Date | Language | Attestation | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
c. 2690 BC | Egyptian | Egyptian hieroglyphs in the tomb of Seth-Peribsen (2nd Dynasty), Umm el-Qa'ab[7] | 'proto-hieroglyphic' inscriptions from about 3300 BC (Naqada III; see Abydos, Egypt, Narmer Palette) |
26th century BC | Sumerian | Instructions of Shuruppak, the Kesh temple hymn and other cuneiform texts from Shuruppak and Abu Salabikh (Fara period)[8][9] | 'proto-literate' period from about 3500 BC (see Kish tablet); administrative records at Uruk and Ur from c. 2900 BC. |
c. 2400 BC | Canaanite | Semitic protective spells attested in an Egyptian inscription in the pyramid of Unas[10][11] | Initial attempts at deciphering the texts failed due to Egyptologists mistaking the Semitic spells for Egyptian, thus rendering them unintelligible. |
c. 2400 BC | Akkadian | A few dozen pre-Sargonic texts from Mari and other sites in northern Babylonia[12] | Some proper names attested in Sumerian texts at Tell Harmal from about 2800 BC.[13] Fragments of the Legend of Etana at Tell Harmal c. 2600 BC.[14] |
c. 2400 BC | Eblaite | Ebla tablets[15] | |
c. 2250 BC | Elamite | Awan dynasty peace treaty with Naram-Sin[16][17] | |
21st century BC | Hurrian | Temple inscription of Tish-atal in Urkesh[18] | |
c. 1700 BC | Hittite | Anitta text in Hittite cuneiform[19] | Isolated Hittite words and names occur in Assyrian texts found at Kültepe, from the 19th century BC.[19] |
16th century BC | Palaic | Hittite texts CTH 751–754[20] | |
c. 1450 BC | Mycenaean Greek | Linear B tablet archive from Knossos[21][22][23] | These are mostly administrative lists, with some complete sentences.[24] |
c. 1400 BC | Luwian | Hieroglyphic Luwian monumental inscriptions, Cuneiform Luwian tablets in the Hattusa archives[25] | Isolated hieroglyphs appear on seals from the 18th century BC.[25] |
c. 1400 BC | Hattic | Hittite texts CTH 725–745 | |
c. 1300 BC | Ugaritic | Tablets from Ugarit[26] | |
c. 1200 BC | Old Chinese | Oracle bone and bronze inscriptions from the reign of Wu Ding[27][28][29] |
Date | Language | Attestation | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
c. 1000 BC | Phoenician | Ahiram epitaph[34] | |
10th century BC | Aramaic | royal inscriptions from Aramean city-states[35] | |
10th century BC | Hebrew or Phoenician | Gezer calendar[36] | Paleo-Hebrew employed a slightly modified Phoenician alphabet, hence the uncertainty between which is attested to here. |
c. 850 BC | Ammonite | Amman Citadel Inscription[37] | |
c. 840 BC | Moabite | Mesha Stele | |
c. 800 BC | Phrygian | Paleo-Phrygian inscriptions at Gordion[38] | |
8th century BC | Sabaean (Old South Arabian) | mainly boustrophedon inscriptions from Yemen[39] | |
c. 700 BC | Etruscan | proto-Corinthian vase found at Tarquinia[40] | |
7th century BC | Latin | Vetusia Inscription and Fibula Praenestina[41] | |
c. 600 BC | Lydian | inscriptions from Sardis[25] | |
c. 600 BC | Carian | inscriptions from Caria and Egypt[25] | |
c. 600 BC | Faliscan | Ceres inscription found at Falerii[42] | |
early 6th century BC | Umbrian | text painted on the handle of a krater found near Tolfa[43] | |
c. 550 BC | Taymanitic | Esk 168 and 177[44] | The Taymanitic script is mentioned in an 8th century BC document from Carchemish.[45] |
c. 550 BC | South Picene | Warrior of Capestrano[46] | |
late 6th century BC | Venetic | inscriptions at Este | |
