Editing Asterisk (section)

==== Historical linguistics ====
In [[historical linguistics]], the asterisk marks words or phrases that are not directly recorded in texts or other media, and that are therefore [[linguistic reconstruction|reconstructed]] on the basis of other linguistic material by the [[comparative method]].<ref>{{cite web | url= https://thelanguagenerds.com/how-do-we-know-that-proto-indo-european-actually-existed/ | title= Here is how linguists know that extinct languages existed | website= thelanguagenerds.com | access-date= 21 August 2020 | archive-date= 18 August 2020 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200818190807/https://thelanguagenerds.com/how-do-we-know-that-proto-indo-european-actually-existed/ | url-status= dead }}</ref>

In the following example, the [[Proto-Germanic]] word {{lang|gem-x-proto|ainlif}} is a reconstructed form.
* {{lang|gem-x-proto|*ainlif}} → {{wikt-lang|ang|endleofan}} → ''eleven''

A double asterisk ({{code|**}}) sometimes indicates an intermediary or proximate reconstructed form (e.g. a single asterisk for reconstructed [[Old Mandarin|thirteenth century Chinese]] and a double asterisk for reconstructions of older [[Old Chinese|Ancient Chinese]]<ref name="Cheng"/>{{rp|5}} or a double asterisk for proto-[[Popolocan languages|Popolocan]] and a single asterisk for intermediary forms<ref name="Veerman"/>{{rp|322}}).

In other cases, the double asterisk denotes a form that would be expected according to a rule, but is not actually found. That is, it indicates a reconstructed form that is not found or used, and in place of which ''another'' form is found in actual usage:
* For the plural, *{{lang|ar-Latn|*kubar}} would be expected, but separate masculine plural {{lang|ar-Latn|akābir}} {{wikt-lang|ar|أكابر}} and feminine plural {{lang|ar-Latn|kubrayāt}} {{wikt-lang|ar|كبريات}} are found as irregular forms.