Oldest Languages

Among the oldest written languages discovered in the form of cuneiform clay tablets are Hittite, Babylonian and Sumerian, dating to about 6,000 years ago, according to linguist Peter J. Wright.

Adamic, according to Jewish and some Christian traditions, is the language spoken by Adam (and possibly Eve) in the Garden of Eden. It is variously interpreted as either the language used by God to address Adam, or the language invented by Adam with which he named all things, as in the second Genesis creation narrative.

Hebrew, is about 3000 years old. It is currently the official language of Israel, after its extinction, the Israeli people revived it. On the basis of a variety of arguments, modern scholars generally see the completed Torah as a product of the time of the Persian Achaemenid Empire probably (450–350 BC), although some would place its composition in the Hellenistic period (circa 333–164 BC).

Arabic, has been around for more than 2,500 years. Historians believe that the Arabic language came from Arabian Peninsula. Old Arabic was the beginning of Arabic dialects. Safaitic dialect is the earliest dialect in old Arabic, which the Syro-Arabian desert nomadic tribes used. According to the traditional Muslim belief and Islamic scholarly accounts, the revelation of the Holy Quran began in (AD 610) over a period of 23 years. Its compilation, which all Muslims accepted, was made during the rule of the third caliph, 'Uthmān ibn 'Affān (AD 644–656).

Greek, has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, or possibly earlier. The earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between (1450–1350 BC), making Greek the world's oldest recorded living language. The New Testament is a collection of Christian texts originally written in the Koine Greek language, at different times by various authors.

Old Armenian, was first spoken more than 3,000 years ago. Armenians call their language Hayeren or Haieren, and they refer to themselves as Hay. However, according to tradition, the unique Armenian alphabet was created in (AD 405) by the cleric Mesrop Mashtots, who based some letters on those in the Greek alphabet. Armenian of the 5th–7th centuries (Grabar, sometimes called Classical or Old Armenian) was employed as the literary language into modern times.

Egyptian, has two main forms: “Old Egyptian”, which was used from around (2600–2000 BC) and “Middle Egyptian”, which was used from around (2000–1300 BC). The last phase of the Egyptian language is called “Demotic” and was used from around (AD 700–400), and comes from the Afro-Asiatic language family. There is considerable and varied literature in Egyptian today surviving as the liturgical language of the Coptic Church.

Latin, is briefly about 2,700 years old. The birth of Latin took place around (700 BC) in a small settlement sloping up towards Palatine Hill. The speakers of this language were called Romans, after their legendary founder, Romulus.

Old Mandarin, emerged as the language of northern China during the Jin and Yuan dynasties, it is one of the oldest written languages on record with at least six thousand years of history. Chinese character inscriptions have been found in turtle shells dating back to the Shang dynasty1 (c. 1766–1123 BC) proving the written language has existed for more than 3,000 years, whereas, Cantonese is believed to have originated after the fall of the Han Dynasty in (AD 220). Linguists classify all of the variations of spoken Chinese as part of the Sino-Tibetan family and believe that there was an original language, called Proto-Sino-Tibetan, similar to Proto Indo-European, from which the Sinitic and Tibeto-Burman languages descended.

Aramaic, is thought to have first appeared among the Aramaeans about the late 11th century BC. By the 8th century BC it had become accepted by the Assyrians as a second language. It is best known as the language Jesus spoke.

Sanskrit, is part of the Indo-Aryan languages developed and emerged in three stages, Old Indo-Aryan (1500–600 BC), Middle Indo-Aryan stage (600 BC–AD 1000), and New Indo-Aryan between (AD 1000–1300). Sanskrit is still the official language of India.

Tamil, is more than 5000 years old and its literature is vast and varied. Tamil is one of the longest surviving classical languages in the world.

Persian, is divided into three eras: Old Persian (c. 525–300 BC), Middle Persian (c. 300 BC–AD 800), and Modern Persian (AD 800–to date). ('Persian' is the term used by English speakers and 'Farsi' is the term used by Iranian speakers). The history of the Farsi language spans almost 3,000 years. Its origins can be traced back to the Achaemenid Dynasty (522–486 BC), thanks to inscriptions found in Iran from this period. Back then, the language was known as the Old Persian language and was spoken by Persian people in the Parswash tribe.

Akkadian, is among the world's oldest written Semitic languages and the first connected texts (in Old Akkadian) date from about (2400 BC). It was written in cuneiform (wedge-shaped) script, which developed from a pictorial forerunner first attested in the area in (c. 3300 BC).

Sumerian, can be considered one of the first languages in the world, according to Mondly. The oldest proof of written Sumerian was found on the Kish tablet in today's Iraq, dating back to approximately (3500 BC).

Indo-European, initially diverged between 7800–9800 years ago, with the best guess being around 8700 years.

Russian, can be traced back about 4000–6000 years ago. At this time, the language known as Indo-European was beginning to split, with various communities of speakers migrating away from their homeland in the areas of modern-day Ukraine and Southwest Russia, forming their own dialects in the process.

Hittite, is the oldest Indo-European language known, older than Greek, Latin, or Sanskrit. It is related to modern-day languages like English: the Hittite word for “water” is watar! Hittite ("Ne?a", or ne?umnili / "the language of the people of Ne?a"), also known as Nesite (Ne?ite / Neshite, or Nessite), is an extinct Indo-European language that was spoken by the Hittites, people of the forgotten Hittite Empire of Bronze Age Anatolia…

Food for thought!