72:
165:. The level of completeness of the reconstruction achieved varies, depending on how complete the evidence is from the descendant languages and on the formulation of the characters by the linguists working on it. Not all characters are suitable for the comparative method. For example, lexical items that are loans from a different language do not reflect the phylogeny to be tested, and, if used, will detract from the compatibility. Getting the right dataset for the comparative method is a major task in historical linguistics.
1260:
1252:
187:
In a few fortuitous instances, which have been used to verify the method and the model (and probably ultimately inspired it), a literary history exists from as early as a few millennia ago, allowing the descent to be traced in detail. The early daughter languages, and even the proto-language itself,
610:
Schwink, Frederick W.: Linguistic
Typology, Universality and the Realism of Reconstruction, Washington 1994. "Part of the process of 'becoming' a competent Indo-Europeanist has always been recognized as coming to grasp 'intuitively' concepts and types of changes in language so as to be able to pick
160:
No trees but the smallest branches are ever found to be perfect, in part because languages also evolve through horizontal transfer with their neighbours. Typically, credibility is given to the hypotheses of highest compatibility. The differences in compatibility must be explained by various
153:, begins from a set of characteristics, or characters, found in the attested languages. If the entire set can be accounted for by descent from the proto-language, which must contain the proto-forms of them all, the tree, or phylogeny, is regarded as a complete explanation and by
313:
offers several examples in where such general assumptions concerning "the nature of language" hindered research in historical linguistics. Linguists make personal judgements on how they consider "natural" for a language to change, and
364:, despite representing a typologically less rare system, have not gained wider acceptance, and some researchers even suggest the use of indexes to represent the disputed series of plosives. On the other end of the spectrum,
301:
There are no objective criteria for the evaluation of different reconstruction systems yielding different proto-languages. Many researchers concerned with linguistic reconstruction agree that the traditional
73:
550:
First, the historical linguist does not reconstruct a language (or part of the language) but a model which represents or is intended to represent the underlying system or systems of such a language.
415:"Another fallacy is very subtle: it is the tacit assumption that the reconstructed forms are actual and experts in this imaginary field discuss and argue among themselves as if they are realities."
333:
raised new issues in the domain of linguistic reconstruction, causing the reevaluation of old reconstruction systems and depriving the proto-language of its "uniform character." This is evident in
1287:
255:, is termed "Pre-X", as in Pre–Old Japanese. It is also possible to apply internal reconstruction to a proto-language, obtaining a pre-proto-language, such as Pre-Proto-Indo-European.
258:
Both prefixes are sometimes used for an unattested stage of a language without reference to comparative or internal reconstruction. "Pre-X" is sometimes also used for a postulated
146:
to a group of languages featuring similar characteristics. The tree is a statement of similarity and a hypothesis that the similarity results from descent from a common language.
850:
1224:
548:, Amsterdam studies in the theory and history of linguistic science; Ser. 3, Studies in the history of the language sciences, Amsterdam : J. Benjamins, p. 109,
109:
In the strict sense, a proto-language is the most recent common ancestor of a language family, immediately before the family started to diverge into the attested
220:(or dialects very closely related to it), which has been preserved in texts accurately handed down by parallel oral and written traditions for many centuries.
368::424) suggests that Proto-Indo-European reconstructions are just "a set of reconstructed formulae" and "not representative of any reality". In the same vein,
239:
Normally, the term "Proto-X" refers to the last common ancestor of a group of languages, occasionally attested but most commonly reconstructed through the
396:
1294:
843:
611:
and choose between alternative explanations for the history and development of specific features of the reconstructed language and its offspring."
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309:
The bias of the researchers regarding the accumulated implicit knowledge can also lead to erroneous assumptions and excessive generalization.
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1234:
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is merely an abstraction, which does not exist in reality and should be understood as consisting of dialects possibly dating back to the
341:
would even express a more certain opinion, completely rejecting a positive specification of the sound values of reconstruction systems.
1229:
384:
in which those dialects formed the linguistic structure of the IE language group. In his view, Indo-European is solely a system of
721:(revised text of a paper read at the Institute of general and applied linguistics, University of Copenhagen, on December 2, 1993)
200:
language family, which includes such modern languages as French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan and
Spanish. Likewise,
1404:
586:
521:
494:
318:" a result, our reconstructions tend to have a strong bias toward the average language type known to the investigator."
269:
When multiple historical stages of a single language exist, the oldest attested stage is normally termed "Old X" (e.g.
157:, is given credibility. More recently, such a tree has been termed "perfect" and the characters labelled "compatible".
