Distinguishing between dialects and languages: Creole/ Creolized language- a language that results from the mixing of the colonizer?s language with the indigenous language of the people being dominated Origin and Diffusion of Indo-European Proto-Indo-European- the base of all Indo- European languages, cannot be proved since there was no written word or recorded history Proto-Indo-European speakers are believed to live in cold climate, or winter season but did not come in contact with the ocean Debate on whether language diffused through warfare and conquest or the peaceful sharing of food Nomadic Warrior Thesis First speakers were the Kurgan people, lived near the border between Russia and Kazakhstan Early evidence dates back to 4300 B.C.