Proto-Italic is the reconstructed ancestor of the Italic languages, which include languages like Latin and Faliscan. It is believed to have been spoken around the first millennium BCE in the region that is now Italy. Linguists have pieced together its features by comparing similarities among the descendant languages. The study of Proto-Italic helps researchers understand the evolution of the Indo-European language family. By analyzing phonetic, grammatical, and vocabulary changes, scholars can trace how Proto-Italic transformed into the various Italic languages, shedding light on the cultural and historical context of ancient Italy.