protolanguage

[ proh-toh-lang-gwij ]

nounLinguistics.

the reconstructed or postulated parent form of a language or a group of related languages.

Origin of protolanguage

First recorded in 1945–50; proto- + language

Words Nearby protolanguage

protogynous
protohistory
protohuman
Proto-Indo-European
proto-Ionic
protolanguage
protolithic
protolog
protomartyr
protomorphic
proton

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

British Dictionary definitions for protolanguage

protolanguage

/ (ˌprəʊtəʊˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ) /

noun

an extinct and unrecorded language reconstructed by comparison of its recorded or living descendants: Also called: Ursprache

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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