ProtoIndic

Proto-Indic is a reconstructed hypothetical ancestor language of the Indic branch of the Indo-Aryan languages. Linguists propose Proto-Indic existed as a spoken language before the earliest attested records of Indic languages, such as Vedic Sanskrit. It is believed to have been spoken in the northern Indian subcontinent.

Reconstruction of Proto-Indic relies on comparative linguistics, analyzing shared innovations and systematic sound changes across its daughter languages. These include Sanskrit, Prakrits, and modern Indo-Aryan languages like Hindi, Bengali, and Punjabi. Key features of Proto-Indic are inferred from its descendants, though no direct written evidence of the proto-language itself exists.

The development of Proto-Indic is understood to have stemmed from Proto-Indo-Iranian, which in turn came from Proto-Indo-European. The divergence into Proto-Indic marks a significant linguistic split within the Indo-Iranian language family. Understanding Proto-Indic is crucial for tracing the historical evolution and relationships among the diverse languages spoken across South Asia today. Linguistic research continues to refine the reconstruction and understanding of Proto-Indic.