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LANGUAGE
Technical
Oldest Languages Still Spoken
This list features the reputedly oldest languages still spoken today.
RANK | LANGUAGE | ORIGIN |
1 | Mandarin | c. 6,000 years |
2 | Sanskrit | c. 4,000 years |
3 | Egyptian | c. 4,000 years |
4 | Greek | c. 3,400 years |
5 | Aramaic | c. 3,200 years |
6 | Hebrew | c. 3,000 years |
7 | Latin | c. 2,700 years |
8 | Farsi | c. 2,500 years |
9 | Gaelic | c. 2,500 years |
10 | Basque | c. 2,500 years |
11 | Cetic | c. 2,500 years |
12 | Tamil | c. 2,500 years |
13 | Korean | c. 2,100 years |
14 | Arabic | c. 1,500 years |
15 | Brahui | c. 1,500 years |
16 | Georgian | c. 1,500 years |
17 | Turkish | c. 1,500 years |
References
Study International, 2023. Oldest languages in the world. [online] Available at: https://studyinternational.com/news/oldest-languages-in-the-world/ [Accessed 1 December 2025].
Linguistic Society of America, 2021. Mandarin Chinese: A Brief History of Mandarin Chinese. [online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2025].
Witzel, M., 2017. The Origins of the Sanskrit Language. Harvard University Press, p. 23.
Ancient History Encyclopedia, 2019. Ancient Egyptian Language. [online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2025].
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2021. The Greek Language. [online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2025].
The Aramaic Bible, 2020. Aramaic Language Overview. p. 12.
Encyclopedia Judaica, 2021. History of the Hebrew Language. [online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2025].
Linguistic Society of America, 2019. The Latin Language. [online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2025].
Iranian Studies Journal, 2020. Persian Language History. [online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2025].
Ó Muraíle, N., 2015. The Irish Language. University College Dublin Press, p. 45.
Ethnologue, 2022. The Basque Language. [online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2025].
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2020. Celtic Languages. [online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2025].
The Tamil Heritage Foundation, 2019. The History of the Tamil Language. [online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2025].
Oxford University Press, 2021. The Korean Language. [online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2025].
The World Factbook, 2020. Arabic Language Overview. [online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2025].
Asian Studies Review, 2019. Brahui Language and Culture. [online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2025].
Georgian National Museum, 2018. The Georgian Language. [online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2025].
Turkish Language Association, 2020. History of the Turkish Language. [online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2025].
SCALA
lists
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