In
linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
, language classification is the grouping of related languages into the same category. There are two main kinds of language classification: genealogical and typological classification.
Genealogical (or genetic) classification
Languages are grouped by
diachronic
Synchrony and diachrony are two complementary viewpoints in linguistic analysis. A ''synchronic'' approach (from grc, συν- "together" and "time") considers a language at a moment in time without taking its history into account. Synchronic l ...
relatedness into
language families
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The term "family" reflects the tree model of language origination in hi ...
.
In other words, languages are grouped based on how they were developed and evolved throughout history, with languages which descended from a common ancestor being grouped into the same language family.
Typological classification
Languages are grouped by their structural and functional features.
See also
*
Genetic relationship
*
List of language families
The following is a list of language families. It also includes language isolates, unclassified languages and other types.
Major language families By number of languages
''Ethnologue'' 24 (2021) lists the following families that contain at least 1 ...
References
{{Reflist
Language
Linguistics
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