How the Proto-Indo-European root *kʷékʷlos (wheel) circled the globe and returned to English as two different words: wheel and rickshaw. Here's how this linguistic journey unfolded: From the Proto-Indo-European root, the word moved west through European languages: Proto-Indo-European: *kʷékʷlos (wheel) < Proto-Germanic: *hwehwalą  < Old English: hwēol < Modern English: wheel [wiːl].At the same time, the root spread eastward across Asia, being borrowed by neighboring cultures:Tocharian A: kukäl (cart/wagon) - Tocharian was an Indo-European language spoken in the west of modern-day China.Old Chinese: ⾞ (k-la / cart) - the Chinese borrowed this word from Indo-European nomads.Middle Chinese: ⾞ (t͡ɕhæ / vehicle). Japanese: ⾞ (kuruma / sha) - the Japanese adopted the Chinese character and its pronunciation.Japanese (compound): 人力車 (jin-riki-sha), literally meaning man-powered vehicle.In the 19th century, a Japanese invention - the jinrikisha - became popular worldwide. English borrowed this word, shortening it to "rickshaw."Thus, the English words "wheel" and "rickshaw" historically trace back to the same ancient root.🇯🇵🛞🇯🇵