c. 500 BC | Old Persian | Behistun inscription | |
c. 500 BC | Lepontic | inscriptions CO-48 from Pristino (Como) and VA-6 from Vergiate (Varese)[47][48] | Inscriptions from the early 6th century consist of isolated names. |
c. 300 BC | Oscan | Iovilae from Capua[49] | Coin legends date from the late 5th century BC.[50] |
3rd century BC | Gaulish | Transalpine Gaulish inscriptions in Massiliote Greek script[51] | |
3rd century BC | Volscian | Tabula Veliterna[52] | |
c. 260 BC | Middle Indo-Aryan (Prakrit) | Edicts of Ashoka[53][54] | Pottery inscriptions from Anuradhapura have been dated c. 400 BC.[55][56] |
c. 200 BC | Tamil | cave inscriptions and potsherds in Tamil Nadu[57][58] | 5th century BC inscriptions on potsherds found in Kodumanal, Porunthal and Palani have been claimed as Tamil-Brahmi,[59][60] but this is disputed.[61] |
c. 146 BC | East Numidian | Punic-Libyan Inscription at Dougga[62] | |
2nd century BC | Meroitic | graffiti on the temple of Amun at Dukki Gel, near Kerma[63] | |
c. 100 BC | Celtiberian | Botorrita plaques | |
1st century BC | Parthian | ostraca at Nisa and Qumis[64] | |
1st century BC | Sanskrit | Ayodhya Inscription of Dhana, and Hathibada Ghosundi Inscriptions (both near Chittorgarh)[65] | The Junagadh rock inscription of Rudradaman (shortly after 150 AD) is the oldest long text.[66] |
Date | Language | Attestation | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
c. 150 | Bactrian | Rabatak inscription | |
c. 200 | Proto-Norse | inscription NITHIJO TAWIDE on shield grip from the Illerup Ådalweapon deposit | Single Proto-Norse words are found on the Øvre Stabu spearhead (second half of the 2nd century) and the Vimose Comb (c. 160). |
c. 292 | Mayan | Stela 29 from Tikal[67] | A brief undeciphered inscription at San Bartolo is dated to the 3rd century BC.[68] |
c. 312–313 | Sogdian | Ancient Letters, found near Dunhuang[69] | |
c. 328 | Arabic | Namara inscription | |
c. 350 | Ge'ez | inscriptions of Ezana of Aksum[70] | |
c. 350 | Cham | Đông Yên Châu inscription found near Tra Kiêu[71] | |
4th century | Gothic | Gothic Bible, translated by Wulfila[72] | A few problematic Gothic runic inscriptions may date to the early 4th century. |
c. 430 | Georgian | Bir el Qutt inscriptions[73] | |
c. 450 | Kannada | Halmidi inscription[74] | Kavirajamarga (c. 850) is the oldest literary work.[74] |
c. 500 | Armenian | inscription at the Tekor Basilica[75] | Saint Mesrob Mashtots is traditionally held to have translated an Armenian Bible in 434. |
c. 510 | Old Dutch | formula for freeing a serf in the Malbergse Glossen on the Salic law[76] | A word in the mid-5th century Bergakker inscription yields the oldest evidence of Dutch morphology, but there is no consensus on the interpretation of the rest of the text.[76] |
6th century | Tocharian | manuscripts from Kucha, Karasahr and Dunhuang[77] | Some Tocharian names and words have been found in Prakrit documents from Krorän dated c. 300 AD. |
second half of 6th century | Old High German | Pforzen buckle[78] | |
c. 575 | Telugu | Erragudipadu inscription[74] | Telugu place names are found in Prakrit inscriptions from the 2nd century AD.[74] |
c. 591 | Korean | Sinseong (新城) Stele in Namsan (Gyeongju)[79][80] | |
c. 611 | Khmer | Angkor Borei inscription | |
c. 650 | Old Japanese | mokkan wooden tablets[81] | Poems in the Kojiki (711–712) and Nihon Shoki (720) have been transmitted in copied manuscripts. |
