Languages are the best way to communicate. Every village, culture, and region has its own language. If you want to learn about the top 10 oldest languages in the world then you are reading the right article. We will discuss all the details regarding the top 10 oldest languages in the world. All languages have rich literature.
Top World’s 10 oldest languages
1. Egyptian – 2690 BC (Circa. 4700 years old)
The Egyptian language is the first known language of the African Continent as well as the first known proto-writing system that was created in Nigeria. This language is 4700 years old and is spoken in Egypt and Africa. Now, the Egyptian language is known as the Coptic language which is mainly used now as the liturgical language of the Coptic Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.
2. Sanskrit -1500 BC (circa 3500 years old)
It is claimed that Sanskrit is the second-oldest language in the world. It is still in use today, with the earliest documents reaching back to about 1500 BCE. Similar to Coptic, Sanskrit is still widely utilized in religious literature and rites in Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. In India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and other countries in South and Southeast Asia, official organizations also commonly use Sanskrit terms and phrases, from missile names to school mottos.
3. Greek -1450 BC (circa. 3500 years old)
The Greek language has evolved from its old scripture. This language is primarily derived from the spoken languages of Greece. The origin of Greek is Mycenaean Greek, which first appeared some 700 years before The Odyssey was published. The approximate origin of the 13.5 million strong modern Greek-speaking population worldwide dates back roughly 3,500 years.
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4. Chinese -1250 BC (circa. 3300 years old)
The Chinese language is known as the oldest spoken language in the world till date. This dates back to 1250 BC and has a very long history. Chinese has numerous dialects. Initially, they were in Oracle bones. Armani is used in Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese, among other dialects. Chinese are the direct descendants of the ancient Chinese and belong to the Sino-Tibetan family. This is one of the theories, however, archaeologists contend that Chinese is actually the language that has existed for the longest. Currently, one of the most extensively used languages in the world is Chinese.
5. Aramaic- 1100 BC (circa. 3100 years old)
Despite being one of the oldest languages in existence, it does not share Iran, Syria, Turkey, or Lebanon’s cultural traditions. The Hebrew and Arabic alphabets are used in this language. It is thought that Armenians spoke this language in prehistoric Syria around 1100 BC. It is the oldest language still in use as a result. After Sanskrit and Coptic, it is one of the oldest languages still spoken today and in its whole. Between 80 million and 10 million people speak this language now.
6. Hebrew -1000 BD (circa. 3000 years old)
This was developed 1,000 years after the Aramaic. It is currently one of the mother tongues spoken the most. It is still being used and resurrected. In the second century, they had their own religious writings, letters, and connections with Jews. Up until the 19th century, this language was extinct, but the Germans brought it back to life. There are currently 9 million people who speak modern Hebrew.
7. Farsi – 522 BC (circa. 2500 years old)
There was no earliest known language from which all Indo-Iranians descend before this. This language has ancient Persian roots. This language is widely used throughout the Persian-speaking world, including in Afghanistan, Iraq, Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Azerbaijan. This language has between 70 million and 110 million native speakers worldwide. It is the Arabic language written in cursive. Dari is the name of the national language of Afghanistan. The main distinction between Dari and Farsi is similar to that between French as spoken in France and Canadian French.
8. Tamil – 300 BC (circa. 2300 years old)
The states of Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Tamil Nadu in India all have this as their official language. A relatively limited history exists for this language. India is where this language first appeared. With time, it has always changed. Tamil is thought to have descended from Proto-Dravidian, the oldest language in the world, which was spoken in the fourth millennium. However, this is impossible to verify because there were no proofs accessible at the time. Pottery and caves also contained remnants of the language. More than 2000 of the poems are still intact. Currently, this language has 75 million native speakers worldwide.
9. Korean – 57 BC –(circa 2100 years old)
The origins of this language go back thousands of years. Both North and South Korea speak original Korean language. There are signs of the Korean language or a proto-language that is related to Korean from around 57 BCE. The 400 BC Chinese language and character system is the basis for the ancient Korean writing system known as Hanja. This language’s phonetics, which were created in the 15th century, was the common tongue at the time. This language has 77 million native speakers today around the world.
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10. Italian -100 BC (circa. 2100 years old)
It’s probable that this language dates back to 75 BCE or even earlier, to 509 BC, when the Roman republic was still in power. Modern-day Italian is descended from Latin. Roman languages with uncertain origins can be identified. It is directly descended from the slang Latin used in Italy during the Roman Empire. This language has 67 million native speakers today.
Conclusion
Indeed, the gift of language is the best and most beneficial one. We are able to communicate everything we desire orally, in writing, or through sign language because of these languages. It’s incredible to learn that the majority of the languages described above are still in use and are spoken by millions and billions of people worldwide.
