OLDEST WRITTEN LANGUAGE
What Is the World’s Oldest Language?
There’s no basic response to what the world’s most seasoned language is, yet it’s positively an inquiry that gets the two antiquarians and etymologists started up.
Some contend that the entirety of the dialects we presently talk initially return to one human language, the inceptions of which are lost to ancient times.
What Is the Oldest Written Language?
Numerous etymologists judge the age of a language by the first occasion when it showed up recorded as a hard copy.
Around there, the world’s most established language is from terrain China. In 1962, a piece of Yangshao culture earthenware was found.
The ceramics, which has been dated to somewhere in the range of 5000 and 4000 BCE, shows proto-characters for the numbers five, seven and eight. As indicated by the Guinness Book of World Records, this is the initially composed language.
Another antiquated language for which we have composed proof is the cuneiform content utilized by Sumerians in old Mesopotamia.
Cuneiform was first utilized around 3400 BCE, implying that it pre-dates even Egyptian pictographs.
Sumerians composed on mud tablets with an unpolished reed. The wedge-formed outcomes are what led to the content’s name – ‘cuneiform’ signifies ‘wedge-molded.’
The actual content was utilized in numerous occasions for funerary engravings; it appears to be that the Sumerians were distracted with what the great beyond may hold coming up.
What Are the World’s Oldest Religious Texts?
With regards to the most established enduring composed dialects utilized for strict writings, the victor is Ancient Egyptian. It was utilized for the Pyramid Texts around 2400–2300 BC.
Cut into the underground dividers and stone caskets of pyramids at Saqqara, the Pyramid Texts are the world’s most established collection of strict writings.
They are trailed by the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, which is by and large viewed as the world’s second most seasoned known strict content and soonest enduring incredible scholarly work.
Is Tamil the World’s Oldest Language?
A large number of our pursuers put forth the defense for Tamil as the world’s most seasoned language and it’s unquestionably a solid competitor.
There’s a lot of opposing data out there about exactly how old Tamil is, some of it distributed by regarded sources, some by less regarded ones! Cases differ enormously, with some contending that Tamil is 5,000 years of age and others expressing it goes back over 10,000 years.
What is clear, in any case, is that Tamil is perhaps the world’s most seasoned language that is as yet spoken today.
Other Ancient Languages That Are Still Spoken Today
Chinese is one more of the most seasoned known dialects. Engravings of Chinese characters in turtle shells have been found and dated as far back as the Shang administration of 1766-1123 BCE.
For those of us at present making an interpretation of Chinese to English, this is a captivating memorable association.
One more of the world’s most seasoned dialects is Basque.
Curiously, students of history have been not able to reveal any insight into the exact (or even dubious) starting points of Basque, however it is for the most part accepted to trace all the way back to ancient Europe.
That, yet Basque is a detach language, implying that it bears no connection to some other known language.
The history of writing is a long and complex one, dating back to the earliest civilizations. The first writing systems were developed in Mesopotamia and Egypt around 3500 BC. These early writing systems were pictographic, meaning that they used pictures to represent words or ideas. Over time, these pictographic systems evolved into more phonetic systems, which used symbols to represent sounds.
There are many different types of writing systems in use today. Some of the most common include:
- Logographic systems: These systems use symbols to represent entire words. For example, the Chinese writing system is logographic.
- Syllabic systems: These systems use symbols to represent syllables. For example, the Japanese writing system is syllabic.
- Alphabetic systems: These systems use symbols to represent individual sounds. For example, the English writing system is alphabetical.
Writing systems have been developed by many different cultures throughout history. Some of the most important cultures that have developed writing include:
- Mesopotamia: The Sumerians developed one of the earliest writing systems, known as cuneiform.
- Egypt: The Egyptians developed a hieroglyphic writing system, which was used for centuries.
- China: The Chinese developed a logographic writing system, which is still in use today.
- India: The Indians developed a Brahmic writing system, which is the ancestor of many modern writing systems, including Devanagari and Bengali.
- Greece: The Greeks developed an alphabetic writing system, which was later adopted by the Romans and spread throughout Europe.
Writing has had a profound impact on human history. It has allowed us to communicate with each other over long distances and across time. It has also allowed us to record our thoughts and ideas, which has helped to preserve our culture and history.
Today, writing is an essential part of our lives. We use it to communicate, to learn, and to create. It is a powerful tool that has helped to shape the world we live in.
The Sumerian language is the oldest written language that is still in existence. It was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, in the area that is now modern-day Iraq. The first Sumerian inscriptions date back to around 3500 BC, and the language was still spoken until around 100 BC.
Sumerian is a agglutinative language, which means that words are formed by adding prefixes and suffixes to a root word. It has a complex grammar, with many different cases and declensions. The Sumerian vocabulary is very rich, and it includes words for a wide variety of concepts.
The Sumerian language was written using a system of cuneiform writing. Cuneiform is a logographic writing system, which means that each symbol represents a word or a concept. The Sumerians used cuneiform to write on clay tablets, which were then baked to make them durable.
The Sumerian language had a profound impact on the development of other languages in the region. Many words from Sumerian were borrowed into Akkadian, the language that replaced Sumerian as the spoken language of Mesopotamia. These words then spread to other languages in the region, such as Hebrew, Arabic, and Persian.
