What is proto-language?

A proto-language is like the first version of a language that later became many languages we know today.

Imagine you have a box of crayons, all the same color. That’s like a proto-language. Over time, people start using different colors for drawing, just like how languages change and split into new ones. One day, some kids use blue crayons more, others use red, and soon they’re talking about blue drawings or red drawings. That’s like how one language becomes many, each with its own special color.

Think of proto-language as the “parent” of languages. Just like a parent has kids who grow up and live in different places, a proto-language can become several new languages over time.

For example, there was once a language called Proto-Indo-European, which is thought to be the first language that became many others, like English, Spanish, Hindi, and Greek. It’s like the “crayon box” that gave birth to all those different colors of languages we know today.

So when people talk about proto-languages, they’re looking back at the very beginning of how languages came to be, just like tracing crayon marks back to the first color in the box.