699:
344:
In general, the issue of the nature of proto-language remains unresolved, with linguists generally taking either the
285:, the term refers to the language of the oldest known significant texts. Each of these languages has an older stage (
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1438:
1417:
1342:
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20:
1012:
46:. Proto-languages are usually unattested, or partially attested at best. They are reconstructed by way of the
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53:
In the family tree metaphor, a proto-language can be called a mother language. Occasionally, the German term
1219:
353:
266:
believed to have been spoken in Europe and South Asia before the arrival there of Indo-European languages.
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Moreover, a group of lects that are not considered separate languages, such as the members of a
1303:
1027:
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31:
511:
1103:
1007:
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753:
410:"The first fallacy is that the comparative method is 'scientific' and can offer predictions."
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338:
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110:
987:
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213:
356:, have drawn criticism for being outliers typologically with respect to the reconstructed
8:
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The first person to offer systematic reconstructions of an unattested proto-language was
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874:
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337:'s skepticism that the reconstruction systems could ever reflect a linguistic reality.
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692:
Compendium der vergleichenden
Grammatik der indogermanischen Sprachen: 2 volumes
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1332:
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369:
251:. An earlier stage of a single language X, reconstructed through the method of
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1432:
1327:
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1043:
725:
574:
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209:
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138:
Typically, the proto-language is not known directly. It is by definition a
1272:
1123:
909:
785:
Pulgram, Ernst (1959), "Proto-Indo-European
Reality and Reconstruction",
694:, Weimar: H. Boehlau (Reprint: Minerva GmbH, Wissenschaftlicher Verlag),
381:
290:
270:
201:
392:, from which the historically attested Indo-European languages emerged.
322:
Such an investigator finds themselves blinkered by their own linguistic
330:
162:
27:
806:
216:
inscriptions, the Indo-Aryan languages of modern India all go back to
282:
278:
130:, may also be described as descending from a unitary proto-language.
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798:
385:
818:
Allgemeine und
Vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft – Indogermanistik
357:
824:], vol. 2, Bern: A. Francke AG Verlag, pp. 79–80
193:
90:'language') is used instead. It is also sometimes called the
388:
which bound together dialects which were operationalized by
1225:
Institute of
Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences
822:
General and
Comparative Linguistics - Indo-European Studies
731:
Kurze vergleichende
Grammatik der indogermanischen Sprachen
352:
position. Even the widely studied proto-languages, such as
685:, London, New York: Taylor & Francis Group (Routledge)
38:
is a postulated ancestral language from which a number of
581:(3rd ed.). Edinburgh University Press. p. 199.
42:
are believed to have descended by evolution, forming a
858:
714:
546:
Linguistic historiography: projects & prospects
293:respectively) that is attested only fragmentarily.
208:, is attested, albeit in fragmentary form, in the
1430:
724:
620:
489:. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 158–159.
395:Proto-languages evidently remain unattested. As
1196:Etymological Dictionary of the Altaic Languages
643:
641:
683:Theoretical Bases of Indo-European Linguistics
168:Some universally accepted proto-languages are
133:
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844:
638:
85:
79:
1235:Russian State University for the Humanities
1302:
1295:
1281:
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837:
776:: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
744:: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
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509:
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510:Rowe, Bruce M.; Levine, Diane P. (2015).
310:
1230:Moscow School of Comparative Linguistics
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632:
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812:
784:
680:
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579:Historical Linguistics: An Introduction
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543:
365:
1431:
115:. It is therefore equivalent with the
1405:Farming/language dispersal hypothesis
1276:
832:
513:A Concise Introduction to Linguistics
149:The comparative method, a process of
65:
480:
478:
234:
16:Common ancestor of a language family
663:… N. Delhi, Aditya Prakashan. 2015
212:. Although there are no very early
13:
487:Glossary of Historical Linguistics
376:, claims that the linguistic term
14:
1455:
665:Vedic & Indo-European Studies
475:
192:in surviving texts. For example,
1259:
1258:
1250:
1171:Journal of Language Relationship
690:Schleicher, August (1861–1862),
653:
516:. Routledge. pp. 340–341.
306:is an "intuitive undertaking."
21:Proto-language (disambiguation)
758:Cours de linguistique générale
626:
614:
604:
595:
567:
555:
537:
503:
1:
763:Course in General Linguistics
728:; Delbrück, Berthold (1904),
674:
621:Brugmann & Delbrück (1904
204:, the ancestor of the modern
196:is the proto-language of the
1220:Evolution of Human Languages
681:Lehmann, Winfred P. (1993),
7:
667:N. Delhi, Aditya Prakashan.
419:
360:. The alternatives such as
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277:). In other cases, such as
264:Pre-Indo-European languages
142:formulated by applying the
134:Definition and verification
84:'primordial', 'original' +
10:
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18:
1413:
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1351:
1310:
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1162:
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895:Linguistic reconstruction
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140:linguistic reconstruction
98:form of a language (e.g.
55:
1400:Father Tongue hypothesis
1213:Institutions and schools
1094:Vladislav Illich-Svitych
766:] (in French), Paris
601:Campbell (2013), p. 211.
