Languages arise from other languages, so it can be a difficult exercise to attempt to date them. However, there are languages in the world that are still widely used thought to have originated centuries ago. What are these languages? Let’s find out below.
• Hebrew – The Hebrew that we know of today is not the same as the Biblical language. Yet, contemporary speakers of Hebrew have no trouble deciphering the Old Testament. It’s because both versions of the language have influences of Yiddish, another Jewish language.
• Tamil – Predominantly spoken in Sri Lanka and Singapore, Tamil is the only classical language to have survived to the modern era. Inscriptions in Tamil have been discovered, dating back to the 3rd century BCE. Tamil never really died out and survived Sanskrit, another ancient language of these regions.
• Farsi – Farsi is commonly spoken in Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan. Farsi finds its origin in Old Persian. Modern Persian is little changed from Old Persian and speakers of the contemporary form will have no difficulties in comprehending the older version.
Macedonian, Icelandic, Basque and Lithuanian are other ancient languages which have managed to stand the test of time and emerge as viable means of communication, even in the present day.