Slice of PIE: a linguistic common ancestor – Science Weekly podcast
The Guardian
Swedish, Ukranian, Punjabi, and Italian. To many of us, these languages are as different and distinct as they come. But in the same way that dogs, sheep and pandas have a common ancestor, languages can also be traced back to a common tongue, linguists say.
Enter the hypothetical common ancestor of all modern Indo-European languages, known as Proto-Indo-European (PIE). But, without clues as to language in our genes, how is it that we can trace the origin and evolution of PIE? And, what can new insights in archeology, ancient DNA, and linguistics reveal?