468:
1323:Synchrony and diachrony
1318:Comparative Linguistics
1203:The Languages of Africa
900:Internal reconstruction
880:Etymological dictionary
861:comparative linguistics
734:(in German), Strassburg
544:Koerner, E F K (1999),
485:Campbell, Lyle (2007).
437:Internal reconstruction
427:List of proto-languages
253:internal reconstruction
1439:Historical linguistics
1304:Historical linguistics
793:(Jul.–Sept): 421–426,
754:Saussure, Ferdinand de
447:Historical linguistics
320:
206:Scandinavian languages
123:of a language family.
86:
80:
67:[ˈuːɐ̯ʃpʁaːxə]
32:historical linguistics
1104:Alexis Manaster Ramer
339:Ferdinand de Saussure
316:
945:Leipzig–Jakarta list
905:Linguistic universal
457:Proto-Human language
161:applications of the
19:For other uses, see
1139:Vitaly Shevoroshkin
709:Kortlandt, Frederik
354:Proto-Indo-European
245:Proto-Indo-European
229:Proto-Indo-European
174:Proto-Indo-European
1390:Relationship with
1256:Linguistics portal
1240:Santa Fe Institute
1099:Frederik Kortlandt
1064:Aharon Dolgopolsky
920:Origin of language
875:Comparative method
661:Indo-Aryan Origins
462:Universal language
452:Origin of language
432:Comparative method
378:IE parent language
358:phonemic inventory
329:The advent of the
324:frame of reference
304:comparative method
241:comparative method
144:comparative method
117:ancestral language
112:daughter languages
48:comparative method
40:attested languages
1426:
1425:
1270:
1269:
1154:Alfredo Trombetti
1144:Georgiy Starostin
1074:Harold C. Fleming
954:Language families
588:978-0-7486-4601-2
523:978-1-317-34928-0
496:978-0-7486-3019-6
235:Proto-X vs. Pre-X
225:August Schleicher
170:Proto-Afroasiatic
121:parental language
1451:
1376:Syntactic change
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1290:
1283:
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1273:
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1149:Sergei Starostin
1129:Martine Robbeets
1089:Murray Gell-Mann
1079:Joseph Greenberg
1054:Allan R. Bomhard
940:Dolgopolsky list
925:Paleolinguistics
890:Lexicostatistics
885:Glottochronology
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372:in his study on
362:glottalic theory
311:Kortlandt (1993)
227:; he did so for
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1119:Holger Pedersen
1109:Sergei Nikolaev
1084:Eugene Helimski
1059:Svetlana Burlak
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1018:North Caucasian
983:Elamo-Dravidian
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915:Mass comparison
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182:Proto-Dravidian
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128:dialect cluster
104:Primitive Norse
100:Common Germanic
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370:Julius Pokorny
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155:Occam's razor
152:
147:
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131:
129:
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114:
113:
107:
105:
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97:
93:
88:
82:
74:
68:
60:
58:
51:
49:
45:
41:
37:
33:
29:
22:
1392:anthropology
1361:Sound change
1201:
1194:
1176:
1169:
1114:Sorin Paliga
1028:Indo-Pacific
960:
935:Swadesh list
929:
821:
817:
790:
786:
761:
757:
730:
713:
691:
682:
664:
660:
655:
628:
616:
606:
597:
578:
569:
562:Lehmann 1993
557:
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545:
539:
527:. Retrieved
512:
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394:
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317:
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275:Old Japanese
268:
262:, as in the
257:
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178:Proto-Uralic
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1124:Ilia Peiros
1008:Sino-Uralic
1003:Indo-Uralic
998:Ural-Altaic
962:Proto-human
910:Macrofamily
859:Long-range
400: [
291:Proto-Norse
271:Old English
202:Proto-Norse
1433:Categories
988:Eurasiatic
675:References
529:26 January
386:isoglosses
331:wave model
260:substratum
243:, as with
214:Indo-Aryan
163:wave model
63:pronounced
28:tree model
1037:Linguists
978:Nostratic
406:puts it:
283:Old Norse
279:Old Irish
231:in 1861.
151:deduction
96:primitive
57:Ursprache
1418:Category
1381:Archaism
1264:Category
1163:Journals
868:Concepts
816:(1953),
787:Language
772:citation
756:(1969),
740:citation
711:(1993),
577:(2013).
420:See also
297:Accuracy
190:attested
1343:More...
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973:Amerind
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348:or the
346:realist
198:Romance
188:may be
87:Sprache
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1311:Topics
993:Altaic
968:Borean
807:411229
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194:Latin
778:link
746:link
696:ISBN
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583:ISBN
531:2017
518:ISBN
491:ISBN
289:and
281:and
273:and
247:and
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