7,111 languages are spoken in the world as of 2019. The number continues to diminish as years pass because many languages become extinct as native speakers die. Languages evolve, just like human and cultural changes are inevitable. However, there are languages that have stood the test of time due to certain key characteristics. Following is a list of 8 of the oldest world languages that are still spoken today.
Tamil. 1
Tamil is one of the classical languages surviving till date. Tamil-Brahmin inscriptions from 300 BCE have been found, and the language is believed to be around 5000 years old! This ‘Dravidian language’ is currently the official language of 2 countries: Sri Lanka and Singapore and the official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Apart from this, Tamil language is also recognized as a minority language in Malaysia, Mauritius and South Africa. It is spoken by approximately just over 80 million people worldwide.
Sanskrit. 2
Unlike Tamil, which is still a widely spoken language, Sanskrit is the ancient Indian language that fell out of common usage around 600 B.C and is now a liturgical language. Found in the scriptures of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, this classical language is one of the oldest known languages in the world. 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.
Egyptian. 3
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 and around 5000 years old. 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.
Hebrew. 4
Hebrew is 3,000 years old language that fell out of common usage around 400 CE. But it was preserved and used by Jews around the world as a liturgical language. However, along with the rise of Zionism in the 19th and 20th centuries, Hebrew went through a revival. It is now the official language of Israel with over 9 million speakers worldwide. While the modern version differs from the Biblical version, native speakers of Hebrew can fully comprehend what is written in the Old Testament and its connected texts.
Greek. 5
Greek language is a member of the Indo-European language family the earliest written evidence dates back to 1450-1350 BCE and it is native to Greece, Cyprus and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It is the official language of Greece and Cyprus (nominally alongside Turkish) and the European Union. The language is also recognized as a minority language in parts of Italy, Albania, Armenia, Romania, Hungary and Ukraine. At various times in the past, the Greek alphabet has also been adopted to write other languages as well, namely Hebrew, Arabic, Turkish, etc. The Greek symbols also find their importance in mathematics, physics and other scientific fields. It also has a long and well documented history of any living Indo-European language, spanning more than 34 centuries! Greek is spoken by approx. 13 million people.
Basque. 6
Basque is one of the living languages amongst the pre-Indo-European languages that are mostly extinct today. The language holds many mysteries, as scientists till date have not been able to determine the time of its origin. It is believed that this language dates back to prehistoric Europe. Basque language is spoken by approximately 750,000 and mainly spoken by the Basque people residing in parts of France and Spain and is also considered as one of the oldest languages in Western Europe.
Lithuanian. 7
Lithuanian forms a part of the Indo-European languages group, 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.
Farsi/Persian. 8
Persian (also known as Farsi) the language of the Achaemenid Empire is one of the oldest languages that is still being spoken in parts of Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan. The Persian language that is being spoken today or the Modern Persian evolved from Old Persian around 800 CE and has mostly remained the same with small changes. Over the years, the Persian language also exerts its influence on various neighbouring languages; especially on Urdu. Persian is known as Dari in Afghanistan and Tajiki in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, but both are originally Persian with minor changes. Persian is spoken by approx. 110 million people.
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