noun
protolanguage; parent language
Linguistic term for a reconstructed ancestral language from which a family of languages is descended.
インド・ヨーロッパ祖語は多くの現代言語の祖先とされている。
Proto-Indo-European is considered the ancestor of many modern languages.
言語学者は比較言語学を用いて祖語を再構する。
Linguists reconstruct protolanguages using comparative linguistics.
From 祖 (ancestor) + 語 (language). A straightforward compound used in linguistics.