Definition

1. Noun:
   • Language family: A group of languages that have developed from a common ancestral language. This is the primary and most academic meaning of "ngữ hệ". It refers to a major classification in historical linguistics.
   • Family (of languages): A more general term for the same concept, indicating a set of languages sharing a proven common origin.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Tiếng Việt thuộc ngữ hệ Nam Á. (Vietnamese belongs to the Austroasiatic language family.)
  • Các nhà ngôn ngữ học nghiên cứu về nguồn gốc của các ngữ hệ trên thế giới. (Linguists study the origins of the world's language families.)
  • Ngữ hệ Ấn-Âu là một trong những ngữ hệ lớn nhất. (The Indo-European language family is one of the largest.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is used almost exclusively in academic, linguistic, and anthropological contexts to discuss genetic relationships between languages.
• It is a high-level category; within a "ngữ hệ", there are further subdivisions like "ngữ chi" (branch) and "ngữ tộc" (sub-group).

Variants and Related Words

• Họ ngôn ngữ: This is a direct synonym and alternative term for "ngữ hệ", also meaning "language family".
• Ngữ chi (n): Language branch. A major subdivision within a language family.
  • Ngữ chi German thuộc ngữ hệ Ấn-Âu. (The Germanic branch belongs to the Indo-European family.)
• Ngôn ngữ (n): Language. The general term for a system of communication.

Synonyms

• Language family: The direct and most accurate translation.
• Linguistic family: A less common but acceptable synonym.

Related Concepts

• Ngôn ngữ học lịch sử (n): Historical linguistics. The field that studies language families.
• Ngôn ngữ cùng nguồn gốc (n): Cognate languages. Languages within the same family that share a common ancestor.

1. family (of languages)