Linguists debate whether all languages are descended from a common ancestor. This can’t be completely true, since many sign languages have been invented out of whole cloth in modern time (Nicaraguan sign is a famous example), as was, to a meaningful extent, Hawaiian Pidgin.
However, students of history know from the ancient Greek historian Herodotus that Phrygian is the first language. According to his writings, an Egyptian king by the name of Psammetichus ordered that two children “of the ordinary sort” be raised in an isolated cabin without exposure to language. At the age of two or so, the children began to speak Phrygian, which was taken as proof that Phrygian, not Egyptian, is the world’s earliest language.
This study is a great example of why experiments need to be replicated before they are taken too seriously.
If our reporting has informed or inspired you, please consider making a donation. Every contribution, no matter the size, empowers us to continue delivering accurate, engaging, and trustworthy science and medical news. Independent journalism requires time, effort, and resources—your support ensures we can keep uncovering the stories that matter most to you.
Join us in making knowledge accessible and impactful. Thank you for standing with us!
Hebrew, Chinese and Greek are the oldest living languages in the world. We have all the proofs to show these language’s antiquity,
Sanskrit cannot be accepted as a God’s language. That conversation will lead to conflitcs between religious views. Antiquity between Sanskrit and Tamil is still a debate.So, the fourth place is either Sanskrit or Tamil. But considering, the usage in today’s world, Tamil stands out compared to sanskrit.
A language should transform itself, without loosing it’s originality, over the years to survive. Sanskrit failed on this aspect. Tamil survived and succeeded.
Other languages mentioned here like Kannad, Telug, Malaya are all derivatives from Tamil. Is tamil a derivative of Sanskrit – is still under research.
ll
Age of the Languages are determined by the inscriptions found by the archeologist.Here are some of the inscriptions and their ages.
1.Tamil – Adichanallur near Tirunelveli inscription dates back around 300 B.C
2.Sanskrit – Ashoka edicts(32 inscriptions) around 260 B.C
3.Kannada – Halmidi near Mysore inscription around 450 A.D
4.Telugu- Inscriptions containing Telugu words dated to 400 BCE were discovered in Bhattiprolu in Guntur district.
please visit this link http://www.ancientscripts.com/indus.html
It was very cruel that Telugu and Kannada are declared as classical language by the Indian government because of political reasons.Classical Language status should be given if a Language is more than 2000 years old.Kannada can be given classical language because it is 2000 year old language.But it is very unfortunate that Telugu has been granted Classical language status.Because Telugu is less than 2000 year old language according to the findings of archaeologist.Our Indian government will give Classical language status to Tulu and Badugas also if they put political pressure.Telugu has no moral Rights to claim for classical language status.world language experts will never agree if they came to know about classical language is given to Telugu.
Hai all,
the statues and things got in the harappan civilization is written by tamil. but its written from right to left like urdu……
so as of now tamil is d language
[email protected]
Dont be a fool oky there was a Language which is mother to all these dravid languages. which was oldest(the tamil is not that language its a descendent, same as telugu).
Dear Good words user Mr.Buchigadu,
Is that is your mother tongue culture of using words like is your mother tongue word.Because every where you are using the word .It is a shame for telugu persons because of you because every word in this Forum reflects your mother tongue and your culture.
Dear friends,
Many people are saying that we had found carnatic music,our kings ruled your state,we had done this, we had done that.But this forum is about oldest language.so talk about the age of your Language and please mention your age of your Language according to the findings of Archeologist.so that everyone knows the age of other languages.It is very sad that some criminals are using this forum and using very bad words like .
