Table of Contents
Why are Proto Indo-European words marked with an asterisk?
All PIE sounds and words are reconstructed from later Indo-European languages. The asterisk symbol is used to mark reconstructed PIE words, for example: *wódr̥ ‘water’, *ḱwṓn ‘dog’, or *tréyes ‘three (masculine)’.
What is sound reconstruction in linguistics?
Linguistic reconstruction is the practice of establishing the features of an unattested ancestor language of one or more given languages. …
How many Indo-European languages are there?
445
There are about 445 living Indo-European languages, according to the estimate by Ethnologue, with over two-thirds (313) of them belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch.
How many proto languages were there?
50 proto-languages
There are approximately 50 proto-languages estimated.
What is word reconstruction?
Definition of reconstruction 1a : the action of reconstructing : the act or process of rebuilding, repairing, or restoring something reconstruction efforts to repair hurricane damage the reconstruction of the dam the reconstruction of postwar Europe.
Where did the Proto-Indo-European language come from?
The original homeland of the speakers of Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is not known for certain, but many scholars believe it lies somewhere around the Black Sea. Most of the subgroups diverged and spread out over much of Europe and the Near East and northern Indian subcontinent during the fourth and third millennia BC.
How do we reconstruct proto-languages?
When people reconstruct proto-languages, like Proto-Indo-European or Proto-Afroasiatic, or even just proto-words, they do so by comparing the vocabularies of several languages believed to be related. For example, say we compare the following words:
What does an asterisk mean in English?
An asterisk is generally used to indicate that a certain form or construction is not found in natural language.
What do we know about proto languages?
When describing proto-languages, this usually means that a certain root or word has been reconstructed: based on phonological rules, we think it must have been somewhat like this—but we cannot be sure, as it is always possible that some unique irregularity would result in a different form, and we have no written sources that contain this form.
When do you use a question mark instead of an asterisk?
Most people would use a question mark instead of an asterisk with well-attested languages if the form or construction is doubtful. In proto-languages, the question mark is sometimes used to indicate a form that is even more uncertain than the common hypothetical ones—for example, if I am in doubt as to the most probable form of a certain root.