proto-language
Reconstructed ancestral tongue
A proto-language is a hypothetical ancestral language reconstructed by linguists from evidence in its descendant languages.
Proto-Indo-European, for example, is the reconstructed ancestor of English, Hindi, Russian, and most European languages.
No proto-language was ever written down; they exist only as scholarly reconstructions: Linguists trace the word back to Proto-Germanic.
Words from common origin
- root wordsMorphemes carrying core meaning
- ablautVowel gradation in morphology
- reflexInvoluntary stimulus response
- attestationFormal declaration confirming truth
Point of creation
- cradleRocking bed for infants
- birthplaceLocation of one's birth
- homelandOne's native land
- dawnDay's first glow
roots · inception · fountainhead · source · beginning · emergence · prehistoric · preliterate
Biological family connection
- family treeChart of ancestors
- lineageDescent from progenitors
- descentDownward slope or lineage
- common ancestorOrigin point of descendants
branching · divergence · split · mother tongue · diachronic · inheritance
cognates
Words from common origin
- root wordsMorphemes carrying core meaning
- ablautVowel gradation in morphology
- reflexInvoluntary stimulus response
genesis
Point of creation
- cradleRocking bed for infants
- birthplaceLocation of one's birth
- homelandOne's native land
dawn · roots · inception · fountainhead · source · beginning · emergence · prehistoric · preliterate · unwritten
genetic relationship
Biological family connection
- family treeChart of ancestors
- lineageDescent from progenitors
- descentDownward slope or lineage
common ancestor · branching · divergence · split · mother tongue · diachronic · inheritance
proto-languagemodern language
Currently spoken communication system