Language considered as derived from another (parent)
Inhistorical linguistics, adaughter language, also known asdescendant language, is alanguage descended from another language, its mother language, through a process ofgenetic descent.[1] If more than one language has developed from the sameproto-language, or 'mother language', those languages are said to besister languages, members of the samelanguage family. These concepts are linked to thetree model of language evolution, in which the relationships between languages are compared with those between members of a family tree. This model captures the diversification of languages from a common source.[2]
Strictly speaking, themetaphor of the mother-daughter relationship can lead to a misunderstanding of language history, as daughter languages are direct continuations of the mother language, which have become distinct, principally by a process ofgradual change; the languages are not separate entities "born" to a parent who eventually dies.
Mother languages do not "die", they generallybecome their daughter languages. This need not necessarily be the case, as is evidenced by the coexistence ofAfrikaans andDutch.
- Modern Standard Urdu andModern Standard Hindi are both standardized registers of theHindustani language (which is the mother language). Apart from the formal vocabulary and scripts, both languages are mutually intelligible.
- Malayalam is a daughter language ofOld Malayalam, which is a daughter language ofMiddle Tamil, which is a daughter language ofProto-South-Dravidian which is a daughter language ofProto-Dravidian.
- English is a daughter language ofOld English, which is a daughter language ofProto-Germanic, which is a daughter language ofProto-Indo-European.[3]
- Italian,Spanish,French,Portuguese, andRomanian are all daughter languages ofLatin, which is a daughter language ofProto-Italic, which is a daughter language of Proto-Indo-European.[4]
- Mandarin Chinese is a daughter language ofOld Mandarin, which is a daughter language ofOld Chinese, which is a daughter language ofProto-Sino-Tibetan.
- Bulgarian is a daughter language ofOld Bulgarian, which is a daughter language ofProto-Slavic, which is a daughter language of Proto-Indo-European.
- German andYiddish are both daughter languages ofOld High German, which is a daughter language of Proto-Germanic, which is a daughter language of Proto-Indo-European.
- Afrikaans is a daughter language ofDutch, which is a daughter language ofLow Franconian, which is a daughter language of Proto-Germanic, which is a daughter language of Proto-Indo-European.
- Japanese is a daughter language ofOld Japanese, which is a daughter language ofProto-Japonic.
- Coptic is a daughter language ofAncient Egyptian (through its many stages), which is a daughter language ofProto-Afroasiatic.
- Maltese is a daughter language ofSiculo-Arabic, which is a daughter language ofOld Arabic, which is a daughter language ofProto-Semitic, which is a daughter language ofProto-Afroasiatic.
- Hiligaynon andCebuano are daughter languages ofProto-Visayan, which is a daughter language ofProto-Philippine, which is a daughter language ofProto-Malayo-Polynesian, which is a daughter language ofProto-Austronesian.
- Turkish is a daughter language ofOttoman Turkish, which is a daughter language ofOld Anatolian Turkish, which is a daughter language ofOghuz, which is a daughter language of Proto-Common Turkic, which is a daughter language ofProto-Turkic.
