1/3/22, 11:59 AM What are the Oldest Languages in The World Still Used?

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12 Oldest Languages In The World Still Widely Used!

Once upon a time, before civilizations were formed, kingdoms were established, and before the norms of society were
created, humans used to communicate using hand gestures and primitive oral sounds. The concept of languages
emerged about 10,000 years ago and it changed the course of humanity. It is the use of languages that led to the
development of human race and took us where we are today. Though the origin of the first-ever language is highly
debated throughout the world, certain ancient scriptures and cave carvings reveal some of the oldest languages in the
world.

1. Tamil (5000 years old) - Oldest Living Language of the World

Source
Spoken by 78 million people and official language in Sri Lanka and Singapore, Tamil is the oldest language in the world. It is
the only ancient language that has survived all the way to the modern world. Part of the Dravidian family, which comprises
of some native southern and eastern Indian languages, Tamil is the most widely spoken language in the stateAccept
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of Tamil
Nadu and is also one of the official languages of India. Inscriptions dating back to the 3rd century B.C have been found in
il
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1/3/22, 11:59 AM What are the Oldest Languages in The World Still Used?

Tamil.

2. Sanskrit (5000 years old) - World's Oldest Language

Source
Unlike Tamil, which is still a widely spoken language, Sanskrit is the oldest language in the world but fell out of common
usage around 600 B.C. It is now a liturgical language - the holy languages found in the scriptures of Hinduism, Buddhism
and Jainism. The first written record of Sanskrit can be found in Rigveda, a collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns, which was
written in somewhere around 2nd millennium B.C. According to studies, Sanskrit forms the base for many European
languages and is still one of India's official languages.

3. Egyptian (5000 years old)

Source
Egypt is considered to be one of the oldest civilizations in the world, and Egyptian Coptic is the oldest indigenous
language of Egypt. Written records of its usage date back to 3400 BC, making it an ancient language. Coptic was the most
widely spoken language in Egypt till the late 17th century AD until it was replaced by Egyptian Arabic, post-Muslim
invasion. Coptic is still used as the liturgical language at the Coptic Church in Egypt. Only a handful of people fluently
speak the language today.
4. Hebrew (3000 years old)

Source
Hebrew lost common usage around 400 CE and is now preserved as a liturgical language for Jews across the world. With
the rise of Zionism in the 19th and 20th century, Hebrew underwent a revival age and became the official language
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Israel. Though the Modern Hebrew differs from the Biblical version, native speakers of the language can completely
h d h t i itt i th
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1/3/22, 11:59 AM What are the Oldest Languages in The World Still Used?
comprehend what is written in the ancient texts. Modern Hebrew in many ways is influenced by other Jewish languages.

5. Greek (2900 years old)

Source
Greek is the official language of Greece and Cyprus and was first spoken in Greece and Asia Minor, which is now a part of
Turkey. Greek has an uninterrupted history of being used as a written language for over 3,000 years, which is longer than
any other Indo-European languages spoken today. This history is divided into three stages, Ancient Greek, Medieval
Greek, and Modern Greek. Over 15 million people, mostly residing in Greece and Cyprus, speak Greek today. Countries like
the United States and Australia also have large Greek-speaking communities.
6. Basque (2200 years old)

Source
Basque is spoken natively by a small population of people residing in Spain and France. However, it is completely
unrelated to French and Spanish, or any other languages in the world. Linguists have contemplated for centuries about
the roots of this mysterious language, but none of the theories has been able to hold water. One thing that's clear is that
Basque existed in Europe way before the arrival of Romance languages and has survived through ages in tiny nook and
corners of the area.  
7. Lithuanian (5000 years old)

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1/3/22, 11:59 AM What are the Oldest Languages in The World Still Used?

Source
Lithuanian forms a part of the group of the Indo-European language, which gave birth to various modern languages like
German, Italian and English. Lithuanian is closely related to Sanskrit, Latin and Ancient Greek, and has retained the
sounds and grammar rules from the ancient era in a far better way than any of its linguistic cousins. It is thus considered
amongst one of the oldest languages in the world. Today, Lithuanian serves as the official language of the Republic of
Lithuania and is also one of the official languages of the European Union. It is protected by special institutions and
linguistic laws.
8. Farsi (2500 years old)

Source
Farsi is the common language spoken in modern day Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Farsi is the direct descendant of Old
Persian language, which was the official language of the Persian Empire. Modern Persian emerged around 800 CE, and it
has changed sparsely since then. Speakers of Persian language could pick up a piece of writing from 900 CE and read it
with comparatively less difficulty than an English speaker could read the English texts from the times of Shakespeare for
instance.

9. Irish Gaelic (1500 years old)

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Source
Irish Gaelic, Gaelic, Erse, or Irish has 2,76,000 speakers around the world. Irish Gaelic has Celtic origins from the Bronze
Age. However, the literary tradition can be traced back to the 6th century AD. The Irish language is related to Manx,
Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish and Breton languages. Oldest inscriptions of the language can be seen in Ogham stones
of the 5th and 6th century AD.

10. Icelandic (1200 years old)

Source
Icelandic, the national language of Iceland, is spoken by 3,30,000 people. Icelandic in also spoken in some parts of
Denmark, USA and Canada. Icelandic is a North Germanic Language. The language had been developed from Norse which
was brought by the settlers of Norway in the 9th and 10th century. The written scripts of Icelandic are quite similar to Old
Norse and can be traced back in the works of Ari the Learned (1068-1148).

