Template:Pp-semi-indef Template:Protection padlock This is a list of languages arranged by age of the oldest existing text recording a complete sentence in the language. It does not include undeciphered writing systems, though there are various claims without wide acceptance, which, if substantiated, would push backward the first attestation of certain languages. It also does not include inscriptions consisting of isolated words or names from a language. In most 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.
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. An oral tradition of epic poetry may typically bridge a few centuries, and in rare cases, over a millennium. An extreme case is the Vedic Sanskrit of the Rigveda: the earliest parts of this text date to Template:Circa 1500 BC,[1] while the oldest known manuscripts date to Template:Circa 1040 AD.[2] Similarly the oldest Avestan texts, the Gathas, are believed to have been composed before 1000 BC, but the oldest Avestan manuscripts date from the 13th century AD.[3]
Before 1000 BC
Writing first appeared in the Near East at the end of the 4th millennium BC.[4] A very limited number of languages are attested in the area from before the Bronze Age collapse and the rise of alphabetic writing:
- the Sumerian, Hattic and Elamite language isolates,
- Hurrian from the small Hurro-Urartian family,
- Afro-Asiatic in the form of the Egyptian and Semitic languages and
- Indo-European (Anatolian languages and Mycenaean Greek).
In East Asia towards the end of the second millennium BC, the Sino-Tibetan family was represented by Old Chinese.
There are also a number of undeciphered Bronze Age records:
- the Proto-Elamite script
- the Indus script (speculated to record a "Harappan language")
- Cretan hieroglyphs and Linear A (encoding a possible "Minoan language")Template:Sfnp
- the Cypro-Minoan syllabaryTemplate:Sfnp
Earlier symbols, such as the Jiahu symbols or Vinča symbols, are believed to be proto-writing, rather than representations of language.
| Date | Language | Attestation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Circa 2690 BC | Egyptian | Egyptian hieroglyphs constituting the earliest complete sentence known, found in the tomb of Seth-Peribsen (2nd Dynasty), Umm El Qa'ab. This sentence refers to the entombed king's father and translates as, "He has united the Two Lands for his son, Dual King Peribsen."[5] | So-called "proto-hieroglyphic" inscriptions, such as those on the Narmer Palette, are known from 3300 BC on, although these instances of written Egyptian are rebus-like and confined to semi-grammatical captions, labels, and proper names. See also, Naqada III and Abydos, Egypt. |
| Template:Circa 2600 BC | Sumerian | Instructions of Shuruppak, the Kesh temple hymn and other cuneiform texts from Shuruppak and Abu Salabikh (Fara period)[6]Template:Sfnp | "Proto-literate" period from about 3500 BC (see Kish tablet); administrative records at Uruk and Ur from Template:Circa 2900 BC.
Various texts from Ur during the Early Dynastic I–II period (c. 2800 BC) show syllabic elements with clear signs of the Sumerian language.[7] |
| Template:Circa 2600 BC | Akkadian | A hymn to the sun-god Šamaš found at Tell Abū Ṣalābīḫ.[8] | Some proper names attested in Sumerian texts at Tell Harmal from about 2800 BC.[9] Fragments of the Legend of Etana at Tell Harmal Template:Circa 2600 BC.[10] A few dozen pre-Sargonic texts from Mari and other sites in northern Babylonia.[11] |
| Template:Circa 2400 BC | Eblaite | Ebla tablets[12] | |
| 24th century BC | Northwest Semitic | Protective spells in Pyramid Texts 235, 236, 281, 286 from the Pyramid of Unas, written in hieroglyphic script but unintelligible as Egyptian[13][14] | Ugaritic is the earliest Northwest Semitic language to be unambiguously attested within its native context, Template:Circa 1300 BC. |
| Template:Circa 2250 BC | Elamite | Awan dynasty peace treaty with Naram-Sin[15][16] | The Proto-Elamite script attested from Template:Circa 3100 BC remains undeciphered. A proposed decipherment of the Linear Elamite script is not fully accepted. |
| 21st century BC | Hurrian | Temple inscription of Tish-atal in Urkesh[17] | |
| Template:Circa 1800 BC | Amorite | Bilingual Amorite-Akkadian vocabulary[18] | See also tablet CUNES 50-11-020 (P411253) |
| Template:Circa 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] | |
| Template:Circa 1450 BC | Mycenaean Greek | Linear B tablet archive from Knossos[21]Template:Sfnp[22] | These are mostly administrative lists, with some complete sentences.[23] |
| Template:Circa 1400 BC | Luwian | Hieroglyphic Luwian monumental inscriptions, Cuneiform Luwian tablets in the Hattusa archivesTemplate:Sfnp | Isolated hieroglyphs appear on seals from the 18th century BC.Template:Sfnp |
| Template:Circa 1400 BC | Hattic | Hittite texts CTH 725–745 | |
| Template:Circa 1300 BC | Ugaritic | Tablets from Ugarit[24][25] | |
| Template:Circa 1250 BC | Old Chinese | Oracle bone and bronze inscriptions from the reign of Wu DingTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp[26] |
-
Seal impression from the tomb of Seth-Peribsen, containing the oldest known complete sentence in Egyptian, Template:Circa 2690 BC[5]
-
Letter in Sumerian cuneiform sent by the high-priest Lu'enna, informing the king of Lagash of his son's death in battle, Template:Circa 2400 BC[27]
-
Ox scapula inscribed with three records of divinations in the reign of Wu Ding of the Chinese Shang dynasty, Template:Circa 1200 BC
First millennium BC

The earliest known alphabetic inscriptions, at Serabit el-Khadim (Template:Circa 1500 BC), appear to record a Northwest Semitic language, though only one or two words have been deciphered. In the Early Iron Age, alphabetic writing spread across the Near East and southern Europe. With the emergence of the Brahmic family of scripts, languages of India are attested from after about 300 BC.