Today, the Sumerian language is no longer spoken, but it is still studied by scholars. It is a fascinating language with a rich history, and it provides insights into the culture and society of ancient Mesopotamia.
Here are some additional details about the Sumerian language:
- Grammar: Sumerian grammar is very complex, with many different cases and declensions. The language has three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. It also has three numbers: singular, dual, and plural.
- Vocabulary: The Sumerian vocabulary is very rich, and it includes words for a wide variety of concepts. The language has words for numbers, colors, animals, plants, and objects. It also has words for abstract concepts, such as love, hate, and death.
- Writing system: The Sumerian writing system was a system of cuneiform writing. Cuneiform is a logographic writing system, which means that each symbol represents a word or a concept. The Sumerians used cuneiform to write on clay tablets, which were then baked to make them durable.
The Sumerian language is a fascinating language with a rich history. It is a valuable resource for scholars who are interested in the culture and society of ancient Mesopotamia.
Cuneiform is a writing system that was used in ancient Mesopotamia. The name comes from the Latin word cuneus, which means “wedge”. This is because the symbols of cuneiform are made up of wedge-shaped strokes that are pressed into clay tablets.
The earliest cuneiform inscriptions date back to around 3500 BC, and the system was used for over 3,000 years. It was used to write the Sumerian language, as well as the Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian languages.
Cuneiform was a very versatile writing system. It could be used to write on clay tablets, as well as on other materials, such as stone, metal, and wood. It could also be used to write in a variety of styles, from formal to informal.
Cuneiform was used by many different cultures in Mesopotamia. It was the official script of the Akkadian Empire, and it was also used by the Babylonians, Assyrians, and Elamites. It was even used by some cultures outside of Mesopotamia, such as the Hittites and the Hurrians.
Cuneiform began to decline in use after the fall of the Assyrian Empire in the 7th century BC. However, it continued to be used by some cultures, such as the Babylonians and the Elamites, until the 1st century AD.
Cuneiform is a fascinating writing system with a long and complex history. It is a valuable resource for scholars who are interested in the culture and society of ancient Mesopotamia.
Here are some additional details about cuneiform:
- The symbols: The symbols of cuneiform are made up of wedge-shaped strokes that are pressed into clay tablets. The number of strokes in a symbol can vary, and the direction of the strokes can also be important.
- The development: Cuneiform developed from a system of pictograms. Over time, the pictograms became more abstract, and they began to represent sounds as well as concepts.
- The use in other cultures: Cuneiform was used by many different cultures in Mesopotamia. It was the official script of the Akkadian Empire, and it was also used by the Babylonians, Assyrians, and Elamites. It was even used by some cultures outside of Mesopotamia, such as the Hittites and the Hurrians.
Cuneiform is a fascinating writing system with a long and complex history. It is a valuable resource for scholars who are interested in the culture and society of ancient Mesopotamia.
The decipherment of Sumerian is a long and complex story. The first Sumerian inscriptions date back to around 3500 BC, but the language was not fully deciphered until the 19th century.
The first scholars to study Sumerian were the Assyriologists, who were interested in the ancient cultures of Mesopotamia. They began to study cuneiform, the writing system used to write Sumerian, and they soon realized that it was a very complex system.
One of the challenges that scholars faced in deciphering Sumerian was that the language had no living relatives. This meant that there was no other language that they could use to compare Sumerian to. As a result, they had to rely on their knowledge of other Semitic languages, such as Akkadian and Hebrew, to help them decipher Sumerian.
Another challenge that scholars faced was that Sumerian was a logographic writing system. This means that each symbol represented a word or a concept. This made it difficult to determine the meaning of a Sumerian text, as the same symbol could have multiple meanings.
Despite these challenges, scholars eventually made progress in deciphering Sumerian. One of the most important breakthroughs came in 1842, when the French scholar Jean-François Champollion deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphs. This gave scholars a valuable tool for deciphering other ancient writing systems, including Sumerian.
In the years that followed, scholars continued to work on deciphering Sumerian. They made use of a variety of methods, including comparing Sumerian texts to other Semitic languages, studying the grammar of Sumerian, and analyzing the meaning of individual symbols.
By the end of the 19th century, Sumerian had been largely deciphered. This was a major achievement, and it opened up a new window into the culture and society of ancient Mesopotamia.
Here are some of the key figures who contributed to the decipherment of Sumerian:
- George Smith: Smith was an English Assyriologist who made significant contributions to the decipherment of Sumerian. He was the first scholar to translate a complete Sumerian literary text, the Epic of Gilgamesh.
- Henry Rawlinson: Rawlinson was an English Assyriologist who was one of the first scholars to study cuneiform inscriptions in the original. He made important contributions to the understanding of the grammar and vocabulary of Sumerian.
- Jean-François Champollion: Champollion was a French scholar who deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphs. This gave scholars a valuable tool for deciphering other ancient writing systems, including Sumerian.
The decipherment of Sumerian was a major achievement, and it opened up a new window into the culture and society of ancient Mesopotamia. It is a testament to the ingenuity and perseverance of the scholars who worked on this project.