Yessu, I telugu guyyu, I know tamilu alsou, and its truue that tamilu may be older than telugu or other langugessu in Indiavu, but sanskrit excludedu as no proofu, I speakng like thisu bcosu many tamilians thinku tat telungu ppl speaku englishu like thisu, and they speaku better englishu than telungu pplu…
But ’em all, hey guys may be tamil is oldest that doesn’t mean tat other languages are not worth, its simply bcos if my grand dad of mom is older than Gandhi, tat doesn’t mean he is geater than Gandhi, and it is bcos of this idea u ppl don’t have idea abt other important languages, and u will knw all this in u r life wen u r in need of other languages, so guys, no matter how old is the thing u speak, it only matters how lively, sweet or expresive it is, u guys bcum a piece of shit if u move to North India, as more than 90% of tamilians have no idea abt hindi, so stop being shit and try learning other important languages, bcos u can’t go to Europe or US, and up saying that my language is oldest in the world so, everyone please start speaking my language! the answer u get from ’em is a big ” U”.
Telugu is cosidered the sweetest language of India, but we din’t stick to it ? more than 80% of Andhra ppl can speak hindi too to good extent.
I pity tamilians for their knowledge levels(not all but many), they seriously live in their own world, I found some ppl in my first yr of grad in some coll in CBE, who doesn’t even know what an IIT is, but they know there is an IIT Madras in their state and dnno wat ppl inside it do. but they cum for graduation wid out an idea abt al this, ah! me man! I cudn’t believ tat even nw….. but its true..
If u ask wat i personally consider the best of languages is, its truly english, English creates miracles in life, atleast for we hindi speaking guys of India. English is very very expressive, ofcourse even our languages are, but the fact is u can live with it in any part of de world, so i say it is expressive at global level, me if not…..
Last but not the least, if u r born to u r mom, tat doesn’t mean u shud live u r entire life for her, ofcourse u don’t, bcos u r diferent and so is u r life, ofcourse u love her, but remember u live u r life, not she. Same case wid languages, love u r language and u have all the rights to say not to disrespect u r language, thats the end of the story, no oldie, no greatie. If u think r language is greatest, den go and urself man, I dont give a shit to it! I like all languages as long as they communicate me wid humans… Good bye!
wow ..wut u wrote was amazing…even i dont understand …wuts wid tamilians …i mean wut kind of world do they live in ..it is obvious that to survive u need another language be it hindi or english …but they get so aggresive when it comes to speaking in hindi and on top of it thr english is another coded language ..which is like tamilian for us …i had class-mates from tamilnadu and they use to have so much problem ..even though they can understand wut teacher is speaking ..but when it comes to expressing them self ..they loose on that ground …and being friendly with them was like talking to a rock …
YES. so many invasions have made them rock. What to do? Survival is difficult in this world.
bujji gadu……this is not about which language is the oldest one but the efforts to make it survive. You kno that aryans have already entered not into our culture but yours as well and their nature of suppression and domination make us put lot of strain to keep the tamil language alive. When we talk about tamil does that mean that we degrade other languages. Everyone should feel proud about his mother tongue. You should also. Becos of the powerful muslim dynasty in your state the urdu language is widely used by people in andhra and thats why in order to communicate with the bussinessmen who can very well manage their business there becos of urdu, hindi has become the must language in your state. That does not mean whoever is not speaking hindi is a fool. Why should we people chase any other language when we have our own language. Just becos english has considered as the main communicative language for the whole world people are ready to learn it for progress and studies. Otherwise there is no need for english at all. The bottomline is you should be aware of more and more languages of this world for your knowledge at the same time keeping in mind the dignity of our mother tongue as well.
Please dont use here abusive words to hurt people that wont lead you to peaceful life anywhere. Just appreciate anyone. No one is trying to hurt you or your language here.
all the above who made comments are ” “. Just look at ur
:)
hhhaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaa
@ Abdul, first u should know that Telugu is NOT a Dravidian language.
Lakshmi!
Kindly go through a reverent study on languages.Telugu is an Dravidian derivative with much influence of Indo-Aryan essence of Language.
who told u telugu is not a dravidian language . do u have any proof. Telugu people love sanskrit language so they adopted many words from that language.(around the time of Nannaya )
@ Maanick Baasha, Very well said Maanick. Keep it up.
