protolanguage

[ proh-toh-lang-gwij ]

noun

, Linguistics.

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

protolanguage

/ ˌprəʊtəʊˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ /

noun

1. an extinct and unrecorded language reconstructed by comparison of its recorded or living descendants Also calledUrsprache

Word History and Origins

Origin of protolanguage¹

First recorded in 1945–50; proto- + language