About Reconstructor

Reconstructor is an engine that simulates language evolution via sound changes. It includes a puzzle game inspired by the comparative method, the core technique historical linguists use to reconstruct unrecorded ancestor languages.

How it works

  1. The app creates a proto-language with a random phonology and vocabulary.
  2. Sound change rules (like intervocalic voicing or word-final devoicing) are applied to derive daughter languages.
  3. You see cognate sets — the same word across multiple daughter languages — and try to reconstruct the original proto-form.

What are sound changes?

Sound changes are systematic transformations that affect the pronunciation of words over generations. For example, a language might voice all voiceless stops between vowels (p → b, t → d, k → ɡ), or drop word-final consonants. These regular changes are what make the comparative method possible — by comparing cognate words across related languages, linguists can work backwards to deduce the ancestral form.