The Rigveda dating back to around 1500 BC was written in Sanskrit and not Tamil, whereas Tamil is dated back to only about 3rd century BC.
Hope this is simple to understand for all those who say Tamil is the oldest.
All bullshit, is this important which language is older, get back to work yaar.
I know every one will proud if their belonging’s are famous. let suppose my car is the fastest in world, my country is oldest. Even though one language is older who will prefer it, any one prefer which one will be useful.
If you go abroad will you spake in Sanskrit or Tamil you have to speak what they know. So please stop fighting all Tamilians. It is quite natural that every one who is not Tamilian will say Sanskrit is grate, you may know the reason behind this because from child hood every one will here about Sanskrit but not about Tamil, If you suddenly come and say Tamil is the old and best no one will accept. If some one accepting Tamil is the greatest language he must be only Tamilian, if some one who say Gujarati is great he must from Gujarat. And every body know Sanskrit is famous than Tamil world wide. So stop fighting and say India is greatest, don’t forget that all Indians other than Tamil will not accept Tamil is greatest, than I will say Marathi is greatest language ever, you know why because I know it :).
Dai naya.. accept the truth da.. Tamil is always best not marathi
In marathi if you say for rent “bhada” and tell the hindi people that it is a marathi word they use, but the root and the full form for rent is in tamizh “vaadagai”….you have shortened it and say “bhada” by adding “bha” sound to it….am very much say to know that most of all the tamizh words are shortened and used in a different way and it is hard to explain to this world about the antiquity of tamizh because those who are not familiar with our tamizh culture and do not speak tamizh would not understand this reality…and everything has been changed. I am feeling satisfied atleast for pouring my emotions for my mother tongue..i hope somewhere a power supreme is watching me and all who are working hard to establish the facts.
Hello Friends,
I am a Kannadiga and from Bangalore.
I strongly feel we should forget this Regional issues and think about the country.
So stop BULL SHITTING on your languages and tell if your state and language has accepetd all and helped in countries growth and the rich culture.
I advise you to please do a search chicago speech made by Vivekananda on sep 11th 1893.
Lastly Iam closing by saying that I am an Indian first then an Kannadiga.
Hope I have not bugged you guys…if yes then carry on and ENJOY :)
-Anil
I totally agree with Anil and appreciate his thought.
Even though i am proud Tamilian I feel we are let behind by not trying to learn more lanuage and stuck with it (this has been my experiance now 18 years outside Tamil Nadu after I finished my college).
We are not able to appreciate others because we dont know ANYTHINk about it and I feel to give a good critic you should know .
So now time has come to look greater side of life this also what Tiruvalluvar says.
-Sarvanan
For meditation, Swami Vivekanand had gone to kanyakumari only, the place where the three oceans meet together. When he was in america to deliver a speech, he was not given importance only 10 minutes was allowed. He was saying sisters and brothers instead of ladies and gentlemen, the crowd was so much impressed by this and clapped hands for hours and he was talking for almost 1 hour about indian culture and the relationship, the family the bond, the culture there was silence all of them keenly listening to this speech. Swami Vivekanand suffered a lot in his life and learnt about relations, their selfish aims and he wanted to seek the immense pleasure that was in a spiritual world he had so many questions in his mind and he found atlast that each humanbeing has in him some kind of divine power which he does not aware and if he ever properly use it in a good way he can achieve so many things in life.
