Advanced Placement (AP) Human Geography Practice Exam

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What is the definition of a protolanguage?

A contemporary spoken language
A created artificial language
A reconstructed ancestral language forming the basis of a language family
A language that has no historical context

The correct answer is: A reconstructed ancestral language forming the basis of a language family

A protolanguage is defined as a reconstructed ancestral language that serves as the foundation for a language family. Linguists utilize historical and comparative methods to trace back modern languages to these ancestral forms, which are not directly recorded but inferred from the similarities and differences among the existing languages. The study of protolanguages is essential for understanding the evolutionary relationships among languages, which can illuminate the cultural and migratory history of the peoples who spoke them. In contrast, the other definitions do not capture the concept of a protolanguage. A contemporary spoken language refers to modern languages in use today, while a created artificial language denotes languages designed for specific purposes, such as Esperanto or programming languages, which differ fundamentally from ancestral languages. Lastly, a language that has no historical context does not align with the idea of a protolanguage, as the very concept of a protolanguage is rooted in its historical significance and connection to language evolution.