Languages are the most important part of any individual’s life. They allow you to communicate ideas with others. For quite a long time, people used hand gestures to communicate. Slowly with the advent of time, languages started to develop to improve the means of communication.
With around 7,000 languages acceptable worldwide it is quite difficult to choose one internationally accepted language. There are also languages which have become extinct with the passage of time. It is quite difficult to identify which language is the oldest.
Different older languages used in recent times
We discuss here many of the older languages which are popular among a large number of people. Each of these languages has their own unique importance based on where they are adopted.
- Latin: Latin first appeared during 75 BC. There is even an older version of Latin. The Roman Empire also chose to make Latin their formal language. This increased the importance of Latin among a large number of individuals. Latin is still an official language in the Vatican and in Poland.
- Armenian: Armenian is considered to have originated from the Indo-European Family. The oldest surviving text of this language is the translation of the Bible, which was translated during the 5th The language is still spoken by about 5 million people. It is mainly spoken in Iran, Georgia, Russia, and Ukraine.
- Korean: This is one of the oldest living languages in the world. It is mainly an isolated language which came from Proto-Korean and also Old Korean. There was even a development in the Korean Language from Middle Korean to Modern Korean. This language is most commonly spoken in South and North Korea. It also includes other regions such as Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Japan, and even China.
- Hebrew: The first script which was found in this language is from the period 1000 BC. The language is about 3,000 years old and is also the official language of Israel. Many people consider Hebrew as holy because of its extensive usage in religious texts. During the period of 200 CE to 400 CE, the language almost disappeared.
- Aramaic: This language has donated many of the words which are related to the Arabic and Hebrew Languages. The number of the oldest languages is also based on the different diplomatic documents available. Several countries, including Lebanon, Israel, Syria, Iran, Iraq, among others use modern Aramaic.
- Chinese: The first ever script which appeared in this language was from the period of 1250 BC., thus making this language about 3,000 years old. It is currently the language with the most first language speakers. About 1.24 billion people speak Chinese as their first language.
- Greek: The Greek language made its first appearance during the period of 1450 BC. Around 13 million people in Cyprus, Albania, and Greece speak the language. Its long history makes it one of the oldest languages spoken in Europe. This language is a branch of the Indo European language family, which has documents dating back over 34 centuries.
- Egyptian: One of the oldest languages in the world and which has existed for 4,700 years. The autobiographical writings which are on Egyptian Walls were mainly created during the period of 2600 BC to 2000 BC. The recently discovered post from the temple gate located in Philae has hieroglyphics from the period of 396 CE.
- Sanskrit: Sanskrit influenced many of the other languages used in Europe. It is believed that the language came from Tamil. This language is basically around 4,000 years old and is believed to be the language of several classics in India. It is an official language in the Indian Peninsula despite its limited usage.
- Tamil: If we think of Tamil in order of appearance then it can be considered as one of the oldest languages, as it is about 5,000 years old. It made its first appearance in about 300 BC. The literature collection in this language is vast enough with varied experiences. Tamil is still a living language and there are a number of publications available in Tamil.
Takeaways
Thus, we can say that while some of the older languages are still used, some are now dead. We should consider their importance by identifying how important they are in our lives. They are still also used by a number of individuals worldwide and learned by them.