There is only fragmentary evidence for languages such as Iberian, Tartessian, Galatian and Messapian.Template:Sfnp The North Picene language of the Novilara Stele from Template:Circa 600 BC has not been deciphered.Template:Sfnp The few brief inscriptions in Thracian dating from the 6th and 5th centuries BC have not been conclusively deciphered.[28] The earliest examples of the Central American Isthmian script date from Template:Circa 500 BC, but a proposed decipherment remains controversial.[29]
| Date | Language | Attestation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Circa 1000 BC | Phoenician | Ahiram epitaph[30] | |
| 10th century BC | Aramaic | Royal inscriptions from Aramean city-states[31] | |
| 10th century BC | Hebrew or Phoenician | Gezer calendar[32] | Paleo-Hebrew employed a slightly modified Phoenician alphabet, hence the uncertainty between which language is attested here. |
| Template:Circa 850 BC | Ammonite | Amman Citadel Inscription[33] | |
| Template:Circa 840 BC | Moabite | Mesha Stele | |
| Template:Circa 820 BC | Urartian | Inscriptions in Assyrian cuneiform script[34] | |
| Template:Circa 800 BC | Phrygian | Paleo-Phrygian inscriptions at Gordion[35] | |
| 8th century BC | Sabaean (Old South Arabian) | Mainly boustrophedon inscriptions from Yemen[36] | |
| 8th century BC | Old Arabic | Prayer inscription at Bayir, Jordan[37] | It is a bi-lingual inscription written in Old Arabic which was written in the undifferentiated North Arabian script (known as Thamudic B) and Canaanite which remains undeciphered. |
| Template:Circa 700 BC | Etruscan | Proto-Corinthian vase found at Tarquinia[38] | |
| 7th century BC | Latin | Vetusia Inscription and Fibula Praenestina[39] | |
| Template:Circa 600 BC | Lydian | Inscriptions from SardisTemplate:Sfnp | |
| Template:Circa 600 BC | Carian | Inscriptions from Caria and EgyptTemplate:Sfnp | |
| Template:Circa 600 BC | Faliscan | Ceres inscription found at Falerii[40] | |
| early 6th century BC | Umbrian | Text painted on the handle of a krater found near Tolfa[41] | |
| Template:Circa 550 BC | Taymanitic | Esk 168 and 177[42] | The Taymanitic script is mentioned in an 8th-century BC document from Carchemish.Template:Sfnp |
| Template:Circa 550 BC | South Picene | Warrior of Capestrano[43] | |
| mid-6th century BC | Venetic | Funerary inscriptions at Este[44] | |
| late 6th century BC | Lemnian | Lemnos Stele[45] | |
| Template:Circa 500 BC | Old Persian | Behistun Inscription | |
| Template:Circa 500 BC | Lepontic | Inscriptions CO-48 from Pristino (Como) and VA-6 from Vergiate (Varese)[46][47] | Inscriptions from the early 6th century consist of isolated names. |
| Template:Circa 300 BC | Oscan | Lovilae from Capua[48] | Coin legends date from the late 5th century BC.Template:Sfnp |
| 3rd century BC | Gaulish | Transalpine Gaulish inscriptions in Massiliote Greek script[49] | |
| 3rd century BC | Volscian | Tabula VeliternaTemplate:Sfnp | |
| Template:Circa 260 BC | Ashokan Prakrit | Edicts of Ashoka[50]Template:Sfnp | Potsherds inscribed with Brahmi letters from Anuradhapura have been dated Template:Circa 400 BC, and range from isolated letters to names in the genitive case.[51][52] |
| Template:Circa 200 BC | Elu (Sri Lankan Prakrit) | Brahmi inscription at Mihintale[53] | |
| early 2nd century BC | Old Tamil | Rock inscription ARE 465/1906 at Mangulam caves, Tamil Nadu[54] (Other authors give dates from late 3rd century BC to 1st century AD.[55][56]) | Pottery inscribed with personal names has been found at Keeladi, a site that was occupied between the 6th century BC and 1st century AD.[57]
5th century BC inscriptions on potsherds found in Kodumanal, Porunthal and Palani have been claimed as Tamil-Brahmi,[58][59] but this is disputed.[60] An inscription of 7 symbols from Adichanallur, tentatively dated 5th century BC, has been claimed as rudimentary Tamil-Brahmi.[61] |
| 2nd century BC | Meroitic | Graffiti on the temple of Amun at Dukki Gel, near Kerma[62] | |
| Template:Circa 146 BC | Numidian | Punic-Libyan Inscription at Dougga[63] | |
| Template:Circa 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] |
First millennium AD
From Late Antiquity, we have for the first time languages with earliest records in manuscript tradition (as opposed to epigraphy). Thus, Classical Armenian is first attested in the Armenian Bible translation.
The Vimose inscriptions (2nd and 3rd centuries) in the Elder Futhark runic alphabet appear to record Proto-Norse names. Some scholars interpret the Negau helmet inscription (Template:Circa 100 BC) as a Germanic fragment.
| Date | Language | Attestation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Circa 150 | Bactrian | Rabatak inscription | |
| Template:Circa 200 | Proto-Norse | inscription NITHIJO TAWIDE on shield grip from the Illerup Ådal weapon deposit | Single Proto-Norse words are found on the Øvre Stabu spearhead (second half of the 2nd century) and the Vimose Comb (c. 160). |
| Template:0 292 | Mayan | Stela 29 from Tikal[67] | A brief undeciphered inscription at San Bartolo is dated to the 3rd century BC.[68] |
| Template:0 312–313 | Sogdian | Ancient Letters, found near Dunhuang[69] | |
| Template:0 328 | Arabic | Namara inscription | |
| Template:Circa 350 | Ge'ez | inscriptions of Ezana of Aksum[70] | |
| Template:Circa 350 | Cham | Đông Yên Châu inscription found near Tra Kiêu[71] | Oldest attested Austronesian language |
| 4th century | Gothic | Gothic Bible, translated by Wulfila[72] | A few problematic Gothic runic inscriptions may date to the early 4th century. |
| Template:Circa 400 | Tocharian B | THT 274 and similar manuscripts[73] | Some Tocharian names and words have been found in Prakrit documents from Krorän dated Template:Circa 300.[74] |
| Template:Circa 430 | Old Georgian | Bir el Qutt inscription #1[75] | Inscription #2, made around the same time, is currently missing. |
| Template:Circa 450 | Old Kannada | Halmidi inscriptionTemplate:Sfnp | A date of 350 has been claimed for the Tagarthi inscription found in Shivamogga district, but this is disputed.[76] Kavirajamarga (Template:Circa 850) is the oldest literary work.Template:Sfnp |
| Template:Circa 478-490[77] | Classical Armenian | inscription at the Tekor Basilica[78] | Mesrop Mashtots is traditionally held to have translated an Armenian Bible in 434. |
| 5th century | Frankish/Old Dutch | Bergakker inscription[79] | There is no consensus on the interpretation of the text, leading to the language uncertainty. |
