ENGLISH HERD AND POLISH TRZODA: HOW THE TWO WORDS DEVELOPED FROM ONE PROTO-INDO-EUROPEAN ETYMON

The paper concentrates on the historical comparison of English herd and Polish trzoda from the perspective of the hypothesis of common origin. As Polish and English are descendants of a common ancestor, the Proto-Indo-European language, it is expected that the two words, different from one another as they may seem today, go back to one and the same common proto-word. Consequently, the pair of cognates should exhibit the sound correspondences which result from sound changes. The main aim of the paper is to explain the relatedness and differentiations of the modern reflexes of the original Proto- Indo-European word and to account for their different phonological developments in both languages with a view to understanding the connection between the contemporary cognates. This aim is realised by means of searching for sound changes that explain the discrepancy in the phonological shapes of modern cognates and collecting other pairs of cognates that demonstrate the effect of these sound changes. As the result of the historical and comparative analysis, it is argued that some of the reconstructions are more likely than others and, in conclusion, the most probable development of the two cognates is outlined in the chronological order.