Proto-Indo-European Language Family

What does Proto-Indo-European (PIE) refer to?

• A branch of the Indo-European family tree.

• A modern language spoken in India.

• The hypothetical common ancestor of the Indo-European languages.

• A type of ancient pottery found in Europe.

Approximately how many years ago was PIE spoken?

• Approximately 1000 to 1500 years ago.

• Approximately 8000 to 10000 years ago.

• Approximately 4500 to 6500 years ago.

• Approximately 2000 to 3000 years ago.

What is the significance of PIE in relation to modern languages?

• PIE is a term used in mathematics to describe circular shapes.

• PIE is significant as the ancestral language of many modern languages, aiding in the study of their evolution and relationships.

• PIE is a modern programming language used in software development.

• PIE refers to a type of dessert popular in many cultures.

Can you name a few languages that are descendants of PIE?

• French

• Chinese

• Arabic

• Latin, Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, English, German

What method do linguists use to hypothesize about PIE?

• Phonetic reconstruction

• Sociolinguistic survey

• Comparative method

• Historical analysis

What is an example of a word that has similarities across different languages?

• mother

• father

• brother

• sister

Why are there no written records of Proto-Indo-European?

• Written records were lost in a natural disaster.

• Proto-Indo-European was never a spoken language.

• There are no written records of Proto-Indo-European because it was spoken before the invention of writing.

• Proto-Indo-European was only documented in ancient texts.

How does the metaphor of a 'language tree' help in understanding PIE?

• The 'language tree' metaphor shows the geographical distribution of languages.

• The 'language tree' metaphor helps illustrate the evolution and relationships of languages derived from Proto-Indo-European.

• The 'language tree' metaphor explains the grammar rules of Proto-Indo-European.

• The 'language tree' metaphor focuses on the phonetic similarities between languages.

What role does comparative reconstruction play in linguistics?

• Comparative reconstruction is used to create new languages from scratch.

• It focuses solely on the grammar of modern languages.

• Comparative reconstruction is a method for teaching language to children.

• Comparative reconstruction helps linguists understand the evolution of languages and reconstruct features of proto-languages.

What is the relationship between PIE and languages like Sanskrit and Latin?

• PIE is a fictional language created in the 20th century.

• PIE is the common ancestor of languages like Sanskrit and Latin.

• PIE is a modern language derived from Sanskrit and Latin.

• Sanskrit and Latin are dialects of PIE.