This is a list oflanguages arranged by age of the oldest existingtext recording a complete sentence in the language. It does not includeundeciphered 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 oforal tradition, or because the earliest source is a copy of an older manuscript that was lost. An oral tradition ofepic poetry may typically bridge a few centuries, and in rare cases, over a millennium. An extreme case is theVedic Sanskrit of theRigveda: the earliest parts of this text date toc. 1500 BC,[1] while the oldest known manuscripts date toc. 1040 AD.[2]Similarly the oldestAvestan texts, theGathas, are believed to have been composed before 1000 BC, but the oldest Avestan manuscripts date from the 13th century AD.[3]
Writing first appeared in theNear East at the end of the 4th millennium BC.[4]A very limited number of languages are attested in the area from before theBronze Age collapse and the rise ofalphabetic writing:
InEast Asia towards the end of the second millennium BC, theSino-Tibetan family was represented byOld Chinese.
There are also a number ofundeciphered Bronze Age records:
Earlier symbols, such as theJiahu symbols orVinča symbols, are believed to beproto-writing, rather than representations of language.
| Date | Language | Attestation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| c. 2690 BC | Egyptian | Egyptian hieroglyphs constituting the earliest complete sentence known, found in the tomb ofSeth-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."[7] | So-called "proto-hieroglyphic" inscriptions, such as those on theNarmer Palette, are known from 3300 BC on, although these instances of written Egyptian arerebus-like and confined to semi-grammatical captions, labels, and proper names. See also,Naqada III andAbydos, Egypt. |
| c.2600 BC | Sumerian | Instructions of Shuruppak, theKesh temple hymn and othercuneiform texts fromShuruppak andAbu Salabikh (Fara period)[8][9] | "Proto-literate" period from about 3500 BC (seeKish tablet); administrative records atUruk andUr fromc. 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.[10] |
| c. 2600 BC | Akkadian | A hymn to the sun-godŠamaš found atTell Abū Ṣalābīḫ.[11] | Some proper names attested inSumerian texts atTell Harmal from about 2800 BC.[12] Fragments of theLegend of Etana atTell Harmalc. 2600 BC.[13] A few dozen pre-Sargonic texts fromMari and other sites in northern Babylonia.[14] |
| c. 2400 BC | Eblaite | Ebla tablets[15] | |
| 24th century BC | Northwest Semitic | Protective spells inPyramid Texts 235, 236, 281, 286 from thePyramid of Unas, written in hieroglyphic script but unintelligible as Egyptian[16][17] | Ugaritic is the earliest Northwest Semitic language to be unambiguously attested within its native context,c. 1300 BC. |
| c. 2250 BC | Elamite | Awan dynasty peace treaty withNaram-Sin[18][19] | TheProto-Elamite script attested fromc. 3100 BC remains undeciphered; the identity of the language communicated thereby is unknown. The date ofc. 2250 BC is based off the advent ofLinear Elamite. |
| 21st century BC | Hurrian | Temple inscription ofTish-atal inUrkesh[20] | |
| c. 1800 BC | Amorite | Bilingual Amorite-Akkadian vocabulary[21] | See also tabletCUNES 50-11-020 (P411253) |
| c. 1700 BC | Hittite | Anitta text inHittite cuneiform[22] | Isolated Hittite words and names occur in Assyrian texts found atKültepe, from the 19th century BC.[22] |
| 16th century BC | Palaic | Hittite texts CTH 751–754[23] | |
| c. 1450 BC | Mycenaean Greek | Linear B tablet archive fromKnossos[24][25][26] | These are mostly administrative lists, with some complete sentences.[27] |
| c. 1400 BC | Luwian | Hieroglyphic Luwian monumental inscriptions,Cuneiform Luwian tablets in the Hattusa archives[28] | Isolated hieroglyphs appear on seals from the 18th century BC.[28] |
| c. 1400 BC | Hattic | Hittite texts CTH 725–745 | |
| c. 1300 BC | Ugaritic | Tablets fromUgarit[29][30] | |
| c. 1250 BC | Old Chinese | Oracle bone andbronze inscriptions from the reign ofWu Ding[31][32][33] |

The earliest known alphabetic inscriptions, atSerabit el-Khadim (c. 1500 BC), appear to record aNorthwest Semitic language, though only one or two words have been deciphered. In theEarly Iron Age, alphabetic writing spread across the Near East and southern Europe. With the emergence of theBrahmic family of scripts,languages of India are attested from after about 300 BC.