c. 650–700 | Old Udi | Sinai palimpsest M13 | |
c. 683 | Old Malay | Kedukan Bukit Inscription | |
7th century | Tumshuqese and Khotanese Saka | manuscripts mainly from Dunhuang[82] | Some fragments of Khotanese Saka have been dated to the 5th and 6th centuries |
7th century | Beja | ostracon from Saqqara[83][84] | |
late 7th century | Pyu | Hpayahtaung funeral urn inscription of kings of Sri Ksetra | |
c. 700 | Old English | runic inscription on the Franks Casket | The Undley bracteate (5th century) and West Heslerton brooch (c. 650) have fragmentary runic inscriptions. |
c. 732 | Old Turkic | Orkhon inscriptions | |
c. 750 | Old Irish | Würzburg glosses[85] | Primitive IrishOgham inscriptions from the 4th century consist of personal names, patronymics and/or clan names.[86][87] |
c. 765 | Old Tibetan | Lhasa Zhol Pillar[88] | Dated entries in the Tibetan Annals begin at 650, but extant manuscripts postdate the Tibetan occupation of Dunhuang in 786.[89] |
c. 769 | Old Hindi | Dohakosh by Saraha | |
late 8th century | Breton | Praecepta medica (Leyden, Codex Vossianus Lat. F. 96 A)[90] | A botanical manuscript in Latin and Breton |
c. 750–900 | Old Frisian | Westeremden yew-stick | |
c. 800 | Old Norse | runic inscriptions | |
c. 804 | Javanese | initial part of the Sukabumi inscription[91] | |
9th century | Malayalam | Rajasekhara inscription at Vazhappally Maha Siva Temple[58] | Ramacaritam (12th century) is the oldest literary work.[58] |
9th century | Old Welsh | Cadfan Stone (Tywyn 2)[92] | |
c. 842 | Old French | Oaths of Strasbourg | |
c. 862 | Old Church Slavonic | religious literature translated by Cyril and Methodius | Developed in the Preslav Literary School and Ohrid Literary School, the two major cultural centres of the Bulgarian Empire. |
c. 882 | Balinese | dated royal inscription[93] | |
c. 900 | Old Occitan | Tomida femina | |
c. 959–974 | Leonese | Nodicia de Kesos | |
c. 960–963 | Italian | Placiti Cassinesi[94] | The Veronese Riddle (c. 800) is considered a mixture of Italian and Latin.[95] |
c. 986 | Khitan | Memorial for Yelü Yanning | |
late 10th century | Konkani/Marathi | inscription on Bahubali statue at Shravanabelagola[96] | inscription on Bahubali statue at Shravanabelagola are in Devanagari script, but the language has been in dispute between Marathi and Konkani scholars.[97][98] |
Date | Language | Attestation | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
c. 972–1093 | Slovene | Freising manuscripts | |
c. 1000 | Old East Slavic | Novgorod Codex[99] | |
c. 1000 | Basque, Aragonese | Glosas Emilianenses | |
c. 1028 | Catalan | Jurament Feudal[100] | |
11th century | Mozarabic | kharjas appended to Arabic and Hebrew poems[101] | Isolated words are found in glossaries from the 8th century.[102] |
c. 1100 | Croatian | Baška tablet | |
c. 1100 | Ossetian | Zelančuk inscription[103] | |
c. 1106 | Irish | Lebor na hUidre ('Book of the Dun Cow') | |
c. 1113 | Burmese | Myazedi inscription | |
c. 1114 | Newar | palm-leaf manuscript from Uku Baha, Patan[104] | |
c. 1160–1170 | Middle Dutch | Het Leven van Sint Servaes ('Life of Saint Servatius') by Heinrich von Veldeke[105] | |
c. 1175 | Galician-Portuguese | Notícia de Fiadores[106] | The Notícia de Torto and the will of Afonso II of Portugal, dated 1214, are often cited as the first documents written in Galician-Portuguese.[107] A date prior to 1175 has been proposed for the Pacto dos Irmãos Pais.[108] |
