2006-08-16 00:22:27 · 15 answers · asked by Cristian F 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
HEBREW
ARAMAIC
LATIN
2006-08-16 00:27:17 · answer #1 · answered by NIGHT_WATCH 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
All languages still spoken are equally old--about one or two generations. All languages are constantly undergoing change from one generation to the next, so all languages still spoken are only one or two generations old.
Modern Hebrew is NOT the language of the Bible, it has been modified and has changed in the 50 years since it was revived from the dead. Sanskrit is not a spoken language, neither is Latin. Modern Aramaic is NOT the same language as spoken in ancient Babylon, it has changed through time just like all other languages. Standard Arabic is no one's native language and all users of Standard Arabic must learn it as a second language. "Arabs" speak their local Arabic languages (Maghribi, Mashriqi, Najdi, etc.) as their native languages. Mandarin Chinese is not the Chinese of ancient China and reading a text in Old Chinese for 1 minute can prove that.
The oldest written language is Sumerian, about 5000 years old. The next oldest is ancient Egyptian, about 4500 years old. Sanskrit and Old Chinese are about 2500 years old. Ancient Hebrew is about 3000 years old. Ancient Greek's earliest records are about 3500 years old and Latin's earliest records are about 2500 years old.
2006-08-16 10:34:28 · answer #2 · answered by Taivo 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Sanskrit,Latin,Greek are the old languages but no one speaks it now in the same form
U can say farsi or one of the Indian languages Tamil as oldest and still spoken one
2006-08-16 08:56:08 · answer #3 · answered by ramg 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Hmmm, maybe one of the hundreds of languages in Papua-New Guinea; since they are spoken by so few people (I think just one clan each), they likely change the least over time. Some of those people seem to be living the same way they did in the Stone Age.
2006-08-16 13:56:12 · answer #4 · answered by Goddess of Grammar 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hebrew, because they can't change anything from the bible, it is very much the language that never changes and has remainded the same for thousands of years. Latin eventually became Italian, I studied ancient Greek which is totally different than modern greek. Some can argue Chinese is the oldest one, but there are hundreds of dialects, there's no one Chinese. If you study bible Hebrew is the same as the Hebrew people speak in Israel, it just doesn't change.
2006-08-16 10:08:48 · answer #5 · answered by Document Guy 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Mandarin, Chinese is the worlds oldest language. It is a fact the Chinese are the oldest recorded civilization.
2006-08-16 07:30:49 · answer #6 · answered by Santana D 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Sanskrit is the oldest language.
2006-08-16 07:34:49 · answer #7 · answered by Tasya 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
So far we know The SANSKRIET LANGUAGE . According to The VEDA or notes from the VEDA it is even a Divine Language.
2006-08-16 08:07:22 · answer #8 · answered by HERMAN K 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I think also maybe Basque or Euskara, which is spoken in the north of Spain... Is more ancient than Latin...
2006-08-16 09:40:57 · answer #9 · answered by esther c 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Its Sanskrit used by sages in India for many centuries.
2006-08-16 07:31:33 · answer #10 · answered by InquisitiveDude 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Cockney rhyming slang - i think they still speak it in some markets in the East of London!
2006-08-16 07:27:58 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