Dow Jones Industrial Average

The Balto-Slavic languages and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are two distinct topics, each belonging to entirely different fields of study. The former pertains to linguistics, specifically a branch of the Indo-European language family, while the latter is a significant financial market index in the United States. Given the disparity in their domains, this article will be divided into two sections to address each topic separately.

Balto-Slavic Languages

The Balto-Slavic languages represent a branch of the Indo-European language family, comprising two main groups: the Baltic languages and the Slavic languages. This linguistic grouping is based on shared linguistic features that suggest a common ancestral language, known as Proto-Balto-Slavic, from which both the Baltic and Slavic languages descended.

Baltic Languages

The Baltic languages are divided into two subgroups: Eastern Baltic and Western Baltic. The most widely spoken Eastern Baltic languages are Lithuanian and Latvian, which are the national languages of Lithuania and Latvia, respectively. The Western Baltic languages, such as Old Prussian, have largely become extinct, with only fragmentary evidence of their existence.

Slavic Languages

The Slavic languages are further divided into three subgroups: East Slavic, West Slavic, and South Slavic. East Slavic includes languages such as Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian. West Slavic encompasses languages like Polish, Czech, and Slovak. South Slavic languages include Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, and Slovenian.

Dow Jones Industrial Average

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is one of the oldest and most well-known stock market indexes in the world. It was created by Charles Dow and Edward Jones in 1896 and is composed of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States.

The DJIA is designed to serve as a barometer for the overall health of the US stock market and the economy. It includes companies from various industries, except for transportation and utilities, which are covered by other Dow Jones indexes. The composition of the DJIA is periodically reviewed and adjusted to reflect changes in the economy and the stock market.

The value of the DJIA is calculated based on the stock prices of its 30 component companies. Unlike other major indices, such as the S&P 500, which are market-cap weighted, the DJIA is price-weighted. This means that companies with higher stock prices have a greater impact on the index's value, regardless of their overall market capitalization.