However, linguists revealed that the following 5 languages are among the oldest living languages around the world. originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world… Spoken in: mainly China, but also other countries around the world. The Tamil language is special, you cannot deny it. While the rest of Europe was speaking their own languages and writing in Latin, the Irish decided that they wanted to write in their own language instead. Tamil ranks 17th amongst the top twenty of the world’s most spoken languages. It’s the official language of Singapore and Sri Lanka, but parts of India and Malaysia use Tamil as well, bringing the total number of speakers to 70 million people worldwide. It belongs to the Dravidian group of languages. Tamil has one of the oldest literary canons of any language in the world, with the earliest piece of Tamil writing, Sangam literature, dating to approximately 300 BCE . By Eric Meisfjord / July 2, 2020 2:28 pm EST. It is the only ancient language that has survived all the way to … 2. According to popular belief, Sanskrit, for instance, is deemed to be the most ancient 'living' language in India. Forming part of the Dravidian language family, which includes a number of languages native mostly to southern and eastern India, it is also the official language of the state of Tamil Nadu. 7. This is a false news. Linguists have postulated over the decades about what it could be related to, but none of the theories have been able to hold water. No matter how you look at it, it’s a complicated, but fascinating question. It’s fun, easy and effective! With Mondly, you’ll get more every day. Required fields are marked *. Unknown to the modern world until the 19th century when Assyriologists began deciphering its cuneiform inscriptions, written Sumerian can be divided into several time periods: Archaic Sumerian (31st–26th century BC), Old or Classical Sumerian (26th–23rd century BC), Neo-Sumerian (23rd–21st century BC), Late Sumerian (20th–18th century BC) and Post-Sumerian (after 1700 BC). In many cases, Finnish has retained these loan words closer to their original form than the language that they came from. Then, Primitive Irish transitioned into Old Irish through the 5th century. Naturally, linguists began to wonder whether we should be dating the Tamil language at least a couple of thousand years before Tolkāppiyam. According to a survey, 1863 newspapers are published in the Tamil language only every day. The oldest surviving text of this language is the translation of the Bible, which was translated during the 5 th The language is still spoken by about 5 million people. The Greek language holds an important place in history thanks to its rich literature that includes epic poems such as Iliad and Odyssey. You might also like: How The Iranian Horror Film Under the Shadow Scared a Bunch of Critics. Sumerian was gradually replaced by Akkadian as a spoken language around 2000 BC, but it continued to be used as a literary, ceremonial, scientific and sacred language until the 1st century AD. Unlike Tamil, which is widely used, Sanskrit stopped being a common language around 600 BC. Tamil ranks 17th amongst the top twenty of the world's most spoken languages. Due to the presence of these ancient features in Lithuanian, it is considered as one of the oldest of the living languages. Korean. Renowned philologists have agreed that the Lithuanian is not only the oldest language in the world today, but the language used by Aryans before the invention of evolution of Sanskrit. Out of these, a third are now endangered. In Sanskrit skanda purana the writer vyasar says that tamil is born in podhigaimalai and we’re developed by saint Agathiar. That could be ‘oldest documented language’, or ‘oldest that we’ve been able to reconstruct’. You’ll speak like a native in no time. Tamil ranks 17th amongst the top twenty of the world’s most spoken languages. Icelandic is another Indo-European language, this time from the North Germanic branch (just for comparison, English is also a Germanic language, but from the West Germanic branch). THE FAKE NEWS This piece of news is doing the round of the internet naming Kannada as the oldest living language in the world. Even in that the result says that each and every person in ancient Tamil Nadu, keezhadi had literated. The ancestor of Farsi or Persian is Old Persian, a language that is first attested in the inscriptions of Darius I who ruled between 522 and 486 BC. Old Arabic is the ancestor of the Arabic language and it is believed that its earliest inscription is a prayer to the three gods of the Transjordanian Canaanite kingdoms dated to the early 1st millennium BC. Tamil is said to be 5000 years old. These ladies are some of the last fluent speakers of one of the world’s oldest living languages. While not a language island in the same sense as Basque, there are only four Kartvelian languages, all spoken by minorities within Georgia, and they are all unrelated to any other languages in the world. It developed further into Middle Korean to Modern Korean. The earliest inscriptions in Tamil Brahmi date back to the 4thcentury BC, although the language is considered to be a lot older (over 2,200 years old). Other very old languages that are now extinct are: The same as everything else in the world, languages have a life cycle. Among several postulations, one popular theory is that the early forms of Basque existed way before Indo-European languages settled in the region, including the Romance languages that predominate the countries surrounding Basque-speaking regions. Thus, it’s debatable whether the Greek language we speak today is indeed 3400 years old or not. According to … Dating back to at least 3500 BC, the oldest proof of written Sumerian was found in today’s Iraq, on an artifact known as the Kish Tablet. The indigenous languages of the first peoples of Australia - the oldest living culture in the world, some 30,000 plus years is not on the list as a continuously spoken language. The truth about schools & foreign languages: the good, the bad and the ugly. What is the oldest language ever discovered? There are 7,097 living languages in the world today. Thus, if you feel like it, you can start learning one right now. The origin of the language has been traced back to 1250 BC in the late Shang dynasty. The earliest Hebrew writings