Proto-human language
Proposed common ancestor to all known languages. / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Proto-Human language?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
SHOW ALL QUESTIONS
The proto-human language (also proto-sapiens, proto-world) is the hypothetical direct genetic predecessor of all the world's spoken languages.[1]
Quick Facts Reconstruction of, Era ...
Proto-human | |
---|---|
Proto-sapiens, Proto-world | |
(widely rejected) | |
Reconstruction of | All extant languages |
Era | Paleolithic |
Close
The concept is speculative and not amenable to analysis in historical linguistics. It presupposes a monogenetic origin of language, i.e. the derivation of all natural languages from a single origin, presumably at some time in the Middle Paleolithic period. As the predecessor of all extant languages spoken by modern humans (Homo sapiens), proto-human language as hypothesised would not necessarily be ancestral to any hypothetical Neanderthal language.