protolanguage
/ˌproʊtoʊˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/
noun
- A hypothetical, reconstructed language from which a group of related languages are believed to have developed.
- Linguists have reconstructed the protolanguage of the Indo-European family.
- The sounds of a protolanguage are inferred by comparing words from its daughter languages.
- Learning about protolanguage helps us understand how ancient people communicated.
- An early, simple system of communication used by pre-human ancestors, consisting of basic sounds or gestures.
- Some researchers think protolanguage involved hand gestures before spoken words.
- A protolanguage would have had a small vocabulary and no complex grammar.
- The idea of protolanguage explains how early hominins might have shared simple warnings.