The Indo-European languages are a family of related languages that today are widely spoken in the Americas, Europe, and also Western and Southern Asia. Just as languages such as Spanish, French, Portuguese and Italian are all descended from Latin, Indo-European languages are believed to derive from a hypothetical language known as Proto-Indo-European, which is no longer spoken.
More about: Indo-European LanguagesDefinition
Timeline
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c. 3400 BCEEarliest possible end of Proto-Indo-European linguistic unity.
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3000 BCE - 2000 BCEFirst inhabitation of Mycenae area.
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c. 3000 BCEThe Aryans - nomadic northerners from central Asia - possibly begin to migrate into the Indus Valley in an early phase of migration.
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c. 1500 BCE - c. 1200 BCEThe Linear B script of the Mycenaean civilization is in use.
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800 BCEEarliest examples of Greek alphabetic script.