| Template:Circa 510 | Old Dutch | formula for freeing a serf in the Malbergse Glossen on the Salic law[80] | Some scholars consider the formula to be in Frankish instead.[81] |
| 6th century | Mon | Inscription in Wat Pho Rang Temple, Nakhon Pathom[82] | |
| 6th century | Vandalic | A sentence in the Collatio beati Augustini cum Pascentio ariano (Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria, MS G.V. 26)[83] | Copy of a text originally written in the first half of the 5th century. |
| second half of 6th century | Old High German | Pforzen buckle[84] | |
| mid-6th century | Old Korean | Mokgan No. 221[85] | |
| Template:Circa 575 | Telugu | Erragudipadu inscriptionTemplate:Sfnp | Telugu place names are found in Prakrit inscriptions from the 2nd century AD.Template:Sfnp |
| Template:Circa 584 | Old Mongolian | Bugut inscription | The inscription of Hüis Tolgoi is dated between 604 and 620. Both are written in Brahmi script.[86] |
| Template:0 611 | Old Khmer | Angkor Borei inscription K. 557/600[87] | |
| Template:Circa 650 | Old Japanese | mokkan wooden tablets[88] | Poems in the Kojiki (711–712) and Nihon Shoki (720) have been transmitted in copied manuscripts. |
| Template:Circa 650–700 | Old Udi | Sinai palimpsest M13 | |
| Template:Circa 683 | Old Malay | Kedukan Bukit Inscription[89] | |
| 7th century | Bailang | commentary on the Book of the Later Han by Li Xian citing the mostly lost Dongguan Hanji[90] | |
| 7th century | Tumshuqese and Khotanese Saka | manuscripts mainly from Dunhuang[91] | Some fragments of Khotanese Saka have been dated to the 5th and 6th centuries |
| 7th century | Beja | ostracon from Saqqara[92][93] | |
| late 7th century | Pyu | Hpayahtaung funeral urn inscription of kings of Sri Ksetra | |
| Template:Circa 700 | Old English | Franks Casket | The Undley bracteate (5th century) and West Heslerton brooch (Template:Circa 650) have fragmentary runic inscriptions. |
| Template:Circa 716 | Old Turkic | Tonyukuk inscriptions | Template:Ill have been dated 688-691.[94] |
| Template:Circa 750 | Old Irish | Würzburg glosses[95] | Primitive Irish Ogham inscriptions from the 4th century consist of personal names, patronymics and/or clan names.[96][97] |
| Template:Circa 765 | Old Tibetan | Lhasa Zhol Pillar[98] | Dated entries in the Tibetan Annals begin at 650, but extant manuscripts postdate the Tibetan occupation of Dunhuang in 786.[99] |
| late 8th century | Breton | Praecepta medica (Leyden, Codex Vossianus Lat. F. 96 A)[100] | A botanical manuscript in Latin and Breton |
| Template:Circa 750–900 | Old Frisian | Westeremden yew-stick | |
| Template:Circa 800 | Old Norse | runic inscriptions | |
| Template:0 804 | Old Javanese | initial part of the Sukabumi inscription Template:Small, found near Kediri[101] | |
| early 9th century | Old Saxon | Heiland and Old Saxon Genesis, found in Palatinus Latinus 1447[102] | The 9th century Old Saxon Baptismal Vow appears to be a copy from the 8th century; however, scholars dispute whether it is in Old Saxon or another Germanic language[103][104][105][106] |
| 9th century | Old Malayalam | Vazhappally copper plateTemplate:Sfnp | The status of the Edakkal-5 inscriptions dating back to 3rd or late 4th century is contested.[107][108]Ramacaritam (12th century) is the oldest literary work.Template:Sfnp |
| 9th century | Old Welsh | Cadfan Stone (Tywyn 2)[109] | |
| late 9th century | Old French | Sequence of Saint Eulalia[110] | The earliest surviving manuscript with the text for the Oaths of Strasbourg (842), traditionally considered the first Old French text, dates from the 11th century.[111] |
| 9th century–12th century | Chechen | Slab inscription in Bavloy[112] | Earliest text written in Chechen; written in the Asomtavruli script. Several early Chechen inscriptions containing individual words, names, and small sentences have been found in places such as Tsoi-Peda, Keishta and Zumsoi.[112] |
| Template:0 882 | Balinese | dated royal inscription[113] | |
| Template:Circa 900 | Old Occitan | Tomida femina | |
| Template:Circa 959–974 | Old Leonese | Nodicia de Kesos | |
| Template:Circa 960–963 | Italian | Placiti Cassinesi[114] | The Veronese Riddle (Template:Circa 800) is considered a mixture of Italian and Latin.[115] |
| Template:0 986 | Khitan | Memorial for Yelü Yanning | |
| late 10th century | Old Church Slavonic | Kiev Missal[116] | Cyril and Methodius translated religious literature from Template:Circa 862, but only later manuscripts survive. |
| late 10th century | Konkani/Marathi | inscription on the Gommateshwara statueTemplate:Sfnp | The inscription is in Devanagari script, but the language has been disputed between Marathi and Konkani scholars.[117][118] |
| 10th century | Romansh | a sentence in the Würzburg manuscript[119] |
1000–1500 AD
| Date | Language | Attestation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template:0 972–1093 | Slovene | Freising manuscripts | |
| late 10th–early 11th century | Serbian | Codex Marianus, Temnić inscription[120] | |
| Template:Circa 1000 | Russian (Old East Slavic) | Novgorod Codex,[121] Ostromir Gospels[122] | Considered the beginning of Russian Church Slavonic. The Ostromir Gospels are considered the earliest manuscript "to contain Russian elements, even if only in copyists' errors" and mark "the beginnings of a Russianized Church Slavonic, which spread gradually to liturgical, ecclesiastical and chancery documents [...] where the use of Church Slavonic was obligatory".[122][121] |
| Template:Circa 1000 | Navarro-Aragonese (Aragonese) and Basque | Glosas Emilianenses | The first word on the Hand of Irulegi (1st century BC) has been claimed as Basque.[123][124] |
| Template:Circa 1028 | Catalan | Jurament Feudal[125] | |
| Template:0 1058 | Burmese | inscription from Letthe-shé pagoda, Pagan, now at Pahtodawgyi[126][127] | A brief Burmese inscription on a copper-gilded umbrella found near the Mahabodhi Temple is so damaged that only a name can be made out with certainty; the Pali version gives a date corresponding to 1035.[128][129] There are also 18th century copies (of uncertain authenticity) of inscriptions dating back as far as 984.[126][127][129] |
| 1072–1074 | Oghuz Turkic (including Turkmen, Azerbaijani and Ottoman Turkish) | Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk by Mahmud al-Kashgari | The first comprehensive dictionary of Turkic languages, written in Arabic, contains many Oghuz words and phrases. |
