How One Word Split Languages

Languages are divided into two distinct groups based on how they say the word for one hundred. Depending on where an ancient tribe settled, that single number sound evolved into either a hard k sound or a soft s sound.

This linguistic divide separates the Indo-European family into two branches: Centum and Satem. The names actually come from the Latin and Avestan words for one hundred, which perfectly illustrate the shift in pronunciation. While this sounds like a minor change, it serves as a massive fossil record for how ancient peoples migrated across the globe. By tracing this specific sound change, historians can map out the family tree of almost every major language spoken in Europe and Asia today.