The number one tool for communication is language, from words scribbled next to each other on paper to form sentences to sounds billions of people let out every day to understand each other. Languages are the pinnacle of civilization and by knowing the stages of each culture’s linguistic evolution, you can get a glimpse of the soul of its society. Alsun helps you explore some of the oldest languages in the world, whether they are written, spoken, dead, or still used to this day. It’s difficult to pinpoint the first language humans ever used to communicate among themselves, but historians speculate that it’s between Egyptian, Sumerian, and Akkadian. Let’s dive deeper into the top 10 oldest languages in the world.
The Oldest Languages In The World & Where They Are Today
Languages like Sumerian and Egyptian go way back in history, almost 5,000 years ago and they are some of the first evidence of recorded human thought. It’s not clear which of them came first but despite them being the oldest known languages in the world, neither of them survived to this day.
You might confuse Egyptian with the language spoken in Egypt today but they’re two different languages belonging to the same family. Ancient Egyptian was a language written in hieroglyphics and later in Coptic script while today’s Egyptian derives from Arabic. Sumerian was spoken in Mesopotamia and it is believed to be the oldest written language in the world.
Other languages like Tamil and Hebrew are not necessarily dead languages but they evolved beyond what they used to be and are still used today in certain communities. Languages like Latin and Sanskrit are some of the oldest dead languages in the world but their influence is still very much present in modern languages and religious motifs. There’s a story in each of these languages and while this article might not explore every single story, we can uncover enough of its history to see the way the oldest languages in the world shaped our world into what it is today.
Oldest Languages In The World Still Spoken To This Day
There are some of the oldest languages in the world that have withstood the test of time, prevailing past change and developing into the speech and text we hear and read today. These languages survived through the resilience of their people and the strength of the cultures they represent, bearing witness to the historical presence of the societies that kept these languages alive. Here’s a look at the top ten oldest languages in the world:
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Tamil
Tamil dates back more than 2,000 years, with a rich background in literature and other classical pursuits. It has over 80 million speakers today, concentrated in India, Sri Lanka, and Tamil communities around the world. Although the language is practically ancient, it hasn’t changed much in regards to grammar and structure since it was first recorded, making it a direct link to ancient Dravidian culture.
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Hebrew
Hebrew’s case is special, as it used to be classified as a dead language belonging to Israelites until it was revived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries following the rise of the Zionist movement. Modern Hebrew still retains some of the characteristics of its original form as a dialect of Canaanite languages to this day, even if it differs in some elements due to the evolution of culture.
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Chinese (Mandarin)
Mandarin Chinese is one of the most popular languages in today’s world, originating from Old Chinese which dates back to around 1200 BCE. It’s impressive how the language maintained its writing system, including its characters, for thousands of years which has given modern readers the chance to understand ancient classics. Spoken Chinese on the other hand has changed to keep up with modern speech habits and characteristics.
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Greek
Greek is a language involved in one of the most popular civilizations of all time, from epic literature to philosophical works, Ancient Greek has been an instrumental tool in shaping the thought process of other Western civilizations. Modern Greek may be a little different from the Ancient version of the language but it is used by over 13 million people today while maintaining some of its vocabulary and grammatical structure.
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Persian (Farsi)
Persian, or Farsi, may have changed form over time because of invasions and the effect of time passing, but its modern form is still dependable today in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan, each with minor differences due to diverse cultures. People still eagerly learn Persian to this day to get access to Persian poetry like the works of Rumi and Hafez, highlighting the language’s endurance in the face of global change.
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Arabic
Arabic remains largely unchanged from over 1,500 years ago, staying close to its roots as the language of the Quran and unifying Arabs from all over the MENA region. It’s true that each Arab country has its own complex dialect today, but they all maintain the same strong connection to classical Arabic. Arabic’s influence goes beyond the Quran with significant contributions to science, mathematics, and literature during the Islamic Golden Age.
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Basque
The unique fact that you need to know about Basque is that it has no known connection to any other language family. Spoken in the Basque Country of northern Spain and southwestern France, Basque is believed to be a language predating the arrival of known European languages in Europe, which makes it a tool we can use to map out the region’s prehistoric linguistic landscape. Not only has Basque persevered through the rise and fall of other languages, its use in education and media is being encouraged today.
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Georgian
Georgian is spoken by around 4 million people residing in Georgia, and its unique script, Mkhedruli, can be traced back to the 5th century CE. Georgian has a rich literary background, making it a highly valued and sought-after language to maintain and learn in spite of Georgia’s history of invasions and political changes.
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Armenian
Around 6 million people in Armenia speak fluent Armenian, aware of its history that spans over 2,500 years. The Armenian alphabet was created to preserve the heritage of the language, covering two main dialects; Eastern and Western, both of which have their set of linguistic features surviving to this day. The language is a crucial asset in preserving the Armenian identity in the face of foreign aggression.
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Irish Gaelic
Irish Gaelic, or Gaeilge, is one of the oldest languages in Europe, with roots tracing back to the Celtic languages spoken over 2,000 years ago. Although its use declined significantly during centuries of English rule, the Irish have experienced a revival in recent decades. Today, it is recognized as the first official language of the Republic of Ireland and is taught in schools, with efforts to promote its use in daily life.
Linguicide: Which Oldest Language In The World Failed To Survive
Languages serve as a way for us to understand the world, so it’s a loss we feel keenly when a language dies out. One of the oldest languages in the world that we lost along the way is Latin, a strong example of a powerful language that lost its presence but not its effect. Latin was the lingua France of the Roman Empire and one of the pillars of Western civilization, originating in the region of Latium in central Italy and becoming the most dominant language across vast territories from Britain to North Africa, and from Spain to the Middle East.
However strong the language was, the fall of the Roman Empire brought with it the fragmentation of Latin into different languages: Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian. These languages carried the legacy of Latin in law, administration, literature, and religion, even when people stopped using Classical Latin in everyday life.
Latin is not the only ancient language the world lost to linguicide. Sumerian, the oldest written language in the world, disappeared as a spoken tongue around 2000 BCE, replaced by Akkadian. Another example is Ancient Egyptian, which thrived for over 4,000 years and then gradually gave way to Coptic and later Arabic after the Arab conquest of Egypt in the 7th century CE. These languages, like Latin, failed to stand in the face of adversity, be it conquests or natural cultural evolution.
(Conclusion)
The story of the oldest languages in the world still spoken, or the oldest dead languages in the world, is a lesson we take in the power of communication and cultural expression in the human experience. A quick look at the oldest known languages in the world to mankind offers us a window into the kind of lives they led and the kind of culture that bound them together. It serves as a reminder that languages are not only a way for us to relay information, it is a fragment of our history and identity.
The fact that some languages survived the test of time like Tamil, Greek, and Persian while others like Latin and Etruscan didn’t make it to today highlights the active effort it takes to hold onto linguistic heritage and how sometimes even that effort isn’t enough to maintain the linguistic diversity in the face of timeless factors like invasion and division. This article encourages the readers to celebrate the richness and diversity of their mother tongue while remaining vigilant to protect its legacy.