As you know, languages are an essential part of history and different cultures in the world. Over the centuries, different languages have evolved and developed around the world, and some of them even have such an ancient history that they take us back to the very origins of humanity. Today, we give you interesting facts and curiosities about the oldest languages in the world.
Sumerian
One of the oldest languages in the world is Sumerian, which was a language spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, in what is now known as Iraq, more than 5,000 years ago. Sumerian is considered the first documented language in history and was used by the Sumerians to write religious texts, literature, and administrative documents. Here are some facts about Sumerian:
- Sumerian used the cuneiform writing system. This writing system was what later gave rise to various writing systems in the Middle East.
- The Sumerian had an extremely large and very rich vocabulary, with words to describe a large number of concepts and objects. Sumerian texts have been found covering a variety of topics, from mythology and religion to law and administration.
- Sumerian was an agglutinative language, that is, words are formed by the combination of roots and suffixes, therefore, the creation of longer and more complex words was encouraged.
Ancient Egyptian
Another language we will tell you about is ancient Egyptian, spoken in ancient Egypt more than 4,000 years ago. This language was used to write hieroglyphics on monuments and temples, and its writing system is considered one of the most complex in history.
- The first whole and meaningful phrase known in this language is found in the tomb of Seth-Peribsen, one of the first pharaohs to rule Egypt. The inscription reads, “He united the two lands for his son.”
Akkadian
Akkadian is another ancient language spoken in Mesopotamia more than 4,000 years ago. It was used to write legal texts, literature and business correspondence.
- Although it is no longer spoken, we can see the influence of Akkadian in many modern Semitic languages, such as Arabic and Hebrew.
Sanskrit
Sanskrit was spoken more than 3,500 years ago in what is known as India and was used to write mainly religious and philosophical texts. Although it is not a language spoken as a mother tongue today, it is still used in religious rituals and classical literature.
- As in German, in Sanskrit there are what are known as “compositas”, or compound words. These are the union of several words to form a single one, which is done when a word ends in a consonant and the next begins in a vowel, thus forming the same syllable and, therefore, the same phonetic sequence.
We know that talking about ancient languages can take more than one blog post because, in addition to being many, they all have a rich history and have left their mark on the culture and in different modern languages. If any of these languages that we discuss here interest you or you would like to delve into any other, write us a comment.