| 11th century | Mozarabic | kharjas appended to Arabic and Hebrew poems[130] | Isolated words are found in glossaries from the 8th century.[131] |
| Template:Circa 11th century | Croatian | Humac tablet (variously dated to between the 10th and 12th century), Inscription of Krk, Inscription of Župa Dubrovačka, Plomin tablet, Valun tablet | |
| Template:Circa 1100 | Ossetian | Zelančuk inscription[132] | |
| early 12th century | Scottish Gaelic | Book of Deer | |
| Template:0 1114 | Newar | palm-leaf manuscript from Uku Baha, Patan[133] | |
| Template:0 1127 | Jurchen | inscription found on the bank of the Arkhara River[134] | |
| Template:Circa 1175 | Galician-Portuguese | Notícia de Fiadores[135] | 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.[136] A date prior to 1175 has been proposed for the Pacto dos Irmãos Pais.[137] |
| Template:0 1192 | Old Hungarian | Funeral Sermon and Prayer | There are isolated fragments in earlier charters such as the charter of Veszprém (Template:Circa 1000) and the charter of Tihany (1055). Some scholars believe that the language of the Szarvas inscription (8th century) is Old Hungarian. |
| mid-12th century | Icelandic | AM 237 a fol. manuscript[138] | |
| late 12th century | Old Norwegian | AM 655 IX 4to manuscript[139] | |
| late 12th century | Bosnian | copies A,B, and C of the Charter of Ban Kulin[140] | Originally created in 1189 |
| Template:Circa 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.[141] |
| Template:Circa 1200 | Finnic | Birch bark letter no. 292 | |
| Template:Circa 1200–1230 | Czech | founding charter of the Litoměřice chapter | |
| Template:0 1224–1225 | Mongolian | Stele of Genghis Khan | |
| early 13th century | Punjabi | poetry of Fariduddin Ganjshakar | |
| early 13th century | Cornish | prophesy in the cartulary of Glasney College[142] | A 9th century gloss in De Consolatione Philosophiae by Boethius: ud rocashaas is controversially interpreted.[143][144] |
| Template:Circa 1250 | Old Swedish | fragments of the elder Westrogothic law in Codex Holm. B 193[145] | |
| Template:Circa 1250 | Kashmiri | Mahanayakaprakash ("Light of the supreme lord") by Shitikantha[146] | |
| Template:Circa 1270 | Old Polish | a sentence in the Book of Henryków | |
| Template:0 1272 | Yiddish | blessing in the Worms mahzor | |
| Template:Circa 1274 | Western Lombard | Liber di Tre Scricciur, by Bonvesin de la Riva | |
| Template:Circa 1292 | Thai | Ramkhamhaeng stele | Some scholars argue that the stele is a forgery. The next oldest inscription is the Wat Sri Chum inscription from the early 14th century.[147] |
| late 13th century | Old Danish | manuscripts AM 37 4to, AM 24 4to, SKB C 37, SKB B 74[148] | |
| 13th century | Tigrinya | a text of laws found in Logosarda | |
| Template:Circa 1350 | Oghuz Turkic (including Azerbaijani and Ottoman Turkish) | works of Imadaddin Nasimi | Inscriptions in Old Turkic script dated 9-10 centuries.[149] |
| Template:Circa 1350 | Old Gutnish | Gutasaga and Gutalagen, found in Codex Holm. B 64[150] | |
| Template:Circa 1350 | Old Sundanese | Astana Gede inscriptions | |
| Template:Circa 1369 | Old Prussian | Basel EpigramTemplate:Sfnp | |
| Template:0 1372 | Komi | Abur inscriptions | |
| Template:0 1386 | Slovak | Rhymed sentence in Latin codex[151] | Toponyms, personal names and glosses are found from 11th century.[152] |
| Template:Circa 1407 | Faroese | Letters about Húsavík (AM 100, 1a)[153] | Earlier inscriptions on the islands (from Template:Circa 1000 AD at Kirkjubøur) are in Old Norse, with no particular Faroese content/[153] |
| early 15th century | Bengali, Assamese and other Bengali-Assamese languages | poems of Chandidas[154] | The 10th-century Charyapada are written in a language ancestral to Bengali, Assamese and Oriya.[154] |
| Template:Circa 1440 | Vietnamese | Quốc âm thi tập[155] | List of names in Chữ nôm date from the early 13th century.[156] |
| Template:0 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.[157] |
| Template:Circa 1470 | Finnish | single sentence in a German travel journal[158] | The first printed book in Finnish is Abckiria (1543) by Mikael Agricola. |
| Template:Circa 1470 | Maltese | Il Cantilena | |
| Template:0 1485 | Yi | bronze bell inscription in Dafang County, Guizhou[159] | |
| 15th century | Tulu | inscriptions in an adaptation of Malayalam script[160] |
After 1500
| Date | Language | Attestation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Circa 1503 | Lithuanian | hand-written Lord's Prayer, Hail Mary and Creed[161] | Katekizmas (1547) by Martynas Mažvydas was the first printed book in Lithuanian. |
| Template:0 1517 | Belarusian | Psalter of Francysk Skaryna | |
| Template:0 1521 | Romanian | Neacșu's letter | Cyrillic orthographic manual of Constantine of Kostenets from 1420 documents earlier written usage.[162] Four 16th century documents, namely Codicele Voronețean, Psaltirea Scheiană, the Hurmuzaki Psalter and Psaltirea Voronețeană, are arguably copies of 15th century originals.[163] |
| Template:0 1530 | Latvian | Nicholas Ramm's translation of a hymn | |
| Template:0 1535 | Estonian | Wanradt-Koell catechism | |
| Template:0 1536 | Modern Portuguese | Grammatica da lingoagem portuguesa by Fernão de Oliveira. | by convention.[164] |
| Template:0 1540s | Old Tupi | Jehan Lamy's Le langaige du Bresil | |
| Template:0 1543 | Purépecha | La Memoria de Don Melchor Caltzin[165] | |
| Template:0 1549 | Sylheti | Talib Husan by Ghulam Husan | earliest extant manuscript found using the Sylheti Nagri script.[166] |
| Template:0 1550 | Classical Nahuatl | Doctrina cristiana en lengua española y mexicana[167] | 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.[167] |
| Template:0 1554 | Extremaduran (mixed with Sayaguese Leonese) | works of Diego Sánchez de Badajoz, published as edited by his nephew as Recopilación en metro | |
| Template:0 1554 | Wastek | grammar by Andrés de Olmos | |
| Template:0 1557 | Kikongo | a catechism[168] | |
| Template:0 1561 | Ukrainian | Peresopnytsia Gospel | |
| Template:0 1589 | Crimean Gothic | 1562 letter from Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq that was published later[169] | 9th century Gothic graffiti in Crimea show some Crimean Gothic influence in spelling.[170] |
| Template:0 1593 | Tagalog | Doctrina Cristiana | |
