Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European (pronunciation: /ˌproʊtoʊ ˌɪndoʊ iːˈʊərəpiːən/) is the linguistic reconstruction of the common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, the most widely spoken language family in the world.
Etymology
The term "Proto-Indo-European" is formed by the combination of the prefix proto- ("first") in Proto-language and Indo-European, referring to a family of languages spoken in most of Europe and parts of western and southern Asia.
Related Terms
- Indo-European languages: The languages descended from Proto-Indo-European, including English, Spanish, Hindi, Russian, and many others.
- Proto-language: A hypothetical or reconstructed language from which a number of attested languages are believed to have descended.
- Linguistic reconstruction: The practice of establishing the features of an unrecorded, extinct language or past state of a language on the basis of its contemporary descendants.
- Language family: A group of languages related through descent from a common ancestral language or parental language.
Proto-Indo-European Phonology
Proto-Indo-European had a complex system of phonology that included both consonants and vowels, as well as a series of accents that could be used to change the meaning of words.
Proto-Indo-European Grammar
The grammar of Proto-Indo-European is a highly inflected language, with three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter), three numbers (singular, dual, plural), and eight cases (nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative, locative, instrumental).
Proto-Indo-European Vocabulary
The vocabulary of Proto-Indo-European is extensive, with words covering a wide range of topics. Many of these words have descendants in the modern Indo-European languages.
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