Legend
Connections
Natural evolution (inherited, derived)
Borrowing (loanword)
Cognate link (same root)
Eras
Proto-languages (before 1500 BCE)
Ancient languages (2000 BCE - 500 CE)
Medieval languages (500 - 1500 CE)
Modern languages (present day)
How to read this graph
PIE stands for Proto-Indo-European — the reconstructed common ancestor of most European and many Asian languages, spoken roughly 4500-2500 BCE.
The * before a word (like *wodr) means it is reconstructed — no written records exist, but linguists infer its form from descendant languages.
Arrows show the direction of descent: an arrow from A to B means "B evolved from A" or "B was borrowed from A."
PIE
~4500 BCE
Latin / Greek
~500 BCE
Old English / Old French
~800 CE
Modern languages
today