List of proto-languages
Encyclopedia
Near East
- Proto-Anatolian languageProto-Anatolian languageProto-Anatolian is the proto-language from which Anatolian languages emerged. As with all other proto-languages, no attested writings have been found; the language has been reconstructed by applying the comparative method to all the attested Anatolian languages as well as other Indo-European...
- Proto-Circassian language
- Proto-Kartvelian languageProto-Kartvelian languageThe Proto-Kartvelian language, or Common Kartvelian, is the hypothetical common ancestor of the Kartvelian languages in the Caucasus, which was spoken by the ancestors of the modern Kartvelian peoples...
- Proto-Dravidian language
- Proto-Semitic languageProto-Semitic languageProto-Semitic is the hypothetical proto-language ancestral to historical Semitic languages of the Middle East. Locations which have been proposed for its origination include northern Mesopotamia, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Levant with a 2009 study proposing that it may have originated around...
Eurasia
- Proto-Basque languageProto-Basque languageProto-Basque is a reconstructed predecessor of the Basque language, prior to the Roman conquests in the Western Pyrenees.-Background:...
- Proto-Indo-European languageProto-Indo-European languageThe Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
- Proto-Greek languageProto-Greek languageThe Proto-Greek language is the assumed last common ancestor of all known varieties of Greek, including Mycenaean, the classical Greek dialects , and ultimately Koine, Byzantine and modern Greek...
- Proto-Armenian languageProto-Armenian languageThe earliest testimony of the Armenian language dates to the 5th century AD . The earlier history of the language is unclear and the subject of much speculation....
- Proto-Indo-Iranian languageProto-Indo-Iranian languageProto-Indo-Iranian is the reconstructed proto-language of the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European. Its speakers, the hypothetical Proto-Indo-Iranians, are assumed to have lived in the late 3rd millennium BC, and are usually connected with the early Andronovo archaeological...
- Proto-Iranian language
- Proto-Balto-Slavic languageProto-Balto-Slavic languageProto-Balto-Slavic is reconstructed proto-language descending from Proto-Indo-European and out of which all later Balto-Slavic languages and dialects descended, such as modern Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish and Russian.The Proto-Balto-Slavic language is not directly attested by any surviving texts...
- Proto-Baltic language
- Proto-Slavic languageProto-Slavic languageProto-Slavic is the proto-language from which Slavic languages later emerged. It was spoken before the seventh century AD. As with most other proto-languages, no attested writings have been found; the language has been reconstructed by applying the comparative method to all the attested Slavic...
- Proto-Celtic languageProto-Celtic languageThe Proto-Celtic language, also called Common Celtic, is the reconstructed ancestor language of all the known Celtic languages. Its lexis can be confidently reconstructed on the basis of the comparative method of historical linguistics...
- Proto-Germanic languageProto-Germanic languageProto-Germanic , or Common Germanic, as it is sometimes known, is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all the Germanic languages, such as modern English, Frisian, Dutch, Afrikaans, German, Luxembourgish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, and Swedish.The Proto-Germanic language is...
- Proto-Norse languageProto-Norse languageProto-Norse was an Indo-European language spoken in Scandinavia that is thought to have evolved as a northern dialect of Proto-Germanic over the first centuries AD...
- Proto-Norse language
- Proto-Romanian languageProto-Romanian languageProto-Romanian is a Romance language evolved from Vulgar Latin and considered to have been spoken by the ancestors of today's Romanians and related Balkan Latin peoples before ca...
- Proto-Greek language
North Asia
- Proto-Turkic languageProto-Turkic languageThe Proto-Turkic language is the proto-language of the family of Turkic languages that predates the separation of the Turkic peoples and separation into Oguz and Ogur branches. The Ogur languages are characterized by sound correspondences such as Oguric r versus Common Turkic z and Oguric l versus...
- Proto-Uralic languageProto-Uralic languageProto-Uralic is the hypothetical language ancestral to the Uralic language family. The language was originally spoken in a small area in about 7000-2000 BC , and expanded to give differentiated protolanguages. The exact location of the area or Urheimat is not known, but the vicinity of the Ural...
- Proto-Samoyed language
- Proto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan languageProto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan languageProto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan is the hypothetical common ancestor of the Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages.A reconstructed version of the language is presented by Michael Fortescue in his Comparative Dictionary of Chukotko-Kamchatkan .- Phonology :...