| Template:Circa 1600 | Classical Quechua | Huarochirí Manuscript by a writer identified only as "Thomás"[171] | Paraphrased and annotated by Francisco de Ávila in 1608. |
| Template:0 1600 | Buginese | ||
| Template:Circa 1610 | Manx | Book of Common Prayer[172] | |
| Template:0 1619 | Pite Sámi | primer and missal by Nicolaus Andreaus[173] | Early literary works were mainly based on dialects underlying modern Ume Sámi and Pite Sámi. First grammar and dictionary in 1738. |
| Template:0 1638 | Ternate | treaty with Dutch governor[174] | |
| Template:0 1639 | Guarani | Tesoro de la lengua guaraní by Antonio Ruíz de Montoya | |
| Template:0 1639 | modern Asturian | Cuando examen les abeyes by Antón de Marirreguera[175] | |
| Template:0 1642 | Kimbundu | Gentio de Angola sufficientemente instruido nos mysterios de nossa sancta Fé by Francesco Pacconio and Antonio do Couto[176] | |
| Template:Circa 1650 | Ubykh, Abkhaz, Adyghe and Mingrelian | Travel Book of Evliya Çelebi[177] | |
| Template:0 1651 | Pashto | copy of Xayru 'l-bayān in the library of the University of Tübingen[178] | The Pata Khazana, purporting to date from the 8th century, is considered by most scholars to be a forgery.[178] |
| Template:0 1663 | Massachusett | Mamusse Wunneetupanatamwe Up-Biblum God | Also known as the Eliot Indian Bible or the Algonquian Bible |
| Template:0 1668 | Ume Sámi | Translation of Thesaurus catecheticus by Olaus Stephani Graan[179] | |
| Template:0 1693 | Tunisian Arabic | copy of a Tunisian poem written by Sheykh Hassan el-Karray[180] | Before 1700, lyrics of songs were not written in Tunisian Arabic but in Classical Arabic.[180] |
| Template:Circa 1695 | Seri | grammar and vocabulary compiled by Adamo Gilg | No longer known to exist.[181] |
| 17th century | Hausa | Riwayar Annabi Musa by Abdallah Suka[182] | |
| late 17th century | Basque–Icelandic pidgin | Vocabula Gallica[183] | |
| early 18th century | Karelian | various handwritten Karelian–Russian glossaries | A catechism from 1804 is the oldest known published text. Translated Christian works by a local scholar are first reported already by the 1560s, none of which have however survived or are known in any detail.[184] |
| 18th century | Língua Geral of São Paulo | Vocabulário da Língua Geral dos Índios das Américas (anonymous)[185] | 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. |
| Template:0 1705 | Mari | Lord's Prayer translated to the Hill Mari language from the book Noord en oost Tartarye (2nd edition) by Nicolaes Witsen[186] | |
| Template:0 1711 | Swahili | letters written in Kilwa[187] | |
| Template:0 1718 | Sranan Tongo | Herlein fragment[188] | |
| Template:0 1726 | Udmurt | Unpublished Udmurt dictionary by Daniel Gottlieb Messerschmidt[189] | Dictionary containing 400 Udmurt words. Written in Latin script. The first Udmurt literary text was a small poem published in a multilingual collection commemorating Empress Catherine II arrival in Kazan in 1769. It was written in Cyrillic.[189] |
| Template:0 1728 | Northern Sámi | Catechism | An early wordlist was published in 1589 by Richard Hakluyt. First grammar in 1743 |
| Template:0 1731 | Aromanian | Quadruple-language (Albanian, Aromanian, Greek, Latin) prayer inscription in Ardenica Monastery by Nektarios Terpos[190] | |
| Template:0 1736 | Greenlandic | Grönländische Grammatica by Paul Egede[191] | A poor-quality wordlist was recorded by John Davis in 1586.[192] |
| Template:0 1743 | Chinese Pidgin English | sentence recorded in Macau by George Anson[193] | |
| Template:0 1747 | Borgarmålet | Beskrifning öfwer Sweriges Lapmarker by Pehr Högström[194] | |
| Template:0 1757 | Haitian Creole | Lisette quitté la plaine by Duvivier de la Mahautière[195][196] | |
| Template:0 1788 | Sydney language | notebooks of William Dawes[197][198] | |
| Template:0 1795 | Afrikaans | doggerel verses[199] | |
| Template:0 1800 | Inuktitut | "Eskimo Grammar" by Moravian missionaries[191] | A list of 17 words was recorded in 1576 by Christopher Hall, an assistant to Martin Frobisher.[191][192] |
| Template:0 1806 | Tswana | Heinrich Lictenstein – Upon the Language of the Beetjuana | The first complete Bible translation was published in 1857 by Robert Moffat. |
| Template:0 1819 | Cherokee | Sequoyah's Cherokee syllabary | |
| Template:0 1820 | Maori | grammar by Thomas Kendall and Samuel Lee | Kendal began compiling wordlists in 1814. |
| Template:0 1820 | Aleut | description by Rasmus Rask | A short word list was collected by James King in 1778. |
| Template:0 1822 | Hawaiian | a primer printed by missionaries[200] | |
| Template:0 1823 | Xhosa | John Bennie's Xhosa reading sheet | Complete Bible translation 1859 |
| Template:Circa 1833 | Vai | Vai syllabary created by Momolu Duwalu Bukele. | |
| Template:0 1833 | Sotho | reduced to writing by French missionaries Casalis and Arbousset | First grammar book 1841 and complete Bible translation 1881 |
| Template:0 1834 | Muscogee | Mʊskoki imʊnaitsʊ (Muskokee (Creek) Assistant) by John Fleming[201] | The first recorded Muscogee words have been made by Germans in the area of Savannah, Georgia, such as Philip Georg Friedrich von Reck, who drew illustrations of wildlife in his notebook with labels in Muscogee in 1736.[201] |
| Template:0 1837 | Ojibwe | The speller and interpreter, in Indian and English by James Evans | Evans would subsequently publish an Ojibwe syllabary. |
| Zulu | Incwadi Yokuqala Yabafundayo | First grammar book 1859 and complete Bible translation 1883 | |
| Template:0 1839 | Lule Sámi | pamphlet by Lars Levi Laestadius | Dictionary and grammar by Karl Bernhard Wiklund in 1890–1891 |
| Template:0 1841 | Cree | hymnbook published by James Evans[202] | |
| Template:0 1845 | Santali | A Santali Primer by Jeremiah Phillips[203] | |
| Template:0 1849 | Solombala English | Ocerki Arxangel'skoj Gubernii by Vasilij Vereščagin[204] | |
| Template:0 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. |
| Template:0 1854 | Inari Sámi | grammar by Elias Lönnrot | Primer and catechism published in 1859. |
| Template:0 1856 | Gamilaraay | articles by William Ridley[205] | Basic vocabulary collected by Thomas Mitchell in 1832. |
| Template:0 1864 | Français Tirailleur | letter by P. Durpatz[206] | |
| Template:0 1872 | Venda | reduced to writing by the Berlin Missionaries | First complete Bible translation 1936 |
| Template:0 1878 | Kildin Sámi | Gospel of Matthew | |
