Difference between revisions of "Family"

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(→‎Related terms: Rearranged the order of the key terms (now alphabetical))
(→‎See also: another, + spelling)
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*[[Daughter Language]]
 
*[[Daughter Language]]
 
*[[Genealogical Classification]]
 
*[[Genealogical Classification]]
*[[Language Familiy]]
+
*[[Language Family]]
 +
*[[Language Isolate]]
 
*[[Sister Language]]
 
*[[Sister Language]]
 
*[[Subgroup]]
 
*[[Subgroup]]

Revision as of 10:23, 5 March 2019

A family of languages (or language family) is a group of languages that have developed from a common ancestor.

Comments

Some linguists have tried to establish separate terms for larger and smaller groups of languages, or for groups with greater and shallower time-depth. None of these are as universally accepted and used as family. Here are some of them:

Origin

This term was apparently adopted by linguists from biology, where a group of similar plants had been called family since the mid-18th century, if not earlier. The term is deeply entrenched in linguistics since at least the mid-19th century.

See also

Other languages

German Sprachfamilie