Today, there are over 7,100 languages spoken around the world, but nearly 40% of them are endangered. The history of these languages spans thousands of years, making the quest to identify the oldest ones fascinating.

Ancient Written Languages

Many of the earliest written languages, such as Sumerian, Akkadian, and Egyptian, used cuneiform script and date back at least 4,600 years. Egyptian hieroglyphs, like those found in Pharaoh Seth-Peribsen’s tomb, contain some of the oldest known complete sentences. Historians agree that these languages, although now extinct, have the oldest clear written records.

Still-Spoken Ancient Languages

  • Hebrew and Arabic: These languages have written records dating back around 3,000 years. Both belong to the Afroasiatic language family, which could be as old as 20,000 to 10,000 years, making it one of the oldest language families.
  • Chinese: Likely emerged from Proto-Sino-Tibetan around 4,500 years ago, with the earliest written records dating back about 3,300 years.
  • Sanskrit: Written records date to between 1500 and 1200 BCE, found in ancient Hindu texts. It is no longer a first language today but has greatly influenced many modern Indian languages.
  • Tamil: Spoken by about 85 million people, Tamil has documented literature dating back at least 2,000 years. The Tolkāppiyam, an ancient Tamil text, may be as old as 7,000 to 2,800 years.

Notable Ancient Languages

  • Egyptian: Egypt’s oldest indigenous language, Egyptian Coptic, has written records dating back to 3400 BC. It remained the predominant language in Egypt until the late 17th century AD. Today, it is primarily used in the liturgical practices of the Coptic Church in Egypt.
  • Sanskrit: Known as the ‘language of the gods’ in Hinduism, Sanskrit is crucial for understanding ancient Indian history, scriptures, and philosophy. It has significantly influenced many modern Indian languages such as Hindi, Bengali, and Marathi.
  • Tamil: With roots in the Dravidian family, Tamil is one of the world’s oldest languages, officially recognized in Sri Lanka and Singapore. Inscriptions dating back to the 3rd century BC highlight its ancient origins.
  • Hebrew: Although it stopped being commonly spoken around 400 CE, Hebrew was preserved as a liturgical language among Jews worldwide. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Hebrew was revived and is now the official language of Israel. Modern Hebrew, while different from Biblical Hebrew, is still understandable to native speakers reading ancient texts.