Language family

A group of languages descended from a common ancestral language, called a proto-language. Shared inherited features distinguish family relationships from similarities caused by contact or chance.

Comparative method: A method for establishing language relationships by comparing systematic sound correspondences and shared vocabulary. It identifies inherited similarities that support grouping languages into families.
Historical linguistics: The study of how languages change and relate across time. Language families are a central result of tracing change across generations.
Indo-European languages: A language family spanning most of Europe and parts of western and southern Asia. Its branches and reconstructed ancestor illustrate how a large family is studied.
Nostratic languages: A proposed macrofamily hypothesized to unite several language families across Eurasia and North Africa. Its disputed status shows how claims about very ancient family relationships exceed secure evidence.
Proto-language: A reconstructed or documented ancestral language from which a group of languages developed. Each family is defined by descent from a common proto-language.
Language: A socially shared system of signs and rules used for communication. Families group particular languages within the broader phenomenon of human language.
Austronesian languages: A language family spoken across Taiwan, maritime Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and Madagascar. Its wide geographic spread makes it a major case for linking linguistic and migration history.
Amerind languages: A proposed grouping of most Indigenous languages of the Americas into a single macrofamily. Its broad classification is controversial because the evidence for such deep common descent is contested.
Sound change: A regular change in how speech sounds are pronounced over time. Regular sound changes explain why related languages can have different sounds in corresponding words.
Dialect continuum: A chain of neighboring speech varieties that differ gradually, often without sharp boundaries. Gradual variation can make it difficult to decide where distinct languages begin.

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