His opinion is what you believe follow it with great faith. There is no need to follow Lord Buddha or any other great humanbeing but believe yourself. Because each one us are having with us some kind of divine power which would guide us always what to do. From this world of commotion he wanted to escape and peaceful so Swami Vivekananda was sitting on a rock in kanyakumari, she impressed him a lot, the cradle of civilisation responsible for everything.
look this is not the place to quarrel or fight… WORLD IS WATCHING US. DON SPOIL OUR COUNTRY’S NAME AND FAME… FOR OUR DIVINE BHARAT MAATA, ALL INDIANS ARE HER CHILDREN..ALL THEIR LANGUAGES ARE HER JEWELS AND ORNAMENTS..UNDERSTAND THAT… NOT ONLY TAMIL,TELUGU,MALYALM,KANNADA,SANSKRIT… ALL OTHER LANGUAGES LIKE BENAGALI,MARATHI,URUDU,PUNJABI,ORIYA,GUJUARATI,RAJASTANI,HINDI
ASSAMI,MANIPURI,TULU,KONKANI ALL R OUR PRIDE..LOVE INDIA..
prakrit is the root language for sanskrit… both prakrit and tamil are derived from a language called tamili…. however its Tamil or sanskrit… to be oldest… they r the pride of our nation… I love India and its people,
world’s greatest country….world’s wealthiest culture and heritage…and divide people by races… we are one..and we r Indians… also we are humans… we should be the morals to other countries…so plz don fight..
May be Tamil is Older than Telugu.But most of the Tamilians think that no other language is greater.But all Indian languages are originated from Sanskrit.So we must respect every Indian language.
Hai Krishna Priya!
*Sanskrit is not indegenous to India.
*Tamizh is independent of Origin .I am posting this for your Kind reference,
April 11, 2000
Statement on the Status of Tamil as a Classical Language
Professor Maraimalai has asked me to write regarding the position of Tamil as a classical language, and I am delighted to respond to his request.
I have been a Professor of Tamil at the University of California, Berkeley, since 1975 and am currently holder of the Tamil Chair at that institution. My degree, which I received in 1970, is in Sanskrit, from Harvard, and my first employment was as a Sanskrit professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1969. Besides Tamil and Sanskrit, I know the classical languages of Latin and Greek and have read extensively in their literatures in the original. I am also well-acquainted with comparative linguistics and the literatures of modern Europe (I know Russian, German, and French and have read extensively in those languages) as well as the literatures of modern India, which, with the exception of Tamil and some Malayalam, I have read in translation. I have spent much time discussing Telugu literature and its tradition with V. Narayanarao, one of the greatest living Telugu scholars, and so I know that tradition especially well. As a long-standing member of a South Asian Studies department, I have also been exposed to the richness of both Hindi literature, and I have read in detail about Mahadevi Varma, Tulsi, and Kabir.
I have spent many years — most of my life (since 1963) — studying Sanskrit. I have read in the original all of Kalidasa, Magha, and parts of Bharavi and Sri Harsa. I have also read in the original the fifth book of the Rig Veda as well as many other sections, many of the Upanisads, most of the Mahabharata, the Kathasaritsagara, Adi Sankara’s works, and many other works in Sanskrit.
I say this not because I wish to show my erudition, but rather to establish my fitness for judging whether a literature is classical. Let me state unequivocally that, by any criteria one may choose, Tamil is one of the great classical literatures and traditions of the world.
The reasons for this are many; let me consider them one by one.
First, Tamil is of considerable antiquity. It predates the literatures of other modern Indian languages by more than a thousand years. Its oldest work, the Tolkappiyam,, contains parts that, judging from the earliest Tamil inscriptions, date back to about 200 BCE. The greatest works of ancient Tamil, the Sangam anthologies and the Pattuppattu, date to the first two centuries of the current era. They are the first great secular body of poetry written in India, predating Kalidasa’s works by two hundred years.
Second, Tamil constitutes the only literary tradition indigenous to India that is not derived from Sanskrit. Indeed, its literature arose before the influence of Sanskrit in the South became strong and so is qualitatively different from anything we have in Sanskrit or other Indian languages. It has its own poetic theory, its own grammatical tradition, its own esthetics, and, above all, a large body of literature that is quite unique. It shows a sort of Indian sensibility that is quite different from anything in Sanskrit or other Indian languages, and it contains its own extremely rich and vast intellectual tradition.
