9 Oldest Languages Of The World

Languages play a significant role in civilizations. Figuring out just how old a language is can be challenging and sometimes controversial. Linguists often determine age by when a language first surfaced in writing.

While some languages evolve and others die out, the concept of structured language is believed to have been around for 10,000 years. If you could travel back in time, which of these ancient languages would you choose to speak?

Tamil – 300 BC to Present

Tamil is one of the oldest classical languages still in use today, spoken by over 75 million people. It has more than 2,000 years of recorded literature, with the earliest records on rock edicts dating from the 3rd century BC.

Sanskrit – 1500 BC to Present

Considered a sacred language, Sanskrit's oldest form, Vedic Sanskrit, dates back to the 2nd Millennium BCE. It is an official language in India and a primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.

Aramaic – 1100 BC to Present

Aramaic served as the lingua franca of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. It is widely believed that Jesus and his disciples spoke Aramaic. Today, it survives in small, isolated communities across the Middle East.

Greek – 1450 BC to Present

Spoken by about 13 million people, Greek's earliest written artifact is a clay tablet in Linear B dating between 1450 and 1350 BC. It has a documented history of over 3,400 years, the longest of any Indo-European language.

Chinese – 1250 BC to Present

With 1.3 billion native speakers, Chinese is one of the most spoken languages. The earliest writing dates to 1250 BCE on oracle bones from the late Shang dynasty. Archaic Chinese was used during the Western Zhou era.

Basque – Origin Unknown

Basque is a language isolate, meaning it has no known linguistic relatives. It predates the arrival of Indo-European languages in Europe. Today, it is spoken by approximately 750,000 people in the border region of Spain and France.