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World’s oldest languages and their origins
The world is home to more than 7,100 languages today, with nearly 40% endangered. These languages weave together millennia of human history, making the quest to identify the oldest language a fascinating endeavour.Many early written languages, such as Sumerian, Akkadian, and Egyptian, used cuneiform script and date back at least 4,600 years. Egyptian hieroglyphs, like those in Pharaoh Seth-Peribsen’s tomb, contain the earliest-known complete sentences. Historians agree these are among the oldest languages with clear written records, though all are now extinct.For the oldest still-spoken languages, Hebrew and Arabic are notable. Their written evidence dates back around 3,000 years, and they…