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Top 5 oldest still-spoken languages

evergreen

Approximate age of attested usage — Language

Snapshot · 2026-05-31

  1. 1

    Tamil

    ~2,500+ years of literary record

  2. 2

    Chinese

    ~3,000+ years of written record

  3. 3

    Greek

    ~3,400+ years of written record

  4. 4

    Hebrew

    ~3,000+ years (revived as a daily language)

  5. 5

    Sanskrit

    ~3,500+ years (Vedic), today liturgical