| Template:0 1882 | Mirandese | O dialecto mirandez by José Leite de Vasconcelos[207] | The same author also published the first book written in Mirandese: Flores mirandezas (1884)[208] |
| Template:0 1884 | Skolt Sámi | Gospel of Matthew in Cyrillic | |
| Template:0 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. |
| Template:0 1885 | Motu | grammar by W.G. Lawes | |
| Template:0 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.[209][210] | A list of 61 words recorded in 1770 by James Cook and Joseph Banks was the first written record of an Australian language.[211] |
| Template:0 1891 | Galela | grammatical sketch by M.J. van Baarda[212] | |
| Template:0 1893 | Oromo | translation of the New Testament by Onesimos Nesib, assisted by Aster Ganno | |
| Template:0 1900 | Qaqet | grammar by Matthäus Rascher[213] | |
| Template:0 1903 | Lingala | grammar by Egide de Boeck | |
| Template:0 1905 | Istro-Romanian | Calindaru lu rumeri din Istrie by Andrei Glavina and Constantin Diculescu[214] | Compilation of Istro-Romanian popular words, proverbs and stories.[214] |
| Template:Circa 1940 | Kamoro | materials by Peter Drabbe[212] | A Kamoro wordlist recorded in 1828 by Modera and Müller, passengers on a Dutch ship, is the oldest record of any of the non-Austronesian languages of New Guinea.[212][215] |
| Template:0 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. |
| Template:0 1984 | Gooniyandi | survey by William B. McGregor[216] |
By family
Attestation by major language family:
- Afro-Asiatic: since about the 27th century BC
- Hurro-Urartian: Template:Circa 21st century BC
- Indo-European: since about the 17th century BC
- 17th century BC: Anatolian (Hittite)
- 15th century BC: Greek
- 7th century BC: Italic (Latin)
- 6th century BC: Celtic (Lepontic)
- Template:Circa 500 BC: Iranian (Old Persian)
- Template:Circa 260 BC: Indo-Aryan (Ashokan Prakrit)
- 4th century AD: Germanic (Gothic)
- 4th century AD: Tocharian (Tocharian B)
- 4th century AD: Armenian (Classical Armenian)
- 10th century AD: Slavic (Old Church Slavonic)
- Template:Circa 1370: Baltic (Old Prussian)
- Template:Circa 1460: Albanian
- Sino-Tibetan: Template:Circa 1250 BC
- Template:Circa 1250 BC: Old Chinese
- 8th century AD: Tibeto-Burman (Tibetan)
- Dravidian: Template:Circa 200 BC (Tamil)
- Mayan: 3rd century AD
- 3rd century AD: Cholan (Classical Maya)
- 16th century: Huastecan (Wastek)
- Austronesian: 4th century AD (Cham)
- South Caucasian: 5th century (Georgian)
- Koreanic: mid-6th century AD (Old Korean)
- Mongolic: 6th century (Mongolian)
- Northeast Caucasian: 7th century
- Austroasiatic: 7th century (Khmer)
- Turkic: 8th century
- 8th century: Old Turkic
- 11th century: Oghuz
- Japonic: 8th century
- Nilo-Saharan: 8th century (Old Nubian)
- Basque: Template:Circa 1000
- Uralic: 12th century
- Kra–Dai: 13th century (Thai)
- Tupian: 16th century (Classical Tupi)
- Purépecha: 1543
- Uto-Aztecan: 16th century (Classical Nahuatl)
- Quechuan: 16th century (Classical Quechua)
- Niger–Congo (Bantu): 16th century (Kikongo)
- Northwest Caucasian: 17th century (Abkhaz, Adyghe, Ubykh)
- Algic: 17th century
- 17th century: East Algonquian (Massachusett)
- 19th century: Ojibwe
- 19th century: Cree
- Muskogean: 17th century (Apalachee)
- Seri: Template:Circa 17th century
- Eskaleut: 18th century
- 18th century: Inuit (Greenlandic)
- 19th century: Aleut
- Indigenous Australian languages: 18th century
- Iroquoian: 19th century (Cherokee)
- Na-Dene: 19th century (Carrier)
- Hmong-Mien: 20th century
Constructed languages
See also
- Ancient text corpora
- History of writing
- List of writing systems
- Undeciphered writing systems
- Origin of language
- Template:Section link
- List of oldest documents
References
- Notes
- ↑ The Ancient Languages of Asia and the Americas{{#if:Jamison|, Jamison}. Cambridge University Press(2008). ISBN 978-0-521-68494-1 pp. 6–7.
- ↑ Inside the Texts, Beyond the Texts{{#if:Witzel|, Witzel}. Harvard University Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies(1997). ISBN 978-1-888789-03-4 p. 259.
- ↑ The Ancient Languages of Asia and the Americas{{#if:Hale|, Hale}. Cambridge University Press(2008). ISBN 978-0-521-68494-1
- ↑ The First Writing{{#if:Houston|, Houston}. Cambridge University Press(2004). ISBN 0-521-83861-4 p. 3.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Ancient Egyptian Language{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Cambridge University Press(2003). ISBN 978-1-107-66467-8
- ↑ A Manual of Sumerian: Grammar and Texts{{#if:Hayes|, Hayes}. UNDENA(1990). ISBN 978-0-89003-197-1
- ↑ Reading The Past Cuneiform{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. British Museum(1987). ISBN 0-7141-8059-9
- ↑ History of the Akkadian Language (Volume 1: Linguistic Background and Early Periods){{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Brill Publishers(2021). ISBN 978-90-04-44520-8
- ↑ Andrew George, "Babylonian and Assyrian: A History of Akkadian", In: Postgate, J. N., (ed.), Languages of Iraq, Ancient and Modern. London: British School of Archaeology in Iraq, pp. 31–71.
- ↑ Atrahasis: An Ancient Hebrew Deluge Story{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Book Tree(2003). ISBN 978-1-58509-228-4
- ↑ Sargonic Akkadian: A Historical and Comparative Study of the Syllabic Texts{{#if:Hasselbach|, Hasselbach}. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag(2005). ISBN 978-3-447-05172-9
- ↑ The Ancient Languages of Mesopotamia, Egypt and Aksum{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Cambridge University Press(2008). ISBN 978-0-521-68497-2
- ↑ Earliest Semitic Text Revealed In Egyptian Pyramid Inscription. ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
- ↑ לחשים בקדם־כנענית בכתבי הפירמידות: סקירה ראשונה של תולדות העברית באלף השלישי לפסה"נ | האקדמיה ללשון העברית. hebrew-academy.org.il(2013-05-21). Retrieved 2019-01-06.
- ↑ The Ancient Languages of Mesopotamia, Egypt and Aksum{{#if:Stolper|, Stolper}. Cambridge University Press(2008). ISBN 978-0-521-68497-2, p. 49.
- ↑ The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State{{#if:Potts|, Potts}. Cambridge University Press(1999). ISBN 978-0-521-56496-0
- ↑ The Idea of Writing: Play and Complexity{{#if:van Soldt|, van Soldt}. BRILL(2010). ISBN 978-90-04-17446-7
- ↑ Two Remarkable Vocabularies: Amorite-Akkadian Bilinguals!. Revue d'Assyriologie et d'Archéologie Orientale({Template:Year).