c. 1186–1190 | Serbian | Miroslav Gospel | |
c. 1189 | Bosnian | Charter of Ban Kulin | |
c. 1192 | Old Hungarian | Funeral Sermon and Prayer | There are isolated fragments in earlier charters such as the charter of Veszprém (c. 1000) and the charter of Tihany (1055). |
c. 1200 | Spanish | Cantar de mio Cid | Previously the Glosas Emilianenses and the Nodicia de kesos were considered the oldest texts in Spanish; however, later analyses concluded them to be Aragonese and Leonese, respectively.[109] |
c. 1200 | Finnic | Birch bark letter no. 292 | |
c. 1200–1230 | Czech | founding charter of the Litoměřice chapter | |
c. 1224–1225 | Mongolian | Genghis stone | |
early 13th century | Punjabi | poetry of Fariduddin Ganjshakar | |
early 13th century | Cornish | prophesy in the cartulary of Glasney College[110] | A 9th century gloss in De Consolatione Philosophiae by Boethius: ud rocashaas is controversially interpreted.[111][112] |
c. 1250 | Kashmiri | Mahanayakaprakash ('Light of the supreme lord') by Shitikantha[113] | |
c. 1270 | Old Polish | Book of Henryków | |
c. 1272 | Yiddish | blessing in the Worms mahzor | |
c. 1274 | Western Lombard | Libro de le tre scritture, by Bonvesin de la Riva | |
c. 1292 | Thai | Ramkhamhaeng stele | Some scholars argue that the stele is a forgery. |
13th century | Tigrinya | a text of laws found in Logosarda | |
c. 1300 | Batak | ||
c. 1350 | Oghuz Turkic (including Azeri and Ottoman Turkish) | Imadaddin Nasimi | |
c. 1369 | Old Prussian | Basel Epigram[114] | |
c. 1372 | Komi | Abur inscriptions | |
early 15th century | Bengali | poems of Chandidas and Vidyapati[115] | The 10th-century Charyapada are written in a language ancestral to Bengali, Assamese and Oriya.[115] |
c. 1440 | Vietnamese | Quốc âm thi tập[116] | Isolated names in Chữ nôm date from the early 13th century. |
c. 1462 | Albanian | Formula e Pagëzimit, a baptismal formula in a letter of Archbishop Pal Engjëll | Some scholars interpret a few lines in the Bellifortis text (1405) as Albanian.[117] |
c. 1470 | Finnish | single sentence in a German travel journal[118] | The first printed book in Finnish is Abckiria (1543) by Mikael Agricola. |
c. 1470 | Maltese | Il Cantilena | |
c. 1485 | Yi | bronze bell inscription in Dafang County, Guizhou[119] | |
15th century | Tulu | inscriptions in an adaptation of Malayam script[120] |
Date | Language | Attestation | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
c. 1503 | Lithuanian | hand-written Lord's Prayer, Hail Mary and Creed[121] | Katekizmas (1547) by Martynas Mažvydas was the first printed book in Lithuanian. |
c. 1517 | Belarusian | Psalter of Francysk Skaryna | |
c. 1521 | Romanian | Neacșu's Letter | Cyrillic orthographic manual of Constantin Kostentschi from 1420 documents earlier written usage.[122] Four 16th century documents, namely Codicele Voronetean, Psaltirea Scheiana, Psaltirea Hurmuzachi and Psaltirea Voroneteana, are arguably copies of 15th century originals.[123] |
c. 1530 | Latvian | Nicholas Ramm's translation of a hymn | |
c. 1535 | Estonian | Wanradt-Koell catechism | |
c. 1536 | Modern Portuguese | Grammatica da lingoagem portuguesa by Fernão de Oliveira. | by convention.[124] |
c. 1550 | Classical Nahuatl | Doctrina cristiana en lengua española y mexicana[125] | The Breve y mas compendiosa doctrina cristiana en lengua mexicana y castellana (1539) was possibly the first printed book in the New World. No copies are known to exist today.[125] |
