🗿 What is the oldest language in the world?

Long, long ago, people started talking to each other! 🌍 The oldest language we know about is called Sumerian. It was spoken in a place called Mesopotamia (now Iraq) over 5,000 years ago! 🏛️

People wrote it down using little pictures called cuneiform on clay tablets. Imagine drawing your words in wet mud! 🖍️

The oldest written language we’ve discovered is Sumerian, used around 3,500 BCE in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). 📜

It was written in cuneiform—wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets. Later, Egyptian hieroglyphs (3,200 BCE) and Tamil (still spoken today!) also appeared.

How do we know?

Archaeologists found thousands of tablets with lists, stories, and even schoolwork! Some tablets are receipts for sheep! 🐑

The oldest written language is Sumerian (3,500 BCE), but the oldest spoken language is harder to pinpoint. Linguists debate between Tamil (still spoken!), Sanskrit, and others.

Key facts:

• Sumerian: Used cuneiform; died out but influenced Akkadian.
• Tamil: Over 2,000 years old; still spoken by 80 million people.
• Proto-languages: Reconstructed ancestor languages (like Proto-Indo-European) might be even older.

Writing systems evolved independently in Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, and Mesoamerica—each with unique styles! 🌏