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor{{#if:Watkins|, Watkins}. Cambridge University Press(2008). ISBN 978-0-521-68496-5
- ↑ The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor{{#if:Melchert|, Melchert}. Cambridge University Press(2008). ISBN 978-0-521-68496-5
- ↑ Where Do We Go From Here? And How Can the Linear B Tablets Help Us Get There?, Shelmerdine, Cynthia. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
- ↑ Clay tablets inscribed with records in Linear B script. British Museum. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
- ↑ The World's Writing Systems{{#if:Bennett|, Bennett}. Oxford University Press(1996). ISBN 978-0-19-507993-7
- ↑ The Ancient Languages of Syria-Palestine and Arabia{{#if:Pardee|, Pardee}. Cambridge University Press(2008). ISBN 978-0-521-68498-9
- ↑ The Semitic Languages{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Routledge(2019). ISBN 978-0-429-65538-8 p. 482.
- ↑ Visible Speech. The Diverse Oneness of Writing Systems{{#if:DeFrancis|, DeFrancis}. University of Hawaii Press(1989). ISBN 978-0-8248-1207-2
- ↑ Lettre du grand-prêtre Lu'enna. Louvre. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
- ↑ Thracian Language and Greek and Thracian Epigraphy{{#if:Dimitrov|, Dimitrov}. Cambridge Scholars Publishing(2009). ISBN 978-1-4438-1325-9
- ↑ Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts{{#if:Robinson|, Robinson}. Thames & Hudson(2008). ISBN 978-0-500-51453-5
- ↑ On the Linguistic Dating of the Phoenician Ahiram Inscription (KAI 1). Journal of Near Eastern Studies({Template:Year).
- ↑ The Ancient Languages of Syria-Palestine and Arabia{{#if:Creason|, Creason}. Cambridge University Press(2008). ISBN 978-0-521-68498-9
- ↑ The Gezer Calendar and Northwest Semitic Linguistics. Israel Exploration Journal({Template:Year).
- ↑ The Ammn Citadel Inscription: A New Collation. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research({Template:Year).
- ↑ The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor{{#if:Wilhelm|, Wilhelm}. Cambridge University Press(2008). ISBN 978-0-521-68496-5
- ↑ The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor{{#if:Brixhe|, Brixhe}. Cambridge University Press(2008). ISBN 978-0-521-68496-5
- ↑ The Ancient Languages of Syria-Palestine and Arabia{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Cambridge University Press(2008). ISBN 978-0-521-68498-9
- ↑ A manual of the historical grammar of Arabic. Ahmad Al Jallad. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
- ↑ Part 2 of The Cambridge Ancient History: The Hellenistic World{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Cambridge University Press(1990). ISBN 978-0-521-23446-7
- ↑ A Companion to the Latin Language{{#if:Clackson|, Clackson}. John Wiley & Sons(2011). ISBN 978-1-4443-4336-6
- ↑ The Latin dialect of the Ager Faliscus: 150 years of scholarship, Volume 1{{#if:Bakkum|, Bakkum}. University of Amsterdam Press(2009). ISBN 978-90-5629-562-2
- ↑ Recent Research on Sabellian Inscriptions. Indo-European Studies Bulletin({Template:Year). p. 4.
- ↑ The Ancient Languages of Syria-Palestine and Arabia{{#if:Macdonald|, Macdonald}. Cambridge University Press(2008). ISBN 978-0-521-68498-9 p. 181.
- ↑ The Blackwell History of the Latin Language{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Blackwell(2007). ISBN 978-1-4051-6209-8
- ↑ The Ancient Languages of Europe{{#if:Wallace|, Wallace}. Cambridge University Press(2008). ISBN 978-0-521-68495-8
- ↑ Neues zur Sprache der Stele von Lemnos (Erster Teil). Journal of Language Relationship({Template:Year).
- ↑ Lexicon Leponticum Template:Webarchive, by David Stifter, Martin Braun and Michela Vignoli, University of Vienna.
- ↑ Celtic in northern Italy: Lepontic and Cisalpine Gaulish, Stifter, David. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
- ↑ A Grammar of Oscan and Umbrian: With a Collection of Inscriptions and a Glossary{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. The Athenaeum Press(1904)
- ↑ The Ancient Languages of Europe{{#if:Eska|, Eska}. Cambridge University Press(2008). ISBN 978-0-521-68495-8
- ↑ Writing Systems{{#if:Rogers|, Rogers}. Black Publishing(2004). ISBN 978-0-631-23464-7 p. 204
- ↑ Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE{{#if:Ray|, Ray}. Oxford University Press(2006). ISBN 978-0-19-977507-1, pp. 121–122.
- ↑ Passage to India? Anuradhapura and the Early Use of the Brahmi Script. Cambridge Archaeological Journal({Template:Year).
- ↑ Palaeographical Development of the Brahmi Script in Ceylon from 3rd Century B. C. to 7th Century A. D. University of Ceylon Review({Template:Year). pp. 282–283.
- ↑ Early Tamil Epigraphy{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Harvard University Press(2003). ISBN 978-0-674-01227-1
- ↑ Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature{{#if:Zvelebil|, Zvelebil}. BRILL(1992). ISBN 978-90-04-09365-2
- ↑ Indian Epigraphy{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Oxford University Press(1998). ISBN 0-19-509984-2
- ↑ Template:Cite report
- ↑ A Companion to South Asia in the Past{{#if:Rajan|, Rajan}. Wiley-Blackwell(2016). ISBN 978-1-119-05548-8 p. 311.
- ↑ Iron Age – Early Historic Transition in South India: an appraisal{{#if:Rajan|, Rajan}. Institute of Archaeology(2014)
- ↑ Owner's graffiti on pottery from Tissamaharama. Zeitschrift für Archäologie Außereuropäischer Kulturen({Template:Year). Falk has criticized the Kodumanal and Porunthal claims as "particularly ill-informed"; Falk argues that some of the earliest supposed inscriptions are not Brahmi letters at all, but merely misinterpreted non-linguistic Megalithic graffiti symbols, which were used in South India for several centuries during the pre-literate era.
- ↑ 'Rudimentary Tamil-Brahmi script' unearthed at Adichanallur. The Hindu(16 Feb 2005). Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- ↑ The Meroitic Language and Writing System{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Cambridge University Press(2012). ISBN 978-1-139-56053-5
- ↑ Frieze, Mausoleum of Ateban. British Museum. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ↑ History of Civilizations of Central Asia, volume 3{{#if:Tafazzoli|, Tafazzoli}. UNESCO(1996). ISBN 978-92-3-103211-0 page 94.
- ↑ Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the other Indo-Aryan Languages{{#if:Salomon|, Salomon}. Oxford University Press(1998). ISBN 978-0-19-535666-3
- ↑ Salomon (1998), p. 89.
