![]() AkkadianĪkkadian didn’t stand the test of time either, as it turns out. Eventually the ancient Sumerians merged with the Akkadians, both in culture and in language. They were searching for more fertile farming grounds, as well as a more hospitable place to settle their society. These cuneiform tablets describe Sumerian laws, myths, and stories, painting a precious picture of Sumerian society.Īs the Sumerian empire declined, the population made a move to the north. But their cuneiform tablets are still studied by scholars all around the world. Their language didn’t fare as well as their legacy Sumerian has not had any native speakers in centuries. The ancient Sumerians are most well known for being the first civilization to invent a system of writing. Since Modern Hebrew was an evolution of Biblical Hebrew and still contains many biblical elements, Biblical Hebrew is relatively easy for native Hebrew speakers to understand. It is currently taught in public schools in Israel, as an important way to understand modern Hebrew and the Jewish faith. It was originally spoken by ancient Israelites. Biblical Hebrew refers to an archaic form of Hebrew that developed into a literary and liturgical language around 200 CE. Biblical Hebrewīiblical Hebrew is not to be confused with Modern Hebrew, a language that is still very much alive. It has recently lost the last of its native speakers, and is becoming a language that more or less exists mainly for scholars of dead languages. It is considered the first language of Christianity by some and is no doubt important for understanding the early origins of Christianity. If you want to speak like the ancient Egyptians did, Coptic is for you.Ĭoptic now only exists in the liturgy of the Coptic Church in Egypt. It was used throughout Egypt by the Ptolemaic rulers after the spread of Greek culture throughout the region. Yes, even Hieroglyphics! Coptic is a combination of Hieroglyphics, Demotic, and Hieratic languages. CopticĬoptic is what remained of the ancient Egyptian languages. These include: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian. It was, however, incorporated into various other languages and, some would say, evolved into languages many people speak today. Partly because of its incredible complexity, but also due to other forces, Latin died out with the Roman Empire. The language made its way throughout Europe and across the western Mediterranean coastal regions of Africa. The geographical area that uses Latin spread with the Roman Empire. Latin was originally spoken by people living along the lower Tiber River. Though it has been considered a dead language for centuries, it is still taught in school as an important way to understand many languages. Latin is by far the most well-known dead language. But some estimates suggest that as many as 90% of these languages will be extinct by 2050.Įver feel that you’d like to know just a little more about the languages we refer to as “dead languages”? Read on for interesting facts that you can discuss within the language learning community! In the early 2000s, there were as many as 7,000 natively spoken languages worldwide. Extinct languages are languages that no longer have any native or second-language speakers. Such circumstances can cause smaller languages to gradually die out over generations.ĭead and extinct languages are often confused. ![]() This can happen very often with smaller native languages in which the speakers must learn a more widely spoken language to advance socially or economically. So how do languages die? The most common way in which a language dies is when communities become bilingual and gradually shift their allegiance to their second language. ![]() They are supposed to be “dead” and yet we talk about dead languages because they are important for understanding the origins of the languages we speak today. The dead language that usually springs to mind for many people is Latin, which has a huge influence on many languages spoken today. First things first, a dead language is any language that is no longer the native language of any community (even if still learnt or in use). Dead languages aren’t just ancient history. ![]()
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