Third, the quality of classical Tamil literature is such that it is fit to stand beside the great literatures of Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Chinese, Persian and Arabic. The subtlety and profundity of its works, their varied scope (Tamil is the only premodern Indian literature to treat the subaltern extensively), and their universality qualify Tamil to stand as one of the great classical traditions and literatures of the world. Everyone knows the Tirukkural, one of the world’s greatest works on ethics; but this is merely one of a myriad of major and extremely varied works that comprise the Tamil classical tradition. There is not a facet of human existence that is not explored and illuminated by this great literature.
Finally, Tamil is one of the primary independent sources of modern Indian culture and tradition. I have written extensively on the influence of a Southern tradition on the Sanskrit poetic tradition. But equally important, the great sacred works of Tamil Hinduism, beginning with the Sangam Anthologies, have undergirded the development of modern Hinduism. Their ideas were taken into the Bhagavata Purana and other texts (in Telugu and Kannada as well as Sanskrit), whence they spread all over India. Tamil has its own works that are considered to be as sacred as the Vedas and that are recited alongside Vedic mantras in the great Vaisnava temples of South India (such as Tirupati). And just as Sanskrit is the source of the modern Indo-Aryan languages, classical Tamil is the source language of modern Tamil and Malayalam. As Sanskrit is the most conservative and least changed of the Indo-Aryan languages, Tamil is the most conservative of the Dravidian languages, the touchstone that linguists must consult to understand the nature and development of Dravidian.
In trying to discern why Tamil has not been recognized as a classical language, I can see only a political reason: there is a fear that if Tamil is selected as a classical language, other Indian languages may claim similar status. This is an unnecessary worry. I am well aware of the richness of the modern Indian languages — I know that they are among the most fecund and productive languages on earth, each having begotten a modern (and often medieval) literature that can stand with any of the major literatures of the world. Yet none of them is a classical language. Like English and the other modern languages of Europe (with the exception of Greek), they rose on preexisting traditions rather late and developed in the second millennium. The fact that Greek is universally recognized as a classical language in Europe does not lead the French or the English to claim classical status for their languages.
To qualify as a classical tradition, a language must fit several criteria: it should be ancient, it should be an independent tradition that arose mostly on its own not as an offshoot of another tradition, and it must have a large and extremely rich body of ancient literature. Unlike the other modern languages of India, Tamil meets each of these requirements. It is extremely old (as old as Latin and older than Arabic); it arose as an entirely independent tradition, with almost no influence from Sanskrit or other languages; and its ancient literature is indescribably vast and rich.
It seems strange to me that I should have to write an essay such as this claiming that Tamil is a classical literature — it is akin to claiming that India is a great country or Hinduism is one of the world’s great religions. The status of Tamil as one of the great classical languages of the world is something that is patently obvious to anyone who knows the subject. To deny that Tamil is a classical language is to deny a vital and central part of the greatness and richness of Indian culture.
(Signed:)
George L. Hart
Professor of Tamil
Chair in Tamil Studies
Hi All,
First language sopken & written was Sanskrit and later Greek , Kannada, Telugu , Tamil. Please dont discremate any language.
All languages are part of sanaskrit and it is the mother of all languages.
Dear Jaya Prakash!
Like ‘English words’ liberalised in our present day usage.(i..e)Words for FAN,SWITCH ,FRIDGE,CYCLE are used in English instead of Indian Languages.Like wise Sanskrit was liberalised in Dravdian Language in past.So,One cant blindly say that ‘Telugu’ or ‘Tamizh’ is Originated from English because of’ English influence ‘ or more usage of ‘English words ‘on our language.Similarly,we cant say sanskrit is the mother of all languages.
Hi All,
First language sopken & written was Sanskrit and later Greek , Kannaga, Telugu , Tamil. Please dont discremate any language.
All languages are part of sanaskrit and it is the mother of all languages.