proto-language
/ˈpɹəʊtəʊˌlæŋɡwɪdʒ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.23 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
4
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A language which is reconstructed by examining similarities in existing languages in order to deduce the form and aspects of a common ancestor language that is no longer known.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Just as Greek and Sanskrit reflect a proto-language, so do the Cypria and the Mahābhārata reflect a proto-story."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *pér Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *próder. Ancient Greek πρό (pró) Ancient Greek -ᾰτος (-ătos) Ancient Greek πρῶτος (prôtos) Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-)lbor. English proto- Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s Proto-Italic *dn̥ɣwā Latin dingua Latin lingua Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātus Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icus Latin -āticus Latin -āticum Vulgar Latin *linguāticum Old French languagebor. Middle English langage English language English proto-language From proto- + language.