8 Oldest Languages In The World Still Spoken Today

Sep 29, 2023, 07:10 IST

Moohita Kaur Garg

Tamil 

A Dravidian language, that is spoken by people of South Asia. It is the official language of natives of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Indian Union territory of Puducherry, and the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore. 

Sanskrit

A classical language that is 3500 years old is synonymous with Hindu scriptures. Sanskrit is an old Indo-Aryan language in which Rigveda, the oldest text available to us in any part of the world, is written in. 

Persian or Farsi 

Farsi is the official language of Iran and has two varieties, Dari and Tajik, which are the official languages in Afghanistan and Tajikistan, respectively. The 2500 years old language is also known for its use by Sufi saints like Bulleh Shah. 

Greek 

It is the official language of Greece and is one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. Greek has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records.

Hebrew 

The 3000 years old Hebrew ceased to be an everyday-spoken language somewhere between 200 and 400 AD. However, with the rise of Zionism in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language and is now the main language of the Jewish community and the State of Israel. 

Chinese

Chinese is spoken by around 1.3 billion, or 16% of the world population. The earliest written records of the 3200 years old language date back to the late Shang dynasty, around 1250 BC. 

Aramaic 

During its approximately 3,100 years of history, Aramaic as per Mondly has served as a language of divine worship and religious study, administration of empires and as the mother tongue of a number of Semitic people from the Near East.  

Arabic 

2800 years old Arabic is the official or co-official language of around 25 countries. 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. 

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