Pacific Rim
- Proto-Pama-Nyungan languageProto-Pama-Nyungan languageThe Proto-Pama–Nyungan language is the putative ancestor of all the languages of the Pama–Nyungan family, encompassing the majority of the Australian Aboriginal languages, except for the Non-Pama–Nyungan languages spoken in the north and, presumably, the poorly documented Tasmanian languages....
- Proto-Austronesian languageProto-Austronesian languageThe Proto-Austronesian language is the reconstructed ancestor of the Austronesian languages, one of the world's major language families. However, Ross notes that what may be the most divergent languages, Tsou, Rukai, and Puyuma, are not addressed by the reconstructions, which therefore cannot...
- Proto-Malayo-Polynesian languageProto-Malayo-Polynesian languageThe Proto-Malayo-Polynesian language is the reconstructed ancestor of the Malayo-Polynesian languages, which is by far the largest branch of the Austronesian language family...
- Proto-Oceanic languageProto-Oceanic languageProto-Oceanic is a protolanguage that language comparatists – particularly after Otto Dempwolff's works – have proposed as the probable common ancestor to the group of Oceanic languages...
- Proto-Polynesian languageProto-Polynesian languageProto-Polynesian, , is the hypothetical proto-language from which all the modern Polynesian languages descend. Historical linguists have reconstructed the language using the comparative method, in much the same manner as with Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Afro-Asiatic...
- Proto-Polynesian language
- Proto-Oceanic language
- Proto-Malayo-Polynesian language
- Proto-Kradai language
- Proto-Northern Kradai language
- Proto-Kra languageProto-Kra languageThe Proto-Kra language is the reconstructed ancestor of the Kra languages. It was reconstructed in 2000 by Weera Ostapirat in his Ph.D. dissertation.-Lower-level reconstructions:...
- Proto-Kam-Sui language
- Proto-Kra language
- Proto-Southern Kradai language
- Proto-Tai languageProto-Tai languageProto-Tai is the reconstructed common ancestor of all the Tai languages, including modern Lao, Shan, Lu, Tai Dam, Northern Thai, Thai, Bouyei, and Zhuang...
- Proto-Hlai languageProto-Hlai languageThe Proto-Hlai language is the reconstructed ancestor of the Hlai languages. Proto-Hlai reconstructions include those of Matisoff , Thurgood , Ostapirat , and Norquest .-Phonology:Peter K...
- Proto-Tai language
- Proto-Northern Kradai language
- Proto-Tibeto-Burman languageProto-Tibeto-Burman languageThe Proto-Tibeto-Burman language is the reconstructed ancestor of the Tibeto-Burman languages. Among other researchers Paul K. Benedict and James Matisoff have made proposals for the reconstruction of this language....
- Proto-Hmong-Mien languageProto-Hmong-Mien languageThe Proto-Hmong–Mien language is the reconstructed ancestor of the Hmong–Mien languages. Lower-level reconstructions include Proto-Hmongic and Proto-Mienic.-Phonology:Martha Ratliff's 2010 reconstruction contains the following phonemic inventory....
- Proto-Mon-Khmer languageProto-Mon-Khmer languageThe Proto-Mon–Khmer language is the reconstructed ancestor of the Mon–Khmer languages, which is a primary branch of the Austro-Asiatic language family. Much work has been done on the reconstruction of Proto-Mon–Khmer in Harry L. Shorto's Mon–Khmer Comparative Dictionary...
Americas
- Proto-Eskimo-Aleut languageProto-Eskimo-Aleut languageProto-Eskimo–Aleut was the common ancestor of the Eskimo languages and Aleut. Its existence is known through similarities in Eskimo and Aleut. The existence of Proto-Eskimo–Aleut is generally accepted among linguists. It was for a long time true that no linguistic reconstruction of...
- Proto-Eskimo languageProto-Eskimo languageProto-Eskimo was the ancestor of all the Eskimo languages. A reconstruction of the Proto-Eskimo sound system can be found in Fortescue et al. 1994:xi.- References :...
- Proto-Eskimo language
- Proto-Algonquian languageProto-Algonquian languageProto-Algonquian is the name given to the proto-language from which the various languages of the Algonquian family are descended. It is generally estimated to have been spoken around 2,500 to 3,000 years ago, but on the question of where it was spoken there is less agreement...
- Proto-Uto-Aztecan languageProto-Uto-Aztecan languageThe Proto–Uto-Aztecan language is the hypothetical common ancestor of the Uto-Aztecan languages.-Vowels:Proto–Uto-Aztecan is reconstructed as having an unusual five-vowel system:...
- Proto-Nahuan language
- Proto-Mayan language