There is only fragmentary evidence for languages such asIberian,Tartessian,Galatian andMessapian.[35] TheNorth Picene language of the Novilara Stele fromc. 600 BC has not been deciphered.[36] The few brief inscriptions inThracian dating from the 6th and 5th centuries BC have not been conclusively deciphered.[37] The earliest examples of the Central AmericanIsthmian script date fromc. 500 BC, but a proposed decipherment remains controversial.[38]
| Date | Language | Attestation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| c. 1000 BC | Phoenician | Ahiram epitaph[39] | |
| 10th century BC | Aramaic | Royal inscriptions fromAramean city-states[40] | |
| 10th century BC | Hebrew orPhoenician | Gezer calendar[41] | Paleo-Hebrew employed a slightly modified Phoenician alphabet, hence the uncertainty between which language is attested here. |
| c. 850 BC | Ammonite | Amman Citadel Inscription[42] | |
| c. 840 BC | Moabite | Mesha Stele | |
| c. 820 BC | Urartian | Inscriptions in Assyrian cuneiform script[43] | |
| c. 800 BC | Phrygian | Paleo-Phrygian inscriptions atGordion[44] | |
| 8th century BC | Sabaean (Old South Arabian) | Mainlyboustrophedon inscriptions from Yemen[45] | |
| 8th century BC | Old Arabic | Prayer inscription atBayir, Jordan[46] | It is a bi-lingual inscription written in Old Arabic which was written in the undifferentiated North Arabian script (known asThamudic B) and Canaanite which remains undeciphered. |
| c. 700 BC | Etruscan | Proto-Corinthian vase found atTarquinia[47] | |
| 7th century BC | Latin | Vetusia Inscription andFibula Praenestina[48] | |
| c. 600 BC | Lydian | Inscriptions fromSardis[28] | |
| c. 600 BC | Carian | Inscriptions fromCaria and Egypt[28] | |
| c. 600 BC | Faliscan | Ceres inscription found atFalerii[49] | |
| early 6th century BC | Umbrian | Text painted on the handle of akrater found nearTolfa[50] | |
| c. 550 BC | Taymanitic | Esk 168 and 177[51] | The Taymanitic script is mentioned in an 8th-century BC document fromCarchemish.[52] |
| c. 550 BC | South Picene | Warrior of Capestrano[53] | |
| mid-6th century BC | Venetic | Funerary inscriptions atEste[54] | |
| late 6th century BC | Lemnian | Lemnos Stele[55] | |
| c. 500 BC | Old Persian | Behistun Inscription | |
| c. 500 BC | Lepontic | Inscriptions CO-48 from Pristino (Como) and VA-6 fromVergiate (Varese)[56][57] | Inscriptions from the early 6th century consist of isolated names. |
| c. 300 BC | Oscan | Lovilae fromCapua[58] | Coin legends date from the late 5th century BC.[59] |
| 3rd century BC | Gaulish | Transalpine Gaulish inscriptions in Massiliote Greek script[60] | |
| 3rd century BC | Volscian | Tabula Veliterna[61] | |
| c. 260 BC | Ashokan Prakrit | Edicts of Ashoka[62][63] | Potsherds inscribed with Brahmi letters fromAnuradhapura have been datedc. 400 BC, and range from isolated letters to names in the genitive case.[64][65] |
| c. 200 BC | Elu (Sri LankanPrakrit) | Brahmi inscription atMihintale[66] | |
| early 2nd century BC | Old Tamil | Rock inscription ARE 465/1906 atMangulam caves,Tamil Nadu[67] (Other authors give dates from late 3rd century BC to 1st century AD.[68][69]) | Pottery inscribed with personal names has been found atKeeladi, a site that was occupied between the 6th century BC and 1st century AD.[70] 5th century BC inscriptions on potsherds found inKodumanal, Porunthal andPalani have been claimed asTamil-Brahmi,[71][72] but this is disputed.[73] An inscription of 7 symbols fromAdichanallur, tentatively dated 5th century BC, has been claimed as rudimentary Tamil-Brahmi.[74] |
| 2nd century BC | Meroitic | Graffiti on the temple ofAmun at Dukki Gel, nearKerma[75] | |
| c. 146 BC | Numidian | Punic-Libyan Inscription atDougga[76] | |
| c. 100 BC | Celtiberian | Botorrita plaques | |
| 1st century BC | Parthian | Ostraca atNisa andQumis[77] | |
| 1st century BC | Sanskrit | Ayodhya Inscription of Dhana, andHathibada Ghosundi Inscriptions (both nearChittorgarh)[78] | TheJunagadh rock inscription of Rudradaman (shortly after 150 AD) is the oldest long text.[79] |
FromLate Antiquity, we have for the first time languages with earliest records inmanuscript tradition (as opposed toepigraphy). Thus,Classical Armenian is first attested in theArmenian Bible translation.
