English

Alternative forms

• ur-language

Noun

urlanguage ‎(plural urlanguages)

1. (linguistics) A basic or original language; protolanguage.
   • 1982, Jack Kaminsky, Essays in linguistic ontology:

     It is the urlanguage that sets up the rules of syntax that determine the formal constructions every language must incorporate if it ... The urlanguage is also the ultimate authority that governs the inclusion of designator expressions in any context.

   • 1997, George Wolf, Nigel Love, Linguistics Inside Out:

     Is there an ur-language? This question has been raised in a notoriously fallacious argument first promulgated by Fodor (1979).

   • 2006, Frederick Turner, Natural Religion:

     Obviously we have here a further reason for exploring our relationship with our animal friends: it is a way of understanding the fundamentals of our own language, of discovering that ur-language we share with other parts of nature than [...]

   • 2010, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Wild Child: Stories:

     What innate ideas did he have? Did he know of God and Creation? What was his language—the urlanguage that gave rise to all the languages of the world, the language all men brought with them [...]