What is the oldest language in the world?

What was the first language ever spoken? This puzzles linguists because there’s no easy way to determine it. According to scholars, the oldest languages with written records date back at least 4,600 years. That’s millennia of evolution! Linguists generally agree that Sumerian, Akkadian and Egyptian are among the earliest languages with clear written records.

Sumerian

The Sumerian language originated around 3100 BCE in ancient Mesopotamia and was the first language written in the cuneiform script. Sumerian cuneiform is one of the oldest known forms of writing, used initially for record - keeping and trade.

Akkadian

Akkadian, another language of ancient Mesopotamia, dates to about 2500 BCE, also used the cuneiform system. It became the lingua franca of the Akkadian Empire and gradually replaced Sumerian.

Egyptian

Ancient Egyptian produced the earliest known hieroglyphic writing. Egyptian evolved through stages (Old, Middle, Late Egyptian, Demotic and Coptic). Coptic survives as a liturgical language of the Coptic Church and represents the final stage of ancient Egyptian.

12 oldest languages in the world that are still used today

Sumerian, Akkadian and Old Egyptian are ancient but no longer native vernaculars. If you ask “what is the oldest living language still spoken today?”, there isn’t a single winner - there are several strong contenders. Below are 12 ancient languages (still used today in some form).

Tamil

Tamil - widely spoken in India, Sri Lanka and by large expatriate communities in the UAE - has texts dating back to at least 300 BCE. It’s often described as one of the world’s longest - continuously used classical languages. (In the UAE you’ll find Tamil - language communities and classes at local language centres.)

Sanskrit

Sanskrit, the classical liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, dates back to around 2000 BCE. Its grammar was codified by Panini and it remains influential in South Asian scholarship and ritual.

Chinese

Chinese has early written records stretching back millennia; the earliest surviving inscriptions are around 1250 BCE, though the spoken tradition is older. Modern varieties such as Mandarin and Cantonese evolved from these roots.

Greek

Greek has documented history from about 1450 BCE. It became the literary and scientific language of the Mediterranean and shaped Western thought.

Hebrew

Hebrew was a vernacular in ancient Israel, later mostly a liturgical language. It was successfully revived in the 19th - 20th centuries and today is the main spoken language of Israel.

Aramaic

Aramaic - once the lingua franca of the Near East - has inscriptions from the 11th century BCE. Some small communities still speak Aramaic dialects, though the language is endangered.

Farsi / Persian

Persian (Farsi) evolved from Old Persian around 550 BCE and has rich literary traditions; variants are spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Persian culture influenced cuisine, poetry and administration across the Middle East - including parts of the Arabian Peninsula.

Arabic

Arabic - originating in the Arabian Peninsula - has written records from late antiquity and became the language of the Qur’an in the 7th century CE. Today Arabic (Modern Standard Arabic plus many dialects) is the official language of the UAE. Learning Arabic in the Emirates is practical and popular; local centres (for example, Jumeirah Centre Arabic courses) offer classes for residents and businesses.

Armenian

Armenian, with its own alphabet (introduced in 405 AD), is the unique branch of its family and the official language of Armenia.

Irish Gaelic

Irish is one of the oldest written languages in northern Europe with Ogham inscriptions from the 4th century CE. It survives in Gaeltacht regions and as a cultural language.

Basque

Basque is a language isolate in Europe and predates the spread of Indo - European languages on the continent.

Latin

Latin (7th century BCE) became the administrative and literary language of the Roman Empire. It’s now a “dead” language in that it has no native speakers, but it survives in liturgy, law, science, and academia.

There’s more to the (hi)story

To cover everything about the world’s oldest languages would require thousands of pages. Languages have evolved, branched, disappeared, and been revived (Hebrew being the best - known large - scale revival). The list above gives a snapshot of the ancient tongues that remain relevant - some as fully living languages, some as liturgical or scholarly languages, and some as cultural legacies. If you live in the UAE and are fascinated by ancient tongues, you’ll find a rich selection to explore locally. Dubai and Abu Dhabi host language workshops, weekend classes and cultural events. If you’re looking for study options, the Jumeirah Centre and similar language schools in Dubai offer a range of services: Arabic and foreign language courses, translation and interpretation services, corporate language training, exam prep, private tutoring, cultural workshops and language immersion programmes - practical ways to start learning a historic language or brush up on a heritage tongue.

Want to explore further?

If you love languages, you can find a goldmine of free resources on language blogs, university courses, and local language schools. In the UAE specifically, consider: Booking an Arabic foundation course (Modern Standard Arabic & Emirati dialect) if you plan to live or work in the Emirates. Checking Jumeirah Centre for private tutoring, corporate language training, translation & interpretation services, children’s language programmes, and cultural workshops that often feature language taster sessions for Tamil, Hindi, Farsi, Mandarin, and more. Looking for university or community classes if you want academic grounding in classical languages such as Latin, Sanskrit or Classical Chinese. For structured practice, Berlitz UAE can help - whether you learn at our Dubai branches (Jumeirah or JLT), study on-site in DIFC, or visit our Abu Dhabi branches in Khalidiya and Khalifa.