TheVimose inscriptions (2nd and 3rd centuries) in theElder Futhark runic alphabet appear to recordProto-Norse names. Some scholars interpret theNegau helmet inscription (c. 100 BC) as a Germanic fragment.
| Date | Language | Attestation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| c. 150 | Bactrian | Rabatak inscription | |
| c. 200 | Proto-Norse | inscriptionNITHIJO TAWIDE on shield grip from theIllerup Ådalweapon deposit | Single Proto-Norse words are found on theØvre Stabu spearhead (second half of the 2nd century) and theVimose Comb (c. 160). |
| 292 | Mayan | Stela 29 fromTikal[80] | A brief undeciphered inscription atSan Bartolo is dated to the 3rd century BC.[81] |
| 312–313 | Sogdian | Ancient Letters, found nearDunhuang[82] | |
| 328 | Arabic | Namara inscription | |
| c. 350 | Ge'ez | inscriptions ofEzana of Aksum[83] | |
| c. 350 | Cham | Đông Yên Châu inscription found nearTra Kiêu[84] | Oldest attestedAustronesian language |
| 4th century | Gothic | Gothic Bible, translated byWulfila[85] | A few problematicGothic runic inscriptions may date to the early 4th century. |
| c. 400 | Tocharian B | THT 274 and similar manuscripts[86] | Some Tocharian names and words have been found in Prakrit documents fromKrorän datedc. 300.[87] |
| c. 430 | Old Georgian | Bir el Qutt inscription #1[88] | Inscription #2, made around the same time, is currently missing. |
| c. 450 | Old Kannada | Halmidi inscription[89] | A date of 350 has been claimed for the Tagarthi inscription found inShivamogga district, but this is disputed.[90]Kavirajamarga (c. 850) is the oldest literary work.[89] |
| c. 478-490[91] | Classical Armenian | inscription at theTekor Basilica[92] | Mesrop Mashtots is traditionally held to have translated anArmenian Bible in 434. |
| 5th century | Frankish/Old Dutch | Bergakker inscription[93] | There is no consensus on the interpretation of the text, leading to the language uncertainty. |
| c. 510 | Old Dutch | formula for freeing a serf in theMalbergse Glossen on the Salic law[94] | Some scholars consider the formula to be inFrankish instead.[95] |
| 6th century | Vandalic | A sentence in theCollatio beati Augustini cum Pascentio ariano (Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria, MS G.V. 26)[96] | Copy of a text originally written in the first half of the 5th century. |
| second half of 6th century | Old High German | Pforzen buckle[97] | |
| mid-6th century | Old Korean | Mokgan No. 221[98] | |
| c. 575 | Telugu | Erragudipadu inscription[89] | Telugu place names are found in Prakrit inscriptions from the 2nd century AD.[89] |
| c. 584 | Old Mongolian | Inscription of Hüis Tolgoi andBugut Inscription | The Inscription of Hüis Tolgoi (HT) andBugut inscription are monolingual inscriptions in anOld Mongolian language, dated to 584 to 620 AD, with aBrahmiMongolic text. |
| 611 | Old Khmer | Angkor Borei inscription K. 557/600[100] | |
| c. 650 | Old Japanese | mokkan wooden tablets[101] | Poems in theKojiki (711–712) andNihon Shoki (720) have been transmitted in copied manuscripts. |
| c. 650–700 | Old Udi | Sinai palimpsest M13 | |
| c. 683 | Old Malay | Kedukan Bukit Inscription[102] | |
| 7th century | Bailang | commentary on theBook of the Later Han byLi Xian citing the mostly lostDongguan Hanji[103] | |
| 7th century | Tumshuqese and Khotanese Saka | manuscripts mainly fromDunhuang[104] | Some fragments of Khotanese Saka have been dated to the 5th and 6th centuries |
