Which is the oldest language in the world?
Debonair Gal is mostly right (the comment about French and Latin is a little confusing the way it is worded). Most of the answers here are, at best, naive and ill-informed, and, at worst, well...... you know. All spoken languages today are equally old. All languages are constantly changing over time (even those languages called "conservative" are only conservative in some parts of their grammar and not conservative in others). No spoken language today is identical to the spoken language of 500 years ago. The oldest writing is about 5500 years old. There is currently an arm-wrestle going on as to whether the oldest is Egyptian or Sumerian. The dates are so close, however, that we can just say they are about equally old. Chinese writing (about 3500 years old), Aramaic writing (about 3000 years old), Geez (NOT the same as Amharic) writing (about 1000 years old), Greek writing (about 3500 years old), and Canaanite writing (the ancestor language of Hebrew) (about 3500 years old) are all younger than this. To correct some silly errors in previous answers: the Modern Hebrew language is NOT the same as Biblical Hebrew. Modern Hebrew was reconstructed from medieval Hebrew pronunciations and grammar, not the biblical texts. Biblical Hebrew represents a language that was descended from Canaanite and went extinct about 500 BCE. The oldest Phoenician texts (another language descended from Canaanite) are older than the oldest Hebrew texts. Arabic is NOT the same language today as it was in the 8th century. Modern Standard Arabic is neither the language of the Koran nor anyone's native language. All Arabic speakers learn Modern Standard Arabic as a second language--their native language is one of the dozen or so varieties of spoken Arabic that are different enough from each other to be mutually unintelligible. The oldest Arabic writing is about 2000 years old. Modern Chinese writing is different than the spoken languages. The Old Chinese language (about 3000 years ago) continued to evolve until today there are 6-10 different languages that ill-informed people lump together in the single label of "Chinese". And I'm surprised that some ill-informed Indian nationalist hasn't written in to claim the prize for Sanskrit (the oldest records of which are only about 2500 years old).
Oldest LANGUAGE In THE WORLD?
This question is always in my mind, i have learnt to write and speakmy mother tongue French and the language used for Universal Usage English. I always want to learn the Oldest language in the world as for Tongue Pride. Which one ? I need Genuine answer and plz dont tell me Punjabi , Mandrain or French which is very much young, What i meant is oldest language
Olderst Language of the world?
As a casual perusal of multiple reference works on this subject will reveal, the question, "Which is the oldest language?" quite easily generates several suggestions which almost always include one or more of the following venerable candidates: (in no particular order) SUMERIAN, AKKADIAN, CHINESE, EGYPTIAN, PHRYGIAN, SANSKRIT, PHOENICIAN, etc., etc. And, such a list, of course, obliges the questor to make his own limited choice... THUS, a clear-cut answer to the question is not forthcoming, the experts aren't committing, and the end result (if the questor does indeed MAKE a choice) is arrived at kind of like pinning the tail on the donkey. A fundamental factor which lends to the above-cited indecisiveness in this field of study is the universally held notion (seemingly unassailable) that, historically, language should somehow show a developmental progression ranging from primitive rudiment to modern refinement. However, as the above list indicates, such is not the case! On the contrary, ancient languages are every bit as linguistically refined as the most trafficked languages of today! Furthermore, there is no historical evidence of earlier more rudimentary intermediate languages which provide a bridge between our supposed first grunts and snorts, and the sophisticated cadence of languages such as the above. So until such evidence is definitively in place, the experts remain in a holding pattern and continue to shove palliative lists at us from which we may make our personal choices.
WHAT IS THE OLDEST LANGUAGE IN THE WORLD...?
I think it is Tamil, but people have different "opinions" some think it is persian or latin. But they aren't that old. some languages have died so it is impossible to know exactly which language is the oldest.
Chinese the oldest language in the world.?
You are incorrect about Chinese. The oldest written records in the world are in Sumerian and are about 5000 years old. The next oldest written records are from Egyptian (NOT Arabic) and are about 4500 years old. Sumerian died out a couple thousand years after its first records, but Egyptian survived for about 4000 years until its daughter, Coptic, went extinct as a spoken language. Aramaic (which is NOT a parent of Arabic, but a cousin) has written records that are about 3000 years old. The oldest records of Sanskrit, Old Tamil, and Old Chinese are about 2500 years old. The oldest records of Greek are about 3500 years old and the oldest records of Latin are about 2700 years old. The oldest records of Hebrew are about 2700 years old (you are incorrect about the "after the death of Christ" statement), although there are written records of the ancestor language of Hebrew (Proto-Northwest Semitic) that date to about 3500 years ago. The oldest records of Arabic are only about 1500 years old.
Which is the oldest language in the world and in India?
Tamil is oldest language in the world and also india, it has lots of ancient identity around the world like Cambodia, Lemuria, indus valley,adichanallur etc. now tamil traditional construction found in keeladi,Archaeological findings in keeladi (source Wiki)Since 2013, archaeological excavation has been carried out from Theni to Ramanathapuram along the banks of the Vaigai. An estimated 293 sites have been identified including temples, ports, small settlements and commercial sites. In March 2016, a group of archaeologists from Excavation Branch VI of the Archaeological Survey of India was able to excavate a major settlement which appears to have been an industrial or commercially important settlement area near Keezhadi. The settlement is estimated to have covered around eighty acres.The initial study suggests that the settlement must have been between early 3rd Century BC to 10th century A.D for industrial purposes, although further study on the archaeological remains may shed more light on the dating of the civilization. Wells, red brick walls, pottery, ornaments including bone accessories, iron spears, and a ceramic tile with a Tamil inscription were found.The use of fired brick, the size of the building complex, an array of pots placed in such a way that it must have been used either as a lamp or for painting, and other finds suggest that the settlement is of a more civilized population than was previously suspected during the Sangam period.Now that research was stopped by Indian Govt. The head of that research team transferredto some other state for requesting govt fund to continue that research. Indian govt try to hide the history of tamils in india.