Symbol

3. This is a *big* problem.

4. 1. That the word is reconstructed on the basis of comparative method by linguists, as the plausible ancestor form of existing, attested term in one or more languages.

      It is speculated that Proto-Indo-European *sneygʷʰos is the etymon of both Latin and English .

   2. That the word is reconstructed by linguists as the etymon of some of the attested words, but in a more uncertain, speculative way, usually hypothesizing not on the basis of regular sound correspondences of the comparative method, but on the basis of some far-fetched prehistoric relationship that cannot be neither proved nor disproved, or otherwise scientifically falsified.

      His theory of the Proto-Slavic *kъniga being ultimately derived from Chinese, via the middle form *kūinig, reflecting ancient routes of cultural influx from the East, has not gained a firm ground in the Slavicist circles in the last century.

   3. Used before a term (word, or a sentence or phrase) to show that it is grammatically incorrect, or in some other way ill-formed.

      The words with weird consonant clusters such as *mptoku are not normally possible in English language.

      The roots such as **bep- were not allowed in Proto-Indo-European.

8. In the language defined by AB*A, each string starts with an A, ends with a distinct A, and between them has zero or more Bs.

9. A star.

Coordinate terms