that have been discovered, date back to 3,000 years ago. Following the comments concerning the intricate historical relationship between Macedonia and Bulgaria, we at The Culture Trip would like indicate that, despite the complexities, the prevailing academic consensus outside of the region is that Bulgarian and the language known as Macedonian are distinct. Kannada is part of Dravidian Languages and it 2nd among Dravidian Languages after Tamil. All Romance languages are descended from Latin, and many words based on Latin are found in other modern languages such as English. Tamil is the oldest living language of India and the world. Yes the written script found in 20% of excavation shows that Tamizh is 2500 years but it is surely said that is born before 4000 to 5000 years ago. Tamil is the official language of the state of Tamil Nadu, and also has official status in Sri Lanka and Singapore. It has things in common with Greek, Latin and Sanskrit. But their timeless metamorphosis makes it hard for historians and linguists to determine what are the oldest languages in the world. Get daily language tips and fun facts by following us on: What Are the Oldest Languages in the World Still Widely Spoken Today? There are 32 different dialects of the Mayan language, and all of them can be traced back to the original, which comes from the third century. Your email address will not be published. Although many believe Sanskrit to be an extinct language, 24,800 people have registered Sanskrit as their mother tongue at the 2011 census. Imagine a world where beings don’t communicate. They are born, then grow, sometimes mutate and eventually die. Sanskri… The Greek language holds an important place in history thanks to its rich literature that includes epic poems such as Iliad and Odyssey. In many ways, it’s as close as you’ll get to Proto-Indo-European. Hebrew is a Northwest-Semitic language that is native to Israel. Latin was the language of the victors of many wars and battles fought on theItalian peninsula. “This new DNA study powerfully confirms that Aboriginal Australians are one of the oldest living populations in the world, certainly the oldest outside of Africa,” agrees evolutionary biologist Professor Darren Curnoe of UNSW. Quick Daily Lessons. It gained most importance when it became the formal language of the Roman Empire. Oldest living language in World is obviiously Kannada. Around 1.2 billion people consider Chinese to be their first language. Kannada is part of Dravidian Languages and it 2nd among Dravidian Languages after Tamil. As the earliest speakers of Modern Hebrew often had Yiddish as their native language, Modern Hebrew has in many ways been influenced by this other Jewish language. It is mainly spoken in Iran, Georgia, Russia, and Ukraine. If you enjoyed this article, why not check out the great pieces in our Explore Your World Through Language campaign. NEWS FEATURES HISTORY WEIRD ENTERTAINMENT SCIENCE CRIME. 2 million. Join over 1 million people enjoying our ocassional language tips, special offers and much more. It’s so fun, you’ll become addicted. The only thing that’s clear is that it existed in that area before the arrival of the Romance languages—that is, before the Romans got there with the Latin that would eventually develop into French and Spanish. 8. Irish Gaelic That said, each of the languages below has a little something special—something ancient—to differentiate it from the masses. The Old Korean was used during the period of the Three Kingdoms, where the Unified Silla was the most dominant. different than for this next living oldest language is Kannada and sufficient numbers of proofs are there and that's been proved and known and regarded … The earliest Tamil writing is attested in inscriptions and potsherds from the 5th century BC. It's time to go back in time and find out what is the oldest living language on Earth. Along with Tamil, Chinese is one of the oldest surviving languages in the world. When Agathiar is lived back 5000 years ago. Only 5% of archaeological survey in India and only 17% to 20% archaeological excavation work done in keezhadi. All of the world’s modern populations can be traced back to one single “Out Of Africa” migration roughly 72,000 years ago, a 2016 study discovered. The language family that most European languages belong to is Indo-European, but they started splitting apart from each other probably around 3500 BCE. How did the first words our ancestors spoke sound like? Please find more details at the verification section of this article. If you don’t believe us, read our article on the history of the Macedonian language. Learn Tagalog Online in Just 10 Minutes a Day. They only started splitting off from their common ancestor, Common Slavic (or Proto-Slavic), when Cyril and Methodius standardized the language, creating what is now called Old Church Slavonic, and created an alphabet for it. However, from the 18th century on, the language began to lose ground. Tamil, a language spoken by about 78 million people and recognized as an official language of India, Sri Lanka, and Singapore, is the only classical language that has survived all the way through to the modern world. Current number of speakers: 1.2 million users. The antiquity of Lithuanian language and its grammatical structure place it in the same period with the oldest Sanskrit – 2000 B.C. Tamil, currently the official language of TamilNadu, India is the oldest living language in the world. The Korean language is considered as one of the oldest living languages in the world. The Tamil language is recognized as the oldest language in the world and it is the oldest language of the Dravidian family. Still, there are languages on Earth that have been on people’s lips for thousands of years and continue to exist to this day. We dive into the history of ancient language and what remains to this day. Tamil is the oldest living language of India and the world. And out of this third, many have less than 1,000 speakers remaining. These records are in the form of short inscriptions found in caves and on pottery. Unfortunately, at the moment there is no archaeological evidence to support this claim, so experts stick to the original findings. The true number is uncertain as not all supercentenarians are known to researchers at a given time and some claims cannot be validated or are