- ↑ The Ancient Languages of Asia and the Americas{{#if:Bricker|, Bricker}. Cambridge University Press(2008). ISBN 978-0-521-68494-1
- ↑ Early Maya Writing at San Bartolo, Guatemala. Science({Template:Year).
- ↑ The Date of the Sogdian Ancient Letters. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London({Template:Year).
- ↑ The Ancient Languages of Mesopotamia, Egypt and Aksum{{#if:Gragg|, Gragg}. Cambridge University Press(2008). ISBN 978-0-521-68497-2
- ↑ From Ancient Cham to Modern Dialects: Two Thousand Years of Language Contact and Change{{#if:Thurgood|, Thurgood}. University of Hawaii Press(1999). ISBN 978-0-8248-2131-9
- ↑ The Ancient Languages of Europe{{#if:Jasanoff|, Jasanoff}. Cambridge University Press(2008). ISBN 978-0-521-68495-8
- ↑ Rules of Engagement: Medieval Traditions of Buddhist Monastic Regulation{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Numata Center for Buddhist Studies(2017). ISBN 978-3-89733428-1
- ↑ Bronze Age languages of the Tarim Basin. Expedition({Template:Year).
- ↑ Georgian: A Structural Reference Grammar{{#if:Hewitt|, Hewitt}. John Benjamins(1995). ISBN 978-90-272-3802-3
- ↑ Historian's study pushes earliest record of Kannada writing back by a century. Bangalore Mirror. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
- ↑ Տեկորի տաճարի V դարի հայերեն արձանագրությունը և Մեսրոպյան այբուբենի առաջին տառաձևերը [The Armenian Inscription on the Cathedral of Tekor and the Initial Forms of the Mesropian Alphabet]. Patma-Banasirakan Handes({Template:Date).
- ↑ The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor{{#if:Clackson|, Clackson}. Cambridge University Press(2008). ISBN 978-0-521-68496-5
- ↑ Runeninscriptie met het oudste Nederlands(?). Valkhof Museum. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
- ↑ Dutch: Biography of a Language{{#if:Willemyns|, Willemyns}. Oxford University Press(2013). ISBN 978-0-19-932366-1
- ↑ Rembert Eufe, Die Personennamen auf den merowingischen Monetarmünzen als Spiegel der romanisch-germanischen Sprachsynthese im Frankenreich, in: Kulturelle Integration und Personennamen im Mittelalter, edited by Wolfgang Haubrichs, Christa Jochum-Godglück, 2019, p. 78ff., here p. 80
- ↑ Ancient Mon Inscriptions Overview, Monzel, Bee Htaw. Scribd. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
- ↑ Goti e Vandali{{#if:Francovich Onesti|, Francovich Onesti}. Artemide(2013). ISBN 9788875751821
- ↑ Early Germanic Literature and Culture{{#if:Düwel|, Düwel}. Boydell & Brewer(2004). ISBN 978-1-57113-199-7
- ↑ '{{#if:Lee|, Lee}. Ilchogak(September 25, 2017). ISBN 978-89-337-0736-4
- ↑ A Sketch of the Earliest Mongolic Language: the Brāhmī Bugut and Khüis Tolgoi Inscriptions. International Journal of Eurasian Linguistics({Template:Year).
- ↑ The earliest dated Cambodian inscription K. 557/600 from Angkor Borei, Cambodia: an English translation and commentary. Vostok (Oriens)({Template:Year).
- ↑ A History of the Japanese Language{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Cambridge University Press(2010). ISBN 978-0-521-65320-6
- ↑ The Austronesian languages of Asia and Madagascar{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Routledge(2005). ISBN 978-0-7007-1286-1
- ↑ A New Study of the Pai-lang Songs. Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies({Template:Year).
- ↑ The Iranian languages{{#if:Emmerick|, Emmerick}. Routledge(2009). ISBN 978-0-7007-1131-4
- ↑ Textus blemmyicus in aetatis christianae{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Stipes(2003). ISBN 978-1-58874-275-9
- ↑ More on the Ostracon of Browne's Textus Blemmyicus. Annali dell'Università Degli Studi di Napoli l'Orientale({Template:Date).
- ↑ Новое в чтении и толковании Чойренской рунической надписи конца VII в. из Монголии. Тюркологический сборник. 2009-2010({Template:Date).
- ↑ A first Old Irish grammar and reader{{#if:McCone|, McCone}. National University of Ireland(2005). ISBN 978-0-901519-36-8
- ↑ The Archaeology of Early Medieval Ireland{{#if:Edwards|, Edwards}. Routledge(2006). ISBN 978-0-415-22000-2
- ↑ A Guide to Ogam{{#if:McManus|, McManus}. An Sagart(1991). ISBN 978-1-870684-17-0
- ↑ The Dating and Interpretation of the Old Tibetan Inscriptions. Central Asiatic Journal({Template:Year).
- ↑ Sources of Tibetan Tradition{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Columbia University Press(2013). ISBN 978-0-231-13599-3
- ↑ Le De Excidio Britanniae de Gildas. Les destinées de la culture latine dans l'île de Bretagne au VIe siècle{{#if:Kerlouégan|, Kerlouégan}. Publications de la Sorbonne(1987). ISBN 978-2-85944-064-0
- ↑ Indonesian Palaeography: A History of Writing in Indonesia from the Beginnings to C. A.D. 1500, Volume 4, Issue 1{{#if:de Casparis|, de Casparis}. BRILL(1975). ISBN 978-90-04-04172-1
- ↑ Alger N. Doane, The Saxon Genesis: An Edition of the West Saxon 'Genesis B' and the Old Saxon Vatican 'GenesisTemplate:', Madison, Wisconsin / London: University of Wisconsin, 1991, Template:ISBN, pp. 11–12.
- ↑ D. H. Green, Language and history in the early Germanic world (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 344–45.
- ↑ N. van der Sijs, Calendarium van de Nederlandse Taal (2006).
- ↑ Marco Mostert, 'Utrecht zwischen York und Fulda: Anfänge niederländischer Schriftlichkeit im Frühmittelalter Template:Webarchive', in »Wider den Müßiggang ...« Niederländisches Mittelalterim Spiegel von Kunst, Kult und Politik, ed. by Ulrike Zellmann, Angelika Lehmann-Benz and Urban Küsters (Düsseldorf: Grupello, 2004), pp. 21–37 Template:ISBN
- ↑ Marco Mostert, 'Communicating the Faith: The Circle of Boniface, Germanic Vernaculars, Frisian and Saxon Converts', Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik, 70 (2013), 87–130.
- ↑ The earliest inscription in Malayalam, Mahadevan, Iravatham. The Hindu(7 June 2012). Retrieved 17 November 2021.
- ↑ Historians contest antiquity of Edakkal inscriptions. The Times of India(10 July 2012). Retrieved 10 July 2012.
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