protolang
protolang noun: a constructed ancestor language from which other naturalistic conlangs are descended (actually or retroactively). Also the clipping of proto-language.
Noun
protolang (plural protolangs)
- A constructed ancestor language from which other naturalistic conlangs are descended (actually or retroactively).
- I created a protolang (consisting mainly of phonology and inflections) to ensure realistic mutations.1998 November 9, Nik Taylor <fortytwo@ufl.edu>, “New Project”, in Conlang mailing list
- Then at one point I wanted to add head-marking to the language to mark tenses. In my initial sketch, this head-marking would have features of a "real" verb, a kind of calcified form from an ancestral verb in the protolang, kinda like how English uses "was" to mark past tense ("I was going to the...2024 September 16, H. S. Teoh <hsteoh@qfbox.info>, “Re: Hrmitt lexicon reached 800 entries”, in Conlang mailing list
Also used as
protolang is also the clipping of proto-language.
Forms of protolang
| plural | protolangs |
|---|
Origin of protolang
From proto- + -lang.
Questions about protolang
- What does protolang mean?
- Protolang means a constructed ancestor language from which other naturalistic conlangs are descended (actually or retroactively).
- What part of speech is protolang?
- Protolang is a noun.
- What is the plural of protolang?
- The plural of protolang is protolangs.
Words near protolang in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: protolang (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “protolang.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/protolang. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.