Knowra Proto-Indo-European language Proto-Indo-European language Proto-Indo-European is the reconstructed prehistoric ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its vocabulary and grammar are inferred by comparing features shared among later languages.
Comparative method : A method for reconstructing ancestral languages by comparing systematic similarities among related languages. It supplies the central procedure for inferring Proto-Indo-European from its descendants.
Indo-European languages : A large language family spread across Europe and parts of Asia, descended from a common ancestor. Proto-Indo-European is the reconstructed ancestor from which this family developed.
Proto-Indo-European homeland : The proposed region where Proto-Indo-European was spoken before its branches dispersed. Locating the homeland connects linguistic reconstruction to migration and archaeological evidence.
Glottalic theory : A proposed alternative reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European stop consonants as including glottalized sounds. It challenges the traditional account of the language's stop system.
Proto-Indo-European phonology : The reconstructed sound system of Proto-Indo-European, including its consonants, vowels, and accent. Regular sound correspondences let linguists infer this unattested sound system.
Indo-European languages by branch : The major divisions of the Indo-European family, including Germanic, Italic, Indo-Iranian, and Greek. Branch relationships organize the descendant evidence used to infer ancestral forms.
Kurgan hypothesis : A hypothesis locating the Proto-Indo-European homeland on the Pontic-Caspian steppe and linking dispersal to steppe pastoralists. It is the leading steppe-based account of the language's early spread.
Nostratic languages : A proposed macrofamily grouping Indo-European with several other language families, whose validity remains disputed. It extends comparison beyond Proto-Indo-European into a controversial deeper ancestry.
Laryngeal theory : A theory that reconstructs consonants in Proto-Indo-European to explain patterns in daughter-language vowels and consonants. It explains vowel differences and consonant patterns that simpler reconstructions could not account for.
Vedic Sanskrit : The language of the Vedas, an early Indo-Aryan language preserving archaic Indo-European features. Its rich inflection and accent preserve evidence valuable for reconstructing the ancestor.
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