encyclopedia should, it covers just about any serious topic you could think of.

I am not ashamed to admit I use it. There is a lot of obscure stuff I don't know, and have no other source for finding out, particularly on topics ancillary to a discussion of IE topics (archaeology, ethnology, botany, zoology, etc).

There are two fundamental texts you need to read. Both are available in paperback and are not particularly expensive. Any large public or academic library should have them.

J.P. Mallory, In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology and Myth, Thames and Hudson, 1989.

Robert S.P Beekes, Comparative Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction, John Benjamins, 1995.

Mallory is the standard introduction to IE archaeology. Beekes is probably the best introduction for IE historical and comparative linguistics , though you may have to read him several times before really understanding certain sections, particularly those dealing with phonology. These are the two books everyone has read, and assumes everyone else has read.

Mark.