Do you know languages like Tamil and Sanskrit are almost 5000 years old?
Before civilizations were carved out, primitive humans used to interact with each other using hand gestures and oral sounds. The concept of language then emerged almost 10,000 years ago, and it led to the development of the human race and changed the course of humanity entirely. While we cannot determine the oldest language in the world, let’s take a look at some of the oldest languages as per ancient scriptures and cave carvings:
Tamil
Tamil is spoken by almost 78 million people across the globe, and it is also the official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore. It is also spoken widely in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and is part of the Dravidian family of languages. It dates back to the 3rd century B.C.
Sanskrit
Sanskrit, unlike Tamil, isn’t widely spoken in India but it is one of the holy languages, as per Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. It also is the base of several European languages.
Egyptian
This language dates back to 3400 BC and is still used as the liturgical language at the Coptic Church in Egypt. Albeit, only a few people can actually speak Egyptian now.
Hebrew
Hebrew is now considered as a liturgical language for Jews, and it became the official language of Israel after a revival.
Greek
The official language of Greece and Cyprus has been used as a written language for over 3,000 years, and people living in Greece and Cyprus still speak Greek.
Lithuanian
Lithuanian has been the base of many Indi-European languages like German, Italian and English, and is closely related to Sanskrit, Latin and Ancient Greek. It is also the official language of the Republic of Lithuania.
Farsi
Farsi is the language that is still spoken in modern-day Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. It is also considered as the descendant of Old Persian language.
Icelandic
It is the national language of Iceland and is spoken in some parts of Denmark, USA and Canada by almost 3,30,000 people. The origins of Icelandic can be traced back to 1068-1148.
Chinese
Chinese is part of the Sino-Tibetan group of languages and is spoken by 1.2 billion people across the world. It is one of the most difficult languages as well as it has many complex dialects. However, it was simplified in 1956 for easy understanding.
Arabic
Arabic is the sacred language of the Quran, and almost 260 million people in the world speak the language today. It has its origins in Urdu and Malay.
These languages have not lost their origins with time and have survived through ages.
