7 Oldest Languages In The World That Are Still Widely Used!
If you are a person who likes to learn about different ancient languages, read on to know more.
Humans used to only be able to express themselves by hand gestures and rudimentary vocalizations before the emergence of civilizations, kingdoms, and societal conventions. Then, around 10 thousand years ago, the idea of languages appeared, altering the direction of human history. Languages are what got us to what we are today as a species. Many of the world's earliest languages have been preserved in ancient texts and cave paintings, notwithstanding the widespread disagreement on where language initially emerged.
Tamil
Tamil is the world's longest-living language and is the de facto language of the government in Sri Lanka & Singapore, where 78 million people speak it. Unlike any other dead language, this one has made it to the contemporary era. Tamil is one of India's official languages and the most frequently used language in the province of Tamil Nadu. It is a member of the Dravidian family, which includes the native southern & eastern Indian languages. Tamil writings have been uncovered that date back to the third century B.C.
Sanskrit
Sanskrit, the world's oldest language, went out of use in approximately 600 B.C., in contrast to Tamil, which is still spoken frequently today. A liturgical language presently found in the texts of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The Rigveda, a book of Vedic Sanskrit poems composed sometime in the second millennium B.C., is the earliest surviving written example of Sanskrit. Studies have shown that Sanskrit is a foundational language for several European tongues and remains an official language in India today.
Egyptian
Egypt is one of the world's oldest civilizations, and its Coptic language is among the world's oldest. It's an ancient language, with written evidence of its use dating back to 3400 BC. After the Muslim conquest of Egypt in the seventh century A.D., Egyptian Arabic gradually supplanted Coptic as the language of everyday life. The Coptic Church of Egypt maintains the tradition of using Coptic in its liturgical services. The number of native speakers of this language has dwindled to a tiny fraction of the population.
Hebrew
Around 400 CE, Hebrew began to fall out of use outside Jewish ritual contexts. Zionism's emergence in the 18th and 19th centuries ushered in a golden period for the Hebrew language, ultimately leading to its status as Israel's official tongue. Even if there are differences between Biblical Hebrew and Modern Hebrew spoken today, the natural speakers of both languages can understand each other well. Several different Jewish languages have left their mark on modern Hebrew.
Basques
Only a tiny fraction of the populations of Spain and France are native speakers of Basque. However, it has zero connections to Spanish, French, or any other language. For years, linguists have tried to piece together the history of this mystery tongue, but no explanation has stood the test of time. The Basque language clearly predates the spread of Romance languages in Europe, and it has persisted through the ages in isolated communities across the continent.
Farsi
Today, people in modern-day Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan all speak Farsi as their native tongue. When the Persian Empire was at its peak, its official language was Old Persian, from which Farsi evolved. The development of the modern Persian language began approximately 800 CE and has been characterized by minimal modification. Somebody fluent in Persian may take up a manuscript from 900 CE & read it with far less effort than even an English speaker would have in reading an English work from the time of Shakespeare.
Chinese
In all, roughly 1.2 billion individuals can communicate in Chinese. Mandarin Chinese is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. There are various idiomatic variations of the language. Around 3000 years ago, Chinese characters were created. These hieroglyphs date back to the Shang Dynasty, which flourished from the 16th to the 11th century B.C. However, the written form was streamlined in 1956 to make it easier to read and write.
