Language is the foundation of society and communication. Without it, we couldn’t have the life and incredible advancements in science and technology or the large thriving cities that form the backbone of civilization. It’s hard to imagine a world without a complex system of language. How would we argue about Star Wars or the Kardashians?

But it also begs the question, how did language begin?

Humans didn’t always have language. A vast vocabulary with thousands of words and sounds that can be ordered and arranged to create a seemingly infinite amount of phrases that we have coded abstract ideas and thoughts with unique nuances that each mind and speaker or writer adds to until we have a communication system that can be studied and contributed for generations.

Tamil

Looking back nearly 5,000 years ago, humans had a similar language system to what we do now, at least that’s what some of our early written records suggest. One of the oldest languages known as Tamil and is remarkably still used in the modern world. In fact, it is the official language in Sri Lanka and Singapore and is spoken in 34 different Indian territories. It’s amazing to think that you can find a newspaper today, written in a language that was first written down in 3,000 BC. Just think, kids have been having spelling tests and tripping over some of the same words for 5,000 years.

Sanskrit

Another ancient language, Sanskrit is also believed to have originated in India and takes credit for inspiring many of the more modern languages spoken around the world today. In fact, Sanskrit, while rarely spoken now, was used to construct the Basic computer language. It’s also a romantic language that has heavily influenced literature throughout the ages and still inspires writers looking to create a fictional language for their fantasy or science fiction lore.

Arabic

It’s believed the first traces of Arabic appeared around the 1st century and unlike the previous languages on this list, the language is still very widely utilized with many speakers in the Arab world. There are actually five varieties of the language, including Peninsular Arabic, Levantine, Mesopotamian, Egyptic, and Maghrebi.

Aramaic

Another ancient language, Aramaic spread throughout the Middle East in the 10 century BC, originating from ancient Syria. However, the language has been classified as endangered as there are no more speakers left to teach other speakers.

Egyptian

While many believe Egyptian is actually the oldest language because of being credited with the invention of photo-hieroglyphs dating back over 600 years from the first known Egyptian text, the full Egyptian language is still estimated to taking form around 2,600 BC.

Latin

While Latin is often considered an ancient language, it’s still relatively young compared to the previously noted languages. However, that doesn’t mean Latin is a spring chicken. It’s believed Latin emerged as a written language in 75 BC but was preceded by Old Latin. However, the language would go on to impact many of our modern languages. It was the official language of the Roman Language and has since gone on to become a central part of the Roman Catholic Church and spoken in the Vatican, as well as intertwined with higher education. It also helped form the basis for Italian, French, Spanish, Romanian, and many modern English words.

Korean

While modern Korean formed closer to the 17th century and spread from North Korea and South Korea to China, Russia, Kazakhstan, and beyond, the language finds its roots going back to Middle Korean, Old-Korean, and Proto-Korean. While all the versions are similar, each period added its own nuances and characters.

Greek

Greek is one of the oldest languages still widely spoken today. It’s estimated that over 13 million people still speak it even though it goes back 34 centuries. The language has a special place in human history as the Greek alphabet inspired many writing systems and it contained and recorded many enduring scientific documents, works of poetry, and historical passages, including the Christian New Testament.

While there are nearly 7,000 languages currently spoken today, it’s amazing to think some of them have been around for thousands of years. While a language’s age is determined by its first appearance in a written text, we can create a picture of which language has been around for the longest time. While some have gone extinct, each one has left its mark on cultures and civilizations and often molded and shaped the languages around it. In the end, while there is still much debate and never as much evidence as linguistic scholars would like, many still have to give the honor of the world’s oldest language to Tamil at the ripe old age of 5,000.