| 7th century | Beja | ostracon fromSaqqara[105][106] | |
| late 7th century | Pyu | Hpayahtaung funeral urn inscription of kings ofSri Ksetra | |
| c. 700 | Old English | Franks Casket | TheUndley bracteate (5th century) and West Heslerton brooch (c. 650) have fragmentary runic inscriptions. |
| c. 716 | Old Turkic | Tonyukuk inscriptions | |
| c. 750 | Old Irish | Würzburg glosses[107] | Primitive IrishOgham inscriptions from the 4th century consist of personal names, patronymics and/or clan names.[108][109] |
| c. 765 | Old Tibetan | Lhasa Zhol Pillar[110] | Dated entries in theTibetan Annals begin at 650, but extant manuscripts postdate the Tibetan occupation ofDunhuang in 786.[111] |
| late 8th century | Breton | Praecepta medica (Leyden,Codex Vossianus Lat. F. 96 A)[112] | A botanical manuscript in Latin and Breton |
| c. 750–900 | Old Frisian | Westeremden yew-stick | |
| c. 800 | Old Norse | runic inscriptions | |
| 804 | Old Javanese | initial part of theSukabumi inscription(id), found nearKediri[113] | |
| early 9th century | Old Saxon | Heiland andOld Saxon Genesis, found in Palatinus Latinus 1447[114] | The 9th centuryOld 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[115][116][117][118] |
| 9th century | Old Malayalam | Vazhappally copper plate[119] | The status of theEdakkal-5 inscriptions dating back to 3rd or late 4th century is contested.[120][121]Ramacaritam (12th century) is the oldest literary work.[119] |
| 9th century | Old Welsh | Cadfan Stone (Tywyn 2)[122] | |
| late 9th century | Old French | Sequence of Saint Eulalia[123] | The earliest surviving manuscript with the text for theOaths of Strasbourg (842), traditionally considered the first Old French text, dates from the 11th century.[124] |
| 882 | Balinese | dated royal inscription[125] | |
| c. 900 | Old Occitan | Tomida femina | |
| c. 959–974 | Old Leonese | Nodicia de Kesos | |
| c. 960–963 | Italian | Placiti Cassinesi[126] | TheVeronese Riddle (c. 800) is considered a mixture of Italian and Latin.[127] |
| 986 | Khitan | Memorial for Yelü Yanning | |
| late 10th century | Old Church Slavonic | Kiev Missal[128] | Cyril andMethodius translated religious literature fromc. 862, but only later manuscripts survive. |
| late 10th century | Konkani/Marathi | inscription on theGommateshwara statue[129] | The inscription is inDevanagari script, but the language has been disputed between Marathi and Konkani scholars.[130][131] |
| 10th century | Romansh | a sentence in the Würzburg manuscript[132] |
| Date | Language | Attestation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 972–1093 | Slovene | Freising manuscripts | |
| late 10th–early 11th century | Serbian | Codex Marianus,Temnić inscription[133] | |
| c. 1000 | Old East Slavic | Novgorod Codex[134] | |
| c. 1000 | Navarro-Aragonese (Aragonese) andBasque | Glosas Emilianenses | The first word on theHand of Irulegi (1st century BC) has been claimed as Basque.[135][136] |
| c. 1028 | Catalan | Jurament Feudal[137] | |
| 1058 | Burmese | inscription fromLetthe-shé pagoda, Pagan, now atPahtodawgyi[138][139] | A brief Burmese inscription on a copper-gilded umbrella found near theMahabodhi Temple is so damaged that only a name can be made out with certainty; the Pali version gives a date corresponding to 1035.[140][141] There are also 18th century copies (of uncertain authenticity) of inscriptions dating back as far as 984.[138][139][141] |
