| Proto-Human | |
|---|---|
| Proto-Sapiens, Proto-World | |
| (widely rejected) | |
| Reconstruction of | All extant and extinct human languages |
| Era | Paleolithic |
The Proto-Human language, also known as Proto-Sapiens or Proto-World, is the hypothetical direct genetic predecessor of all human languages.[1]
The concept is speculative and not amenable to analysis in historical linguistics. It presupposes a monogenetic origin of language, i.e. the derivation of all natural languages from a single origin, presumably at some time in the Middle Paleolithic period. As the predecessor of all extant languages spoken by modern humans (Homo sapiens), Proto-Human as hypothesised would not necessarily be ancestral to any hypothetical Neanderthal language.
The Proto-World language, also known as the Proto-Human or Proto-Sapiens, is believed to be the single source of origin of all the world's languages.