List of languages by first written accounts

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"Ancient Language" redirects here. For other uses, see ancient language (disambiguation).

This is a list consisting of the approximate dates of the first written accounts that are known for various languages.

Because of the way languages change gradually, it is usually impossible to pinpoint when a given language began to be spoken with any precision. In many cases, some form of the language had already been spoken (and even written) considerably earlier than the dates of the earliest extant samples provided here.

There are also various claims regarding still-undeciphered scripts without wide acceptance, which, if substantiated, would push backward the first attestation of certain languages.

A written record may encode a stage of a language corresponding to an earlier time — either as a result of oral tradition, or because the earliest source is a copy of an older manuscript that was lost. Oral tradition of epic poetry may typically bridge a few centuries, but in rare cases, over a millennium. An extreme case is the Vedic Sanskrit of the Rigveda: the earliest parts of this text are dated to ca. 1500 BC, while the oldest known manuscript dates to the 11th century AD, corresponding to a gap of approximately 2,500 years.

For languages that have developed out of a known predecessor, dates provided here are subject to conventional terminology. For example, Old French developed gradually out of Vulgar Latin, and the Oaths of Strasbourg (842) listed are the earliest text that is classified as "Old French". Similarly, Danish and Swedish separate from common Old East Norse in the 12th century, while Norwegian separates from Old West Norse around 1300.


Contents

Further information: Bronze Age writing

(This list is incomplete.You can help by expanding it!)

(This list is incomplete.You can help by expanding it!)

  1. ^ Shupp, Mike. Some Problems for Mesopotamian Archaeology. Archived from the original on 2002-12-06. Retrieved on January 17, 2007.
  2. ^ Mattessich, Richard (2002-06). The oldest writings, and inventory tags of Egypt. The Accounting Historians Journal. Retrieved on October 5, 2006.
  3. ^ William G. Boltz, Early Chinese Writing, World Archaeology, Vol. 17, No. 3, Early Writing Systems. (Feb., 1986), pp. 420-436 (436)
  4. ^ Vine, Brent. A Note on the Duenos Inscription. Retrieved on September 20, 2006.
  5. ^ Onze Taal. Livios.org. Retrieved on September 20, 2006.
  6. ^ Oldest written English?. Cronaca.com.
  7. ^ History of the Italian language.. Retrieved on September 24, 2006.
  8. ^ MORAN, J. i J. A. RABELLA (ed.) (2001). Primers textos de la llengua catalana. Proa (Barcelona). ISBN 84-8437-156-5. 
  9. ^ Various texts, among whom the Servaaslegende by Henderik van de Veldeke
  10. ^ The Statenbijbel is commonly accepted to be the start of Standard Dutch, but various experiments were performed around 1550 in Flanders and Brabant. Although none proved to be lasting they did create a semi-standard and many formed the base for the Statenbijbel.

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