Family
Revision as of 09:11, 1 June 2014 by NBlöcher (talk | contribs) (→Related terms: Rearranged the order of the key terms (now alphabetical))
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
- Ancestor Language
- Daughter Language
- Genealogical Classification
- Language Familiy
- Sister Language
- Subgroup
Other languages
German Sprachfamilie
