A long, long time ago, people spoke a language called Proto-Indo-European, and it is like the great-great-grandparent of many languages we speak today, like English, Spanish, and Hindi. Scientists study this language to understand how it changed and grew into the different languages we have now.
The comparative method is a research approach used to identify patterns and causal relationships by systematically comparing different cases or phenomena. It is widely used across social sciences and humanities to draw inferences about similarities and differences, often to understand societal structures, cultural norms, or historical developments.
Child's law, also known as Grimm's law, describes a set of sound changes affecting the consonants of the Proto-Indo-European language as it evolved into Proto-Germanic. It is a pivotal concept in historical linguistics, illustrating systematic phonetic shifts that help trace the development of languages over time.