The Oldest Language in the World Still Used Today, One of Them is in Indonesia

Dream - Language is spoken words used to communicate with others. However, it turns out that languages ​​around the world continue to change from each generation, making it difficult to determine their origins.

Therefore, it is difficult to determine which language is the oldest in the world. There are many ancient languages ​​that are still spoken today. Here are the oldest languages ​​in the world still used today, quoted from Ifl Science:

Hebrew

Hebrew is the sacred language of the Jewish scriptures that is over 3,000 years old. The early form of the language appeared in texts around 1,200 BC. This language was first used by religious scholars, but later became the everyday language of ancient Israel.

Around 400 AD, Hebrew was no longer used as an everyday language and almost became a dead language.

But the rise of Zionism in the modern era ensured the revival of the language and it is now used by 9 million people, especially in Israel where it is the official language.

Sanskrit

Sanskrit emerged from ancient religious texts, serving as the everyday language of the Vedas, the sacred scriptures of Hinduism, as well as the historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism. Hindu texts were written around 1,200 BC, which means there are records of this language dating back over 3,000 years.

Sanskrit is still spoken today in various forms, especially by Hindu priests during religious ceremonies. It is estimated that less than 11 percent of Indians can speak Sanskrit.

At least 14,000 people consider it their main language. This language is also found in inscriptions in temples in Indonesia.

Sanskrit originally belonged to the large family known as the Indo-European languages, and it is still related to English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, and many more.

Tamil

Around 80 million people still speak Tamil as their everyday language. However, the most interesting literary work in Tamil, Tolkappiyam, has been around since 300 AD.

Tamil was then used by people in Sri Lanka and the southern states of India.

Greek

Greek has been used since at least 1300 BC. Its classical form is very different from the language used today in Greece, although most fluent speakers must understand the Hellenistic or Koine Greek used in the past.

However, forms like the Attic dialect, one of the oldest forms spoken by Socrates, would likely be too far-fetched for modern speakers to understand.

Arabic

Arabic has played a prominent role in world history. The early form of Arabic dates back to the 8th century BC. However, the language underwent significant changes over the centuries, especially between the 3rd and 6th centuries AD.

Arabic first emerged in the northwest of the Arabian Peninsula and is part of the Semitic languages, which also include Hebrew and Aramaic. Some major languages ​​are religious texts, and it is estimated that 371 million people worldwide speak Arabic as their mother tongue.

Chinese or Mandarin

There is no single Chinese or Mandarin language, although the majority of Chinese people speak the modern standard Mandarin. There are also regional dialects that are still widely used, such as Yue (Cantonese), Xiang (Hunan), Min dialects, Gan dialects, Wun dialects, and Kejia.

Some of the earliest uses of Chinese characters are known to have been found on turtle shells around 1123 BC.

This indicates that written language has existed for 3,000 years. Since then, it has developed and diversified significantly, but the influence of this ancient system can still be felt by modern speakers.

Latin

Latin is another language with great historical significance. Proto-Italic developed the Ancient Latin language around 750 to 100 BC.

Between 100 BC and 540 AD, it eventually became Classical Latin, used in the late Roman Republic and the late Roman Empire.

From the 6th to the 9th century AD, the language evolved into modern Romance languages ​​such as Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and French.

Although Latin is no longer used as a first language, it has become a dead language thanks to the great interest in ancient texts and the wide influence of Latin on European culture.

Basque

Basque is widely considered the oldest living language in Western Europe. Around 700,000 people still use it in the Basque Country, an autonomous community located in the Pyrenees mountains between the borders of France and Spain.

However, the age of the Basque language is still unknown because it is not related to any other language. This makes it interesting for researchers as Basque has not been influenced by Indo-European languages.

Report: Nur Rahma