# Attested language

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{{Short description|Linguistic varieties with evidence of having existed}}
[[File:Peribsen.JPG|thumb|The first attested sentence was in [Egyptian hieroglyphics](/source/Egyptian_hieroglyphics).<ref>{{Cite book| edition = 1| publisher = Cambridge University Press| isbn = 978-1-107-03246-0| last = Allen| first = James P.| title = The Ancient Egyptian Language: An Historical Study| date = 2013| url = https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781139506090/type/book |url-access=subscription}}</ref>]]
In [linguistics](/source/linguistics), '''attested languages''' are languages (living or [dead](/source/dead_language)) that have been documented and for which the evidence ("attestation") has survived to the present day. Evidence may be [recordings](/source/Archaeological_record), [transcriptions](/source/Transcription_(linguistics)), [literature](/source/literature) or [inscription](/source/inscription)s. In contrast, '''unattested languages''' may be names of purported languages for which no direct evidence exists, languages for which all evidence has been lost, or hypothetical [proto-languages](/source/proto-languages) proposed in [linguistic reconstruction](/source/linguistic_reconstruction).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_XJRT43MXRgC&pg=PA24|title=A Handbook of Old Chinese Phonology|last=Baxter|first=William Hubbard|date=1992|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=9783110123241|page=24|language=en}}</ref>

Within an attested language, particular [word form](/source/word_form)s directly known to have been used (because they appear in the literature, inscriptions or documented speech) are called '''attested forms'''. They contrast with '''unattested forms''', which are reconstructions hypothesised to have been used based on indirect evidence (such as etymological patterns). In linguistic texts, unattested forms are commonly marked with a preceding [asterisk](/source/asterisk) (*).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bSxHgej4tKMC&pg=PA4|title=Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction|last=Fortson|first=Benjamin W. IV|date=2011-09-07|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9781444359688|language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
*[Historical linguistics](/source/Historical_linguistics)
*[List of languages by first written accounts](/source/List_of_languages_by_first_written_accounts)
*[Spurious languages](/source/Spurious_languages)

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Attested Language}}
Category:Historical linguistics
Category:Unattested languages

{{historical-linguistics-stub}}

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