Excerpt: The Language Hunters

There is a pattern to these conversations. We haven’t been in business long, and most jobs we’ve done so far were humdrum enough. But when I mention over breakfast that something interestingly out of the ordinary has landed in our inbox, David’s reaction is always the same. Depending on the subject he will look at me with anything from boredom to disbelief, take a swig of coffee, and say: “Prehistoric crop rotation? (or ‘fortress-churches of the Languedoc’ or ‘Victorian self-help literature’) I don’t know much about prehistoric crop rotation (or ‘fortress-churches of the Languedoc’ or ‘Victorian self-help literature’).” He will then, often as not, proceed to outline what he does know about the subject, which is usually considerably more than the average person. But this morning was different. As soon as I mentioned that someone wanted us to investigate language history for them, his face lit up. “That’s cool. What do they want to know about? Proto-Indo-European? I’ve got a colleague who knows all about that. It’s fascinating.”
I handed him the printout of the email that had arrived late last night. It was an odd request, even in a profession that actively invites odd requests.

Dear Messrs Langtry and Marsh, (David read)
For a novel I am planning, I need a lot of information about languages and how they develop. I am especially interested in the common ancestor of the Indo-European languages and the latest research into Proto-Indo-European. I shall also need – and this is where I need most help – a few phrases and words in an approximation of this language to use in my novel. I wonder if you can help me with this?

Yours sincerely,

Simonetta Duncan