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Which Language Is the Oldest Still Spoken?

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Quick Answer

Tamil is often cited as the oldest continuously spoken language, with a literary tradition spanning over 2,000 years; other strong candidates include Chinese, Greek, Hebrew, and Basque.

The Full Story

Defining the "oldest" living language is complex because all languages evolve continuously. Tamil, a Dravidian language spoken by about 80 million people in India and Sri Lanka, has the oldest extant literature among living languages (Sangam poetry from the 3rd century BCE) and an unbroken literary tradition for over 2,200 years. Chinese has written records from the Shang Dynasty (circa 1250 BCE), though modern Mandarin differs enormously from Old Chinese. Greek has continuous records from Linear B tablets (circa 1450 BCE) through Classical, Koine, and Modern Greek. Hebrew, "revived" as a modern spoken language in the late 19th century by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, has roots going back over 3,000 years. Basque, spoken in the Pyrenees, is a language isolate (unrelated to any other known language) that may predate the Indo-European migrations, though it lacks ancient written records.

Key Facts

1.Tamil Sangam literature, the oldest extant body of secular poetry in any Dravidian language, dates to the 3rd century BCE to 3rd century CE.
2.Basque is the only surviving pre-Indo-European language in Western Europe, unrelated to any other known language — its origins remain one of linguistics greatest mysteries.
3.Hebrew was essentially a liturgical language for nearly 2,000 years before Eliezer Ben-Yehuda revival efforts in the 1880s made it a living spoken language again.

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Suggested video title for this topic:

"The World Oldest Living Languages — Still Spoken After Millennia"