Two languages have a genetic relationship, and belong to the same language family, if both are descended from a common ancestor, or one is descended from the other.The term and the process of language evolution are independent of, and not reliant on, the terminology, understanding and theories related to biological genetics, and to avoid confusion, some …

Comparative linguistics (originally comparative philology) is a branch of historical linguistics that is concerned with comparing languages in order to establish their historical relatedness. Languages may be related by convergence through borrowing or by genetic descent, thus languages can change and are also able to cross-relate.