Laura Spinney

So that would be languages like Sanskrit, Latin, ancient Greek, which are no longer spoken, but they were written. So we know they were spoken at some point.

So that would be languages like Sanskrit, Latin, ancient Greek, which are no longer spoken, but they were written. So we know they were spoken at some point.

So linguists compare these on various different aspects, their phonology, so the way they sounded, their grammar and the words and the vocabulary, to try and reconstruct what they looked like in the past or what their ancestors looked like in the past. So that's called the comparative method.

So linguists compare these on various different aspects, their phonology, so the way they sounded, their grammar and the words and the vocabulary, to try and reconstruct what they looked like in the past or what their ancestors looked like in the past. So that's called the comparative method.

So linguists compare these on various different aspects, their phonology, so the way they sounded, their grammar and the words and the vocabulary, to try and reconstruct what they looked like in the past or what their ancestors looked like in the past. So that's called the comparative method.

And using that method, they have been able to say quite a lot about the sort of intermediate nodes in this Indo-European language family. So, you know, the proto-languages, as we call them, of the 12 different branches of proto-Celtic, proto-Iranic, proto-Armenian, and ultimately to say something about the mother of all of those, which would be proto-Indo-European. Okay.

And using that method, they have been able to say quite a lot about the sort of intermediate nodes in this Indo-European language family. So, you know, the proto-languages, as we call them, of the 12 different branches of proto-Celtic, proto-Iranic, proto-Armenian, and ultimately to say something about the mother of all of those, which would be proto-Indo-European. Okay.

And using that method, they have been able to say quite a lot about the sort of intermediate nodes in this Indo-European language family. So, you know, the proto-languages, as we call them, of the 12 different branches of proto-Celtic, proto-Iranic, proto-Armenian, and ultimately to say something about the mother of all of those, which would be proto-Indo-European. Okay.

If you want to know who spoke those languages, so when you compare those languages, you can say things about their relative ages, which came before another or which came after another, because linguists know that languages evolve in certain directions more probably than in others. So this is where we come back to the sound laws that I mentioned earlier. We know that languages...

If you want to know who spoke those languages, so when you compare those languages, you can say things about their relative ages, which came before another or which came after another, because linguists know that languages evolve in certain directions more probably than in others. So this is where we come back to the sound laws that I mentioned earlier. We know that languages...

If you want to know who spoke those languages, so when you compare those languages, you can say things about their relative ages, which came before another or which came after another, because linguists know that languages evolve in certain directions more probably than in others. So this is where we come back to the sound laws that I mentioned earlier. We know that languages...

For example, the Latin word for 100 is kentum, and that hard C later in certain branches of the Indo-European family became an S. So the K to S sound in that particular linguistic context is a change that's known about, it's called satemization, but it wouldn't go, it's very unlikely to go in the other direction from the S to the K. So using these kinds, that's an example of a sound law.

For example, the Latin word for 100 is kentum, and that hard C later in certain branches of the Indo-European family became an S. So the K to S sound in that particular linguistic context is a change that's known about, it's called satemization, but it wouldn't go, it's very unlikely to go in the other direction from the S to the K. So using these kinds, that's an example of a sound law.

For example, the Latin word for 100 is kentum, and that hard C later in certain branches of the Indo-European family became an S. So the K to S sound in that particular linguistic context is a change that's known about, it's called satemization, but it wouldn't go, it's very unlikely to go in the other direction from the S to the K. So using these kinds, that's an example of a sound law.

Another example of a sound law would be the fact that, for example, pater in Latin became father in English, the P became the F. These are sound laws, and linguists use them to reconstruct the family tree to say which came first in the order.

Another example of a sound law would be the fact that, for example, pater in Latin became father in English, the P became the F. These are sound laws, and linguists use them to reconstruct the family tree to say which came first in the order.

Another example of a sound law would be the fact that, for example, pater in Latin became father in English, the P became the F. These are sound laws, and linguists use them to reconstruct the family tree to say which came first in the order.

But that exercise can't tell you anything about the chronological ages of languages, like when in actual historical time or prehistorical time languages split or were born or died. Okay, so to do that, you need to use non-linguistic sources and to sort of cross-reference them. So I'll give you an example. An example where you would use a historical source

But that exercise can't tell you anything about the chronological ages of languages, like when in actual historical time or prehistorical time languages split or were born or died. Okay, so to do that, you need to use non-linguistic sources and to sort of cross-reference them. So I'll give you an example. An example where you would use a historical source

But that exercise can't tell you anything about the chronological ages of languages, like when in actual historical time or prehistorical time languages split or were born or died. Okay, so to do that, you need to use non-linguistic sources and to sort of cross-reference them. So I'll give you an example. An example where you would use a historical source