The Role of Language in Society

The significance of language is hard to overstate. It’s challenging to envision a world devoid of language; communication is as vital to our existence as oxygen. The primary function of language is to foster connections, yet it serves countless other purposes and exists in various forms.

Currently, nearly 40 percent of the 7,100 languages known today are at risk of extinction—many spoken by fewer than 1,000 individuals. Beyond connection, language serves as a crucial tool for education and knowledge transfer. It enabled our ancestors to share wisdom with future generations and allows us to learn about ancient civilizations.

Claire Bowern, a linguistics professor at Yale University, emphasizes this point:

“Like modern languages, ancient languages are vital to understanding our history. They help us trace human migrations and interactions, and sometimes, they are our sole reliable source of past information. The words we can trace back in time reveal much about the cultures of ancient societies.”

However, most languages are either spoken or conveyed through gestures, making the study of ancient cultures reliant on written language. While artifacts like artwork are valuable, written records provide the clearest insights into a society. Unfortunately, such artifacts are scarce, and deciphering ancient scripts presents its own challenges.

Identifying the Origins of Language

New languages often emerge when communities become geographically isolated, and existing languages evolve over time. For instance, Old English from around 1,000 C.E. is almost unrecognizable compared to today's English, having evolved from German roots with distinct vowel sounds and sentence structures.

Most contemporary languages are not original. The question arises: how far back can we trace languages, and which is the oldest known? Linguists endeavor to map out a language's history by identifying when a language splits into different dialects that become mutually unintelligible. Danny Hieber, a linguist specializing in endangered languages, states:

“For instance, at what point in history would English speakers no longer understand German speakers?”

This moment signifies the divergence of German and English from a common Germanic origin. The pursuit of the oldest language continues, with some theorizing that all languages may have descended from a singular proto-language. However, proving the existence of such a language is a monumental challenge.

The Three Oldest Languages

The leading contenders for the title of the oldest languages are Akkadian (2,334 to 2,218 B.C.E.), Egyptian (3,200 B.C.E. to 02 C.E.), and Sumerian (3,200 to 2,500 B.C.E.), all of which are now extinct.

The earliest examples of writing employed cuneiform script, which consists of wedge-shaped characters inscribed on clay tablets. Sumerians are believed to have pioneered cuneiform around 3,200 B.C.E., later sharing this innovation with other cultures. Cuneiform remained a prevalent writing style until it was eventually replaced by alphabetic scripts after 100 B.C.E.

Sumerian texts, written in cuneiform, were influenced by Akkadian, reflecting the coexistence of speakers from both cultures. In contrast, ancient Egyptians utilized multiple writing systems, including hieroglyphs, which resemble cuneiform but primarily use pictorial symbols.

Given the extensive history of humanity and language, it’s not surprising that the oldest known languages have vanished. It’s a pity, as we can only speculate about how they sounded, relying solely on their written forms.

The Oldest Languages Still in Use

Among the languages still actively spoken today, Arabic and Hebrew are often regarded as having the oldest traceable histories, estimated to be around 2,000 to 3,000 years old. Both belong to the Afroasiatic language family, which dates back to between 18,000 and 8,000 B.C.E.

Some linguists argue that Tamil, part of the Dravidian language family and spoken by about 70 million people in Sri Lanka and southern India, should also be considered. Others contend that Sanskrit, which belongs to the Indo-Aryan language family, could predate Tamil. The ongoing debate about which language emerged first continues, although Tamil boasts a significantly larger number of modern speakers.

While Tamil has approximately 70 million speakers, the number of native Sanskrit speakers is quite limited. According to the 2011 census in India, only 24,821 individuals reported Sanskrit as their mother tongue, while Hindi, a descendant of Sanskrit, is spoken by over 322 million people.

Ultimately, Arabic and Hebrew are widely recognized as the oldest languages still in use today.

A Shift in Perspective

Understanding which languages are the oldest piques curiosity about the origins of spoken language. While written language evolved from verbal communication, body language predates both. It effectively facilitated communication for millennia, leading to the question of why spoken language developed.

There are numerous theories, but the suggestion from American anthropologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy and Swedish researcher Sverker Johansson resonates most with me. They propose that spoken language emerged as a means for women to coordinate childcare and birthing.

Regardless of its origins, the endurance of language through generations is remarkable, as is the multitude of languages that have emerged. The possibilities for language's shape and form seem limitless.

It’s important to note that this discussion focuses solely on human languages. If we broaden the definition to include other forms of communication, bioluminescence would likely rank as the oldest, most widely used language on the planet.

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