▁between ▁languages . ▁Similar ities ▁between ▁S ansk rit ▁and ▁European ▁languages ▁were ▁first ▁noted ▁in ▁the ▁early ▁ 1 6 th ▁century ▁and ▁led ▁to ▁spec ulation ▁of ▁a ▁common ▁ancest or ▁language ▁from ▁which ▁all ▁these ▁desc ended . ▁It ▁is ▁now ▁named ▁Pro to - Ind o - Europe an . ▁Phil ology ' s ▁interest ▁in ▁ancient ▁languages ▁led ▁to ▁the ▁study ▁of ▁what ▁were , ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 8 th ▁century , ▁" ex otic " ▁languages , ▁for ▁the ▁light ▁they ▁could ▁cast ▁on ▁problems ▁in ▁understanding ▁and ▁de ci ph ering ▁the ▁orig ins ▁of ▁older ▁texts . ▁ ▁Text ual ▁▁ ▁Phil ology ▁also ▁includes ▁the ▁study ▁of ▁texts ▁and ▁their ▁history . ▁It ▁includes ▁elements ▁of ▁text ual ▁criticism , ▁trying ▁to ▁re construct ▁an ▁author ' s ▁original ▁text ▁based ▁on ▁variant ▁copies ▁of ▁manuscript s . ▁This ▁branch ▁of ▁research ▁arose ▁among ▁An cient ▁sch ol ars ▁in ▁the ▁ 4 th ▁century ▁BC ▁Greek - spe aking ▁world , ▁who ▁desired ▁to ▁establish ▁a ▁standard ▁text ▁of ▁popular ▁authors ▁for ▁the ▁purposes ▁of ▁both ▁sound ▁interpretation ▁and ▁secure ▁transmission . ▁ ▁Since ▁that ▁time , ▁the ▁original ▁principles ▁of ▁text ual ▁criticism ▁have ▁been ▁improved ▁and ▁applied ▁to ▁other ▁widely ▁distributed ▁texts ▁such ▁as ▁the ▁Bible . ▁ ▁Sch ol ars ▁have ▁tried ▁to ▁re construct ▁the ▁original ▁read ings ▁of ▁the ▁Bible ▁from ▁the ▁manuscript ▁variants . ▁This ▁method ▁was ▁applied ▁to ▁Class ical ▁Studies ▁and ▁to ▁medieval ▁texts