málaflokkinum

Málaflokkinum is an Icelandic term that denotes a language family, a group of languages descended from a common ancestor. The word combines mál ('language') and flokkur ('group'), with the definite suffix -inum marking the phrase as 'the language family' in contexts where the noun is definite.

In linguistics, a language family is established through the historical-comparative method, identifying regular sound correspondences and shared core vocabulary that reflect common descent. Linguists distinguish genetic relationships from areal similarities and consider shared innovations to define subgroups. A language family is typically organized into subfamilies and individual languages; examples include the Indo-European family, with subgroups such as Romance, Germanic, and Slavic.

The concept emphasizes historical descent rather than current mutual intelligibility and is used in descriptions of language history, documentation, and typology. It helps explain why languages in the same family often show systematic similarities in grammar and lexicon.

In Icelandic scholarship, málaflokkinum serves as the standard term for discussing language relationships and classifications. Related topics include the comparative method, proto-languages, cognates, and phonological correspondences.

See also: language family, historical linguistics, comparative method, proto-language, cognate.