Proto-language
Proto-language may refer to either:#a language that preceded a certain set of given languages, or #a system of communication during a stage in
glottogony that may not yet be properly called a language.
A relative
proto-language is a
language that reflects an earlier state in a language family. The
German term
Ursprache (derived from the prefix
Ur- and
sprache "language") is occasionally used as well.
In most cases, this proto-language is not known and it has to be reconstructed by comparing different members of the language family for which records are available. Examples are
Proto-Indo-European and
Proto-Bantu. Sometimes, however, the proto-language is a language which is known from inscriptions, an example being the
Proto-Norse language. The
Proto-World language is a theoretical language which would have to be the proto-language from which all the languages were derived.
An absolute
proto-language, as defined by linguist
Derek Bickerton, is a primitive form of communication lacking:
* a fully-developed
syntax* tense, aspect, auxiliary verbs, etc.
* a closed (i.e. non-lexical) vocabulary
The "me Tarzan, you Jane" nature of proto-language in this last sense is evident in
pidgins, some features of early childhood language, and the language of adults who were deprived of language during the critical period (such as the
feral child Genie).
Derek Bickerton suggests language evolved from this kind of proto-language in a linguistic 'big bang'. But see also
Terrence Deacon's arguments in his book
The Symbolic Species for a radically different point of view.