11. Chinese (6000 years old)

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Source
Chinese is spoken by about 1.2 billion people in the world. Chinese belongs to the Sino-Tibetan group of languages. The
language has many complex dialects. The Chinese characters are about 3000 years ago. The hieroglyphs can be traced
back to the Shang Dynasty of 16th - 11th century BC. However, the written script was simplified just recently in 1956 for
the ease of understanding.

12. Arabic (1500 years old)

Source
Arabic is the language of the Quran, therefore it is a sacred language. Arabic is spoken by about 260 million people. Arabic
has many dialects and is the origin of languages like Urdu and Malay. Some English words like sugar, algebra, alcohol and
emir have Arabic origins.

Thousands of languages came into existence ever since the creation of the first-ever language. Many languages among
them are lost in time and are now only found in legends; having survived through ages and are still used in different parts
of the world. These are nothing but a testament to the human spirit and the fact that some things never die.

This post was published by Shubham Jain

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Sekar Pandi
I am proud of the Tamil numeral
Like · Reply · 1 · 2y

Rajith Str
Tamilan
Like · Reply · 1 · 2y

Mariappan
tamilan da
Like · Reply · 3 · 2y

Víkash Kumar
Im North indian from Rajasthan

but my birth place and my living place is in Tamil nadu

so i proud to say Tamilanda....

Like · Reply · 4 · 2y

Show 5 more replies in this thread

Jogaram Chandora
Sanskrit is oldest language in the world and Tamil was dervied from Sanskrit.

But some culprits are blind followers of Britisher's conspiracy

Pround on sanskrit

And proud on tamil

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Like · Reply website, you agree to our usage of cookies.
1 · 2y Accept
Shantha Kumar
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1/3/22, 11:59 AM What are the Oldest Languages in The World Still Used?

வரலாறு இல் லை கடலுக்குள் மூழ்கி ய லெமுரியா கண் டம் அகழ்வு

ஆராய் தல் உண் மை புலப்படும்
Like · Reply · 1 · 2y

Shivatej Sangishetti
Tamil not derived from sanskrit stop saying nonsense without knowing facts
Like · Reply · 2 · 2y

Naveen Mudgal
Shivatej Sangishetti both are oldest language is related to us we proud for both of the
language
Like · Reply · 2y

Show 10 more replies in this thread

Mariapillai Mookiah
When some research have been done rarely the researcher he/she claims it is perfect. Look out for
many more studies to take place and bring more and more perfection to the subject. It is not
possible to totally rule out one finding. Or say this is final . One says Sanskrit came from Tamil. For
which he may have his own evidences. If another knows, it better share and make the conclusion
rich. Researchers in a matter like this cannot go for street goons approaches to establish the truth
or the correct conclusion. No heart feelings or sentiments.
Like · Reply · 2y

Jaiprakash Mudaliar
TAMIL is the most ancient language of the world. Thirukkural written before 2000 years can be
easily understood. Thirukkural is a master piece work.

Bharathanattiyam the oldest classical dance, which is originated from Tamil Nadu.

Carnatic music which is oldest classical music again has roots in Tamil nadu,

Siddha medicine system which is popularly known as Tamil maruthuvam, again oldest one.

Indus valley civilization oldest civilization of the world.

The Kumari kandam sunken world is one more proof.

Jallikattu the festival celebrated more than 2000 years.

Pongal festival, the biggest harvest festival.

Shiva the God of the God is again Tamil God.......

Many more proofs are there.… See More

Like · Reply · 2y

Anil K
haha. you wont stop there do you? The air in the world also is a tamil air, water we all drink
came from tamil water, tamil god, tamil goddess, etc. stop competing with useless
content.it doesnt matter how old it is.what matters is how much it contributes to modern
world and if it helps in making lives better.afterall, language is just a medium of
communication.
Like · Reply · 31w · Edited

தமிழினமே விழித்தெழு
Anil Reddy, வரலாறு என் பதே ஒரு இனத்தின் அடையாளம் . அது உன் போன் ற
நபர்களுக்கு இப்போது புரியாது.

ஆம் .. உனக்கு தான் வரலாறு முக்கியம் இல் லையே.. வரலாறு முக்கியம்

இல் லை என் றால் முன் னோர்கள் முக்கியமில் லையே.. பிறகு ஏன் அவர்கள்
சொல் லியபடி சோற்றை தின் கிறாய் ?
Like · Reply · 2y

Ganesh Subramanian
Anil Reddy
Like · Reply · 2y

Show 10 more replies in this thread

Nilabh Verma
You must be a Tamilian because only a fanatic Tamlian can say Tamil is older than Sanskrit. First go
and get some knowledge. Also you people really need to clean the shit from your mind which Mr.
Erod Venkatappa Ramasamy put in your minds, just to be considered as father of mordern
Tamilnadu. The concept of Aryans and Dravids are also one of his gift to you guys. Wake up!
Like · Reply · 1 · 31w · Edited

Srishti Sivan
Yes Mr. Nilabh please get some knowledge before concluding something just because you
don't like that to be as a fact. Cleaning is required not for us but for you. Just clean the
ignorance befor saying something. Atleast google something to gain knowledge. Free of
cost and you don't have to pay for it. Just spend some time to know the facts. Hunt for
Lemuria continent which is no more today and the history, probably you won't even try to
By continuing to use thisit.website,
believe Because you agree
you are notto our ofusage
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archelogical or sense of logical departments. Accept
Like · Reply · 2y
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Ravi Kumar
Central government also knows that tamil is older than Sanskrit. PM also said that tamil is
older than Sanskrit, most of the people unaware. History is evaluating everyday.
Like · Reply · 2y

Balamurugan Jayabal
you must be a Bhakt, because only a bhaktas (fanatic) can say Sanskriti
Like · Reply · 2y

Show 7 more replies in this thread

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