| 1072–1074 | Oghuz Turkic (includingTurkmen,Azerbaijani andOttoman Turkish) | Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk byMahmud al-Kashgari | The first comprehensive dictionary ofTurkic languages, written inArabic, contains many Oghuz words and phrases. |
| 11th century | Mozarabic | kharjas appended to Arabic and Hebrew poems[142] | Isolated words are found in glossaries from the 8th century.[143] |
| c. 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 | |
| c. 1100 | Ossetian | Zelančuk inscription[144] | |
| 1114 | Newar | palm-leaf manuscript from Uku Baha,Patan[145] | |
| 1127 | Jurchen | inscription found on the bank of theArkhara River[146] | |
| c. 1175 | Galician-Portuguese | Notícia de Fiadores[147] | TheNotícia de Torto and the will ofAfonso II of Portugal, dated 1214, are often cited as the first documents written in Galician-Portuguese.[148] A date prior to 1175 has been proposed for thePacto dos Irmãos Pais.[149] |
| 1192 | Old Hungarian | Funeral Sermon and Prayer | There are isolated fragments in earlier charters such as the charter ofVeszprém (c. 1000) and thecharter of Tihany (1055). Some scholars believe that the language of theSzarvas inscription (8th century) is Old Hungarian. |
| mid-12th century | Icelandic | AM 237 a fol. manuscript[150] | |
| late 12th century | Old Norwegian | AM 655 IX 4to manuscript[151] | |
| late 12th century | Bosnian | copies A,B, and C of theCharter of Ban Kulin[152] | Originally created in 1189 |
| c. 1200 | Spanish | Cantar de mio Cid | Previously theGlosas Emilianenses and theNodicia de kesos were considered the oldest texts in Spanish; however, later analyses concluded them to be Aragonese and Leonese, respectively.[153] |
| c. 1200 | Finnic | Birch bark letter no. 292 | |
| c. 1200–1230 | Czech | founding charter of theLitoměřice chapter | |
| 1224–1225 | Mongolian | Stele of Genghis Khan | |
| early 13th century | Punjabi | poetry ofFariduddin Ganjshakar | |
| early 13th century | Cornish | prophesy in thecartulary ofGlasney College[154] | A 9th century gloss inDe Consolatione Philosophiae byBoethius:ud rocashaas is controversially interpreted.[155][156] |
| c. 1250 | Old Swedish | fragments of the elderWestrogothic law in Codex Holm. B 193[157] | |
| c. 1250 | Kashmiri | Mahanayakaprakash ("Light of the supreme lord") by Shitikantha[158] | |
| c. 1270 | Old Polish | a sentence in theBook of Henryków | |
| 1272 | Yiddish | blessing in the Wormsmahzor | |
| c. 1274 | Western Lombard | Liber di Tre Scricciur, byBonvesin de la Riva | |
| c. 1292 | Thai | Ramkhamhaeng stele | Some scholars argue that the stele is a forgery. The next oldest inscription is theWat Sri Chum inscription from the early 14th century.[159] |
| late 13th century | Old Danish | manuscripts AM 37 4to, AM 24 4to, SKB C 37, SKB B 74[160] | |
| 13th century | Tigrinya | a text of laws found inLogosarda | |
| c. 1350 | Oghuz Turkic (includingAzerbaijani andOttoman Turkish) | works ofImadaddin Nasimi | |
| c. 1350 | Old Gutnish | Gutasaga andGutalagen, found in Codex Holm. B 64[161] | |
| c. 1350 | Old Sundanese | Astana Gede inscriptions | |
| c. 1369 | Old Prussian | Basel Epigram[162] | |
| 1372 | Komi | Abur inscriptions | |
| 1386 | Slovak | Rhymed sentence in Latin codex[163] | Toponyms, personal names and glosses are found from 11th century.[164] |
