protolanguage

American

[proh-toh-lang-gwij] / ˈproʊ toʊˌlæŋ gwɪdʒ /

noun

Linguistics.

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

protolanguage British

/ ˌprəʊtəʊˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ /

noun

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

"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

Etymology

Origin of protolanguage

First recorded in 1945–50; proto- + language

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Of that enormous group of languages, most belonged to the Pama-Nyungan family, with dozens of branches that descended from a protolanguage probably spoken 6,000 years ago in the northeastern part of the continent.

From Scientific American • Oct. 18, 2023

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023