We cannot exclude the possibility – in fact, it is highly plausible – that the
proto-languages of the ninety-odd language families in the world were themselves
languages in even older language families, but the methods of historical language
reconstruction have their limits. After a certain period of time, languages change so
much that a possible common origin simply cannot be detected. While archeologists
can date the age of artefacts on the basis of the constant decay of radioactive atoms,
languages do not change at a constant rate at all times and at all places, but most
linguists do not think that it is possible to reconstruct proto-languages that were
spoken more than approximately 10 000 BP. This does not, mean, however, that
language origins should not be traced much further into the past
We cannot exclude the possibility – in fact, it is highly plausible – that the
proto-languages of the ninety-odd language families in the world were themselves
languages in even older language families, but the methods of historical language
reconstruction have their limits. After a certain period of time, languages change so
much that a possible common origin simply cannot be detected. While archeologists
can date the age of artefacts on the basis of the constant decay of radioactive atoms,
languages do not change at a constant rate at all times and at all places, but most
linguists do not think that it is possible to reconstruct proto-languages that were
spoken more than approximately 10 000 BP. This does not, mean, however, that
language origins should not be traced much further into the past
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