| c. 1407 | Faroese | Letters about Húsavík (AM 100, 1a)[165] | Earlier inscriptions on the islands (fromc. 1000 AD atKirkjubøur) are inOld Norse, with no particular Faroese content/[165] |
| early 15th century | Bengali,Assamese and otherBengali-Assamese languages | poems ofChandidas[166] | The 10th-centuryCharyapada are written in a language ancestral to Bengali,Assamese andOriya.[166] |
| c. 1440 | Vietnamese | Quốc âm thi tập[167] | List of names inChữ nôm date from the early 13th century.[168] |
| 1462 | Albanian | Formula e pagëzimit, a baptismal formula in a letter of ArchbishopPal Engjëll | Some scholars interpret a few lines in theBellifortis text (1405) as Albanian.[169] |
| c. 1470 | Finnish | single sentence in a German travel journal[170] | The first printed book in Finnish isAbckiria (1543) byMikael Agricola. |
| c. 1470 | Maltese | Il Cantilena | |
| 1485 | Yi | bronze bell inscription inDafang County,Guizhou[171] | |
| 15th century | Tulu | inscriptions in an adaptation of Malayalam script[172] |
| Date | Language | Attestation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| c. 1503 | Lithuanian | hand-written Lord's Prayer, Hail Mary and Creed[173] | Katekizmas (1547) byMartynas Mažvydas was the first printed book in Lithuanian. |
| 1517 | Belarusian | Psalter ofFrancysk Skaryna | |
| 1521 | Romanian | Neacșu's letter | Cyrillic orthographic manual ofConstantine of Kostenets from 1420 documents earlier written usage.[174] Four 16th century documents, namelyCodicele Voronețean,Psaltirea Scheiană, theHurmuzaki Psalter andPsaltirea Voronețeană, are arguably copies of 15th century originals.[175] |
| 1530 | Latvian | Nicholas Ramm's translation of a hymn | |
| 1535 | Estonian | Wanradt-Koell catechism | |
| 1536 | ModernPortuguese | Grammatica da lingoagem portuguesa byFernão de Oliveira. | by convention.[176] |
| 1540s | Old Tupi | Jehan Lamy'sLe langaige du Bresil | |
| 1549 | Sylheti | Talib Husan by Ghulam Husan | earliest extant manuscript found using theSylheti Nagri script.[177] |
| 1550 | Classical Nahuatl | Doctrina cristiana en lengua española y mexicana[178] | TheBreve y mas compendiosa doctrina cristiana en lengua mexicana y castellana (1539) was possibly the first printed book in theNew World. No copies are known to exist today.[178] |
| 1554 | Extremaduran (mixed withSayaguese Leonese) | works ofDiego Sánchez de Badajoz, published as edited by his nephew asRecopilación en metro | |
| 1554 | Wastek | grammar byAndrés de Olmos | |
| 1557 | Kikongo | a catechism[179] | |
| 1561 | Ukrainian | Peresopnytsia Gospel | |
| 1589 | Crimean Gothic | 1562 letter fromOgier Ghiselin de Busbecq that was published later[180] | 9th centuryGothic graffiti in Crimea show some Crimean Gothic influence in spelling.[181] |
| 1593 | Tagalog | Doctrina Cristiana | |
| c. 1600 | Classical Quechua | Huarochirí Manuscript by a writer identified only as "Thomás"[182] | Paraphrased and annotated byFrancisco de Ávila in 1608. |
| 1600 | Buginese | ||
| c. 1610 | Manx | Book of Common Prayer[183] | |
| 1619 | Pite Sami | primer and missal by Nicolaus Andreaus[184] | Early literary works were mainly based on dialects underlying modernUme Sami andPite Sami. First grammar and dictionary in 1738. |
| 1638 | Ternate | treaty with Dutch governor[185] | |
| 1639 | Guarani | Tesoro de la lengua guaraní byAntonio Ruíz de Montoya | |
| 1639 | modernAsturian | Cuando examen les abeyes byAntón de Marirreguera[186] | |
| c. 1650 | Ubykh,Abkhaz,Adyