Have you ever asked yourself what the oldest language in the world is? At MosaLingua, like the lovers of language and travel that we are, we like to investigate these types of questions. Today we’ll investigate which language could be called the first language ever, and you’ll learn lots of fun facts about ancient languages. Let’s go!
What Is the Oldest Language in the World?
Determining the first spoken language in the world is a complex and controversial topic. The evolution of human language is a continuous process, and there’s not a unanimous consensus about which language is the very first.
However, there have been investigations on this topic, and there are several theories about what the oldest known languages are.
So, following all these studies, what is the oldest language in the world?
Khoisan languages
According to the comparative method (more on that in a minute), the languages that appear to separate the earliest from the protolanguage—the most recent common ancestor of all of human languages—could be the oldest languages in the world.
Following this hypothesis, the Khoisan languages, spoken in Africa, would be the oldest in the world.
The Khoisan languages, also known as Khoesan or Kohoesaan, are a family of languages spoken by indigenous ethnic groups in the south of Africa. They have a unique structure and distinctive phonetic characteristics, like consonants produced by clicking the tongue.
The Khoisan languages are traditionally spoken in areas of Namibia, Botswana, Angola, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. The speakers of these languages belong to ethnic groups like the Khoikhoi, San, Nama, and many others. Historically, these groups were known as “bushmen,” although that term is considered pejorative now.
Start learning a new language today
Start your free trial now and for the next 15 days, take advantage of our all-in-one-platform.
Vocabulary, grammar, speaking practice and listening. All you need to learn a language efficiently.
It’s free and risk-free to try!
Ancient Sumerian
Another method for determining the age of a language is studying its written form. Following this criterion, which you can read about below, the earliest attested languages would have come from the Middle East.
Sumerian is one of the oldest documented languages. It emerged in ancient Mesopotamia (now Iraq) more than 4000 years ago. Ancient Sumerian and Akkadian civilizations used Sumerian in their administrative, religious, and literary texts.
Ancient Egyptian
Another ancient language is Ancient Egyptian.
Ancient Egyptian was spoken and written in the Nile Valley from around 3100 B.C. until the 4th century A.D. (that is to say, for around 3000 years).
Throughout its existence, Ancient Egyptian experienced changes and evolutions in its structure and vocabulary. This language features a hieroglyphic system of writing, consisting of pictographic symbols that represent objects, animals, concepts, and sounds.
Ancient Egyptian found use in religious, literary, and administrative texts.
Hebrew
Many medieval Christian theologians and a number of Jewish authors from the same period consider classical Hebrew to be the oldest language in the world.
Hebrew evolved from the Knaanic language, spoken in the region of Canaan (now Israel and Palestine) from the second millennium B.C.
Ancient Hebrew, also known as biblical Hebrew, was used in religious and literary texts in the Old Testament of the Bible. Although Hebrew as a spoken language was extinguished in the age of the exile of the Jews, it continued to be used as a liturgic language and for religious study.
However, in the 19th century, a revival of Hebrew as a spoken language began. Eliezer Ben-Yehuda led the Hebrew linguistic revival movement, and as a result, Hebrew became the national language of Israel in the 20th century.
Today, millions of people speak Modern Hebrew, derived from Ancient Hebrew.
Other ancient languages
These aren’t the only languages in the running for oldest language in the world. Akkadian, Ancient Greek, Ancient Chinese, and Ancient Tamil are also among the oldest in the world.
It’s important to keep in mind that all of these languages have evolved over time and, in many cases, have been overtaken by their respective modern forms or other related languages. In addition, due to the lack of ancient written records, we can’t determine the first language spoken by human beings with much certainty.
Here’s a timeline to help you situate some of these ancient languages, along with more modern ones, in history:
- 1200 BC: Ancient Chinese
- 10th century BC: Aramaic (language that Jesus spoke)
- 7th century BC: Latin
- 200 BC: Tamil
- 1st century BC: Sanskrit
- 292 CE: Mayan
- 328: Arabic
- 6th century: Old High German
- 591: Korean
- 700: English
- 769: Old Hindi
- 960-963: Italian
- 1028: Catalan
- ~1100: Russian
- 1440: Vietnamese
- 1470s: Early Modern English
- 1550s: Classical Nahuatl
- 1593: Tagalog
- 1819: Cherokee
- 1844: Afrikaans
Methods for Determining the Oldest Language in the World
How did we come to these conclusions? Linguists and archaeologists use various methods to make inferences and guesses about ancient languages.
Historical method
The historical method involves tracking the oldest written records of the language in question.
Linguists examine ancient historical texts and documents to determine when the written form of the language in question was used for the first time. The further the written evidence dates back, the older the estimated age of the language will be.
Comparative method
The comparative method is based on the idea that languages evolve from earlier forms through systematic changes over time.
Linguists compare similarities and differences between different related languages and use these comparisons to reconstruct a common ancestor, known as a “protolanguage”.
Then, linguists estimate the age of a language by looking at the amount of time that has elapsed since the separation of the protolanguage into different languages.
Archaeological method
The archaeological method involves the study of inscriptions, written in stone, clay tablets, or other ancient objects that contain written records.
These discoveries can provide clues to the existence and age of a particular language, as they are often associated with a specific culture or civilization.
Anthropological method
The anthropological method is centered on the study of linguistic communities and their interactions.
Researchers examine the migrations of human groups to understand how a language has spread through time as the humans who speak it move and migrate.
Studies of linguistic diversity within a given region can also be conducted to infer the relative age of different languages.
Next Steps
If you enjoyed this article, check out some others featuring fun facts about language:
Comments