fraudulent. Sometime in the 2nd century BC, Egyptian began to be written in the Coptic alphabet (an adaptation of the Greek alphabet), so the Coptic language can be considered the latest stage of the Egyptian language. The Hebrew language is the only living Canaanite language that is still in use at present. Chinese is the first language for the most number of people in the world. Armenian is still a living language and its first language speakers are about 5 million. And history says spoken language appeared 10,000 years ago. Somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, people stopped using Hebrew as their spoken language and eventually it … For whatever reason, Lithuanian has kept more of the sounds and grammar rules from PIE than any of its linguistic cousins, and can therefore be called one of the oldest languages in the world. According to Harald Haarmann, a German linguistic and cultural scientist says the Danube script predates the Sumerian writings and should be considered as the oldest writing in the world.The inscriptions in tablets found from the Danube Valley Civilization date back to at least 5,500 BC, and the mysterious symbols that make up the written language are yet to be deciphered. The current holder of the organisation’s official accolade for oldest person ever is a French woman called Jeanne Louise Calment, who died in 1997 aged 122 years and 164 days. or earlier. 9.4K likes. Lithuania Number of speakers:3 million Lithuanian is a good example of why it’s so hard to answer the question “What is the oldest living language?” On one hand, the earliest written record we have of Lithuanian is from 1500 AD. Here are some of the oldest languages in the world still spoken today. It belongs to the Dravidian group of languages. But we can never know for sure because no one was there to confirm. Post Information: Below post has been circulating on social media It’s the official language of Singapore and Sri Lanka, but parts of India and Malaysia use Tamil as well, bringing the total number of speakers to 70 million people worldwide. Sanskrit was the lingua franca of ancient and medieval India and the first written record of it can be found in Rigveda, a collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. The main languages of the three south Caucasian countries, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, come from three entirely different language families—respectively Indo-European, Turkic, and Kartvelian. Lewis Carroll was actually Charles Dodgson, an Anglican cleric, a mathematician, and a man who took great delight in the play of words. Shutterstock. While there are many claims that older tablets from various places around the world represent the oldest writing, the Kish tablet is widely regarded as the oldest writing in the world that has been confirmed. Modern Persian took form around 800 CE, and one of the things that differentiates it from many modern languages is that it has changed relatively little since then. There are approximately 420 million Arabic speakers in the world today, certainly making it the oldest language on earth that is still in use by a vast majority of the population. The Tamil language is recognized as the oldest language in the world and it is the oldest language of the Dravidian family. It belongs to the Dravidian group of languages. How does that world look like? Original Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQOvVXnMgkE Disclaimer: All rights belong to the original owners. Spoken in: Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Russia, Azerbaijan and Afghanistan. Kannada is one of the Dravidian languages but is younger than Tamil. 3. The Korean language is considered as one of the oldest living languages in the world. originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world… Chinese: Chinese is the single most spoken language in the world today with around 1.2 billion people wh consider it their first language. (SPAM) Kannada is The Oldest Living Language in the World. Tamil is one of the official languages of India, Sri Lanka and Singapore. Korean. The origin of the language has been traced back to 1250 BC in the late Shang dynasty. But we should ask Claire and Jamie Fraser to tell us more about this story, shouldn’t we? Spoken by 78 million people and official language in Sri Lanka and Singapore, Tamil is the oldest language in the world. This makes it a contender for the title of oldest language in the world. The tablet was found in Iraq at the site of the ancient Sumerian city … An official language of Sri Lanka, Singapore and two Indian states, Tamil is still spoken by approximately 70 million people across the world. Then, it continued to be used throughout the medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic literature and poetry. The Basque language is the ultimate linguistic mystery. They came from somewhere just north of Greece, probably in what is now known as Macedonia (or the Republic of Macedonia or FYROM following Macedonian naming disputes), and Macedonian (together with its very close relative Bulgarian) is the language that is most closely related to Old Church Slavonic today. Languages have shaped humanity for ages and continue to do so even today. It is the only continuous legacy of the ancient Spartans and one of the oldest languages … Tamil is the origin of all langauges in India as said by the top comment is absolute bullshit. Your email address will not be published. The written origins of the language have been traced back to 1250 BC in the late Shang dynasty. How would you feel knowing you are able to speak one of the oldest living languages in the world? Well, this is your lucky day because Mondly can help you learn 5 of these languages. Although Irish Gaelic is only spoken as a native language by a small majority of Irish people nowadays, it has a long history behind it. You’ve probably heard of Persian, and it’s actually the same language, under a different name. And here are the top 10 oldest languages in the world. Greek was also mentioned in the “extinct languages” category because Mycenaean Greek is the precursor of Modern Greek. Sanskrit was the lingua franca of medieval-and-ancient India. Thus, given this evidence, Sumerian can also be considered the first language in the world. -- Become a Patron! 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