c. 1550 | Standard Dutch | Statenbijbel | 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. |
c. 1554 | Wastek | grammar by Andrés de Olmos | |
c. 1557 | Kikongo | a catechism[126] | |
c. 1561 | Ukrainian | Peresopnytsia Gospel | |
c. 1593 | Tagalog | Doctrina Cristiana | |
c. 1600 | Buginese | ||
c. 1610 | Manx | Book of Common Prayer[127] | |
c. 1619 | Pite Sami | primer and missal by Nicolaus Andreaus[128] | Early literary works were mainly based on dialects underlying modern Ume Sami and Pite Sami. First grammar and dictionary in 1738. |
c. 1639 | Guarani | Tesoro de la lengua guaraní by Antonio Ruíz de Montoya | |
c. 1650 | Ubykh, Abkhaz, Adyghe and Mingrelian | Travel Book of Evliya Çelebi[129] | |
c. 1651 | Pashto | copy of Xayru 'l-bayān in the library of the University of Tübingen[130] | The Pata Khazana, purporting to date from the 8th century, is considered by most scholars to be a forgery.[130] |
c. 1693 | Tunisian Arabic | copy of a Tunisian poem written by Sheykh Hassan el-Karray [131] | Before 1700, lyrics of songs were not written in Tunisian Arabic but in Classical Arabic. Even though Tunisian Arabic existed before, it was only used orally.[131] |
c. 1695 | Seri | grammar and vocabulary compiled by Adamo Gilg | No longer known to exist.[132] |
17th century | Hausa | Riwayar Annabi Musa by Abdallah Suka[133] | |
18th century [134] | Língua Geral of São Paulo | Vocabulário da Língua Geral dos Índios das Américas (anonymous) | Another source is the dictionary by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius (1867) and the vocabulary (1936) by José Joaquim Machado de Oliveira. The language is now extinct. |
c. 1728 | Northern Sami | Catechism | An early wordlist was published in 1589 by Richard Hakluyt. First grammar in 1743 |
c. 1728 | Swahili | Utendi wa Tambuka | |
c. 1736 | Greenlandic | Grönländische Grammatica by Paul Egede[135] | A poor-quality wordlist was recorded by John Davis in 1586.[136] |
c. 1743 | Chinese Pidgin English | sentence recorded in Macau by George Anson[137] | |
c. 1788 | Sydney language | notebooks of William Dawes[138][139] | |
c. 1800 | Inuktitut | 'Eskimo Grammar' by Moravian missionaries[135] | A list of 17 words was recorded in 1576 by Christopher Hall, an assistant to Martin Frobisher.[135][136] |
c. 1806 | Tswana | Heinrich Lictenstein – Upon the Language of the Beetjuana | The first complete Bible translation was published in 1857 by Robert Moffat. |
c. 1819 | Cherokee | Sequoyah's Cherokee syllabary | |
c. 1820 | Maori | grammar by Thomas Kendall and Samuel Lee | Kendal began compiling wordlists in 1814. |
c. 1820 | Aleut | description by Rasmus Rask | A short word list was collected by James King in 1778. |
c. 1823 | Xhosa | John Bennie's Xhosa reading sheet | Complete Bible translation 1859 |
c. 1833 | Vai | Vai syllabary created by Momolu Duwalu Bukele. | |
c. 1833 | Sotho | reduced to writing by French missionaries Casalis and Arbousset | First grammar book 1841 and complete Bible translation 1881 |
c. 1837 | Zulu | Incwadi Yokuqala Yabafundayo | First grammar book 1859 and complete Bible translation 1883 |
c. 1839 | Lule Sami | pamphlet by Lars Levi Laestadius | Dictionary and grammar by Karl Bernhard Wiklund in 1890-1891 |
c. 1844 | Afrikaans | letters by Louis Henri Meurant (published in Eastern Cape newspaper – South Africa) | Followed by Muslim texts written in Afrikaans using Arabic alphabet in 1856. Spelling rules published in 1874. Complete Bible published 1933. |
