• PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      It’s technically Proto-Indo-European. PIE is the base language that later developed into most of the European languages. It’s a simple language that evolved into the various European languages as people spread out and groups became more isolated. Basically, as they became more isolated they formed their own unique dialects, which then became distinct languages.

      PIE is believed to be the root language for Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Hindi, Urdu, and a handful of others.

      • Justas🇱🇹@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Yes, except it’s not as simple as you think. It is heavily inflected and has a lot of cases, 8, I think.

        I know this because I speak Lithuanian, which is the oldest living language and the one most similar to PIE.

      • mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Your examples are a bit odd given the context. Spanish, French, and Italian developed from Latin (which you stated the Greeks spoke). English, German, and Scandinavian languages developed from Proto-Germanic. I’m assuming you didn’t mean to imply that Latin wasn’t a PIE language?

      • lol3droflxp@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        But is it a language? I only know of Proto Germanic and Proto Indo-European that would be relevant here but I’m not a linguist.

        • novibe@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          PIE was the language (or languages) the proto-indo-European peoples spoke during their processes of migration into Europe, the Middle East and South Asia (around 6-4k years ago).

          So most of the languages from those regions, from Hindi, to Persian, to Greek and English are all PIE, as these are all descendants from the PIE peoples.

          We can reconstruct it by analysing these modern languages, their recent ancestors etc. and compare them.

            • novibe@lemmy.ml
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              1 year ago

              Those would be the PIE that entered Europe, so after they split from the PIE that entered Iran and India (the Indo-Iranians).

        • irmoz@reddthat.com
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          1 year ago

          proto European languages (like old English)

          No, it’s a category, and the two languages you mentioned would, I assume, fit into that category.