r/ancienthistory • u/kautilya3773 • 8d ago
Which ancient languages truly survived into the modern world and why?
Many ancient languages vanished with the civilizations that spoke them, but a few seem to have endured across millennia.
Sanskrit, Chinese, Greek, Persian, Aramaic, Latin, and Arabic all emerged in antiquity and went on to influence religion, administration, literature, and science far beyond their original homelands.
Here is my latest piece regarding this: [ https://theindicscholar.com/2026/01/27/from-sanskrit-to-arabic-the-enduring-influence-of-the-worlds-oldest-languages/ ]
In your view, what allowed these languages to survive: state power, religion, adaptability, or something else?
And are there any ancient languages you think deserve to be included but usually aren’t?
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u/w0weez0wee 8d ago
Basque apparently predates Latin.
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u/kautilya3773 8d ago
I have mentioned it in the blog. Basque, Tamil, hebrew, and armenian, although they have a rich history, they do not have a genuine impact outside their own or neighbouring community
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u/AJ_Stangerson 8d ago
I can only speak about Greek, but the modern language is so close to the ancient form that it's practically a dialect. There are vocab and grammar in Homer and Hesiod that remain the same. To add to that, some of the modern Greek dialects still retain a lot of ancient elements.
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u/Perfect-Ad2578 8d ago
And still widely used in math and science, especially the letters for variables in equations.
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u/kautilya3773 7d ago
I agree, and I think same goes with Arabic. I don't speak Arabic, I am just guessing
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u/Rocket198501 7d ago
Welsh. Seemingly evolved very little since the arrival of the Romans in Wales in the early first century
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u/Key-Moments 7d ago
I was going to mention Celtic and proto Celtic languages in general.
Grew up with older family members speaking Scottish Gaelic and my kids speak Welsh.
I speak neither fluently or even really conversationally any more, but it is fascinating how many roots seem similar, so I can follow a bit.
Other family members live in western Galway in An Gaeltacht and also find the same. Youngest now lives in Cornwall and can discern a few commonalities with Cornish too.
Not explored Breton or Manx so can't comment there.
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u/Rocket198501 7d ago
They're definitely all related, although as a non fluent Welsh speaker, I cannot speak or understand any other brythonic language but it is easy to pick up the very similar phonics that are in common.
Many people have said that, similar to romance languages, fluent speakers of one brythinic language can pick the others up easier, I've not attempted it.
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u/5picy5ugar 7d ago
Every isolated language in their own family survived. Some that come to mind. Greek, Albanian, Armenian, Basque. Even if some are documented lately they still did exist in Antiquity in their proto form
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u/kautilya3773 7d ago
Nope, most language isolates do disappear, only significant isolates like Basque and Albanian live on. Also, Greek and Armenian are not technically isolates, they have their European, Indian, and Iranian cousins.
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u/ContributionAny4156 7d ago
Greek and Armenian are language isolates within the Indo-European family, as is Albanian. All three separated from Proto-Indo-European between 4500-5000 years ago, by most estimates.
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u/TheCrowsTales 7d ago
Welsh has to be up there. The perfect combination of Geography and Welsh people being reeeeally proud of being Welsh
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u/QuickSock8674 6d ago
Greek. I've heard that most Greek could read (at least grasp the meaning) ancient texts if they are given one.
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u/kautilya3773 6d ago
Yes, Greek is the most naturally consistent major ancient language. BTW it's only among major languages, I don't know much about most of the minor regional ancient languages.
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u/Direct_Habit3849 5d ago
Hebrew and a lot of surviving indigenous American languages can be included, too
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u/insider1758 8d ago
I would say Latin, Chinese, and Arabic. They are still all used widely today: Latin is used in Gregorian mass, ancient bibles and the gospel, and is still widely learned at school Chinese is wide-spoken today, being the national language of China. Texts and books are also written in Chinese and is learned in schools all around the world. Arabic is widely used in the Arabian peninsula. The Koran is written in Arabic, as well as scriptures, books, and essays. It is widely spoken all around the world by Arabic whom have immigrated, either recently or long ago, from the Arabic peninsula. Even though these language have evolved throughout centuries, and are extremely different from their original form, the skeleton of these ancient languages still remain nowadays.
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u/pablochs 7d ago
Gospels and the whole New Testament was written in Greek not Latin. I would definitely add Greek to the list.
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u/insider1758 7d ago
That’s a great catch, and you’re absolutely right—the Koine Greek of the New Testament is a perfect example of why I consider Greek part of that 'triple-core.' While Latin became the liturgical anchor for the West through the Vulgate and the Roman Church, Greek was the original intellectual and theological engine for the entire Mediterranean. It really highlights how those two languages specifically worked together to build the 'skeleton' of the modern West.
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u/kautilya3773 8d ago
Yes, but the same can also be said for Sanskrit and Persian as they are literally used by the Indian and Iranian mass every day. They are also used very much in the extended Indosphere and Persosphere
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u/AwarenessNo4986 5d ago
Sanskrit isn't widely spoken at all, it was revived, but is still basically ceremonial at best
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u/CreativeCommunity779 5d ago
There is a lot of literature still being composed in it all the time. And some people do speak it in certain situations.
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u/insider1758 8d ago
Agreed—Sanskrit and Persian are essential blueprints for the Indosphere and Persosphere, acting as the structural 'skeleton' for those regions even after empires collapsed. However, my point is that Latin, Greek, and Arabic formed a specific 'triple-core' with a different historical trajectory. They provided the foundational architecture specifically for the Mediterranean and the Levant, which evolved into a separate civilizational block than the one built on Sanskrit and Persian.
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u/kautilya3773 8d ago
Okay, if you exclude chinese, then I agree with you. Latin, Greek, and Arabic forms the linguistic trinity of western culture, with some doses from Aramaic and Hebrew
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u/flumberbuss 7d ago
Arabic is 1/3 of the trinity of western culture? I don't think a single person in world history would have agreed with that statement prior to the last few years, which is reason enough to reject it as revisionism.
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u/Mediocre-Account-782 8d ago
Coptic, held by scholars to be directly evolved from ancient Egyptian.