c. 1845 | Santali | A Santali Primer by Jeremiah Phillips[140] | |
c. 1851 | Sakha (Yakut) | Über die Sprache der Jakuten, a grammar by Otto von Böhtlingk | Wordlists were included in Noord en Oost Tartarije (1692) by Nicolaas Witsen and Das Nord-und Ostliche Theil von Europa und Asia (1730) by Philip Johan von Strahlenberg. |
c. 1854 | Inari Sami | grammar by Elias Lönnrot | Primer and catechism published in 1859. |
c. 1856 | Gamilaraay | articles by William Ridley[141] | Basic vocabulary collected by Thomas Mitchell in 1832. |
c. 1872 | Venda | reduced to writing by the Berlin Missionaries | First complete Bible translation 1936 |
c. 1878 | Kildin Sami | Gospel of Matthew | |
c. 1882 | Mirandese | O dialecto mirandez by José Leite de Vasconcelos[142] | The same author also published the first book written in Mirandese: Flores mirandezas (1884)[143] |
c. 1884 | Skolt Sami | Gospel of Matthew in Cyrillic | |
c. 1885 | Carrier | Barkerville Jail Text, written in pencil on a board in the then recently created Carrier syllabics | Although the first known text by native speakers dates to 1885, the first record of the language is a list of words recorded in 1793 by Alexander MacKenzie. |
c. 1885 | Motu | grammar by W.G. Lawes | |
c. 1886 | Guugu Yimidhirr | notes by Johann Flierl, Wilhelm Poland and Georg Schwarz, culminating in Walter Roth's The Structure of the Koko Yimidir Language in 1901.[144][145] | A list of 61 words recorded in 1770 by James Cook and Joseph Banks was the first written record of an Australian language.[146] |
c. 1891 | Galela | grammatical sketch by M.J. van Baarda[147] | |
c. 1893 | Oromo | translation of the New Testament by Onesimos Nesib, assisted by Aster Ganno | |
c. 1903 | Lingala | grammar by Egide de Boeck | |
c. 1905 | Istro-Romanian | Calendaru lu rumeri din Istria by Andrei Glavina[148] | Compilation of Istro-Romanian popular words, proverbs and stories. |
c. 1940 | Kamoro | materials by Peter Drabbe[147] | A Kamoro wordlist recorded in 1828 by Modera and Müller, passengers on a Dutch ship, is the oldest record of any of the Papuan languages.[147][149] |
c. 1968 | Southern Ndebele | small booklet published with praises of their kings and a little history | A translation of the New Testament of the Bible was completed in 1986; translation of the Old Testament is ongoing. |
c. 1982 | Gooniyandi | survey by William McGregor[150] |
Date | Language | Attestation | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1879 | Volapük | created by Johann Martin Schleyer | |
1887 | Esperanto | Unua Libro | created by L. L. Zamenhof |
1907 | Ido | based on Esperanto | |
1917 | Quenya | created by J. R. R. Tolkien | |
1928 | Novial | created by Otto Jespersen | |
1935 | Sona | Sona, an auxiliary neutral language | created by Kenneth Searight |
1943 | Interglossa | Later became Glosa | created by Lancelot Hogben |
1951 | Interlingua | Interlingua-English Dictionary | created by the International Auxiliary Language Association |
1955 | Loglan | created by James Cooke Brown | |
1984 | Klingon | Star Trek III: The Search for Spock | created by Marc Okrand |
1987 | Lojban | based on Loglan, created by the Logical Language Group | |
2005–6 | Na'vi | Avatar | created by Dr. Paul Frommer and James Cameron |
2009 | Dothraki | created by George R. R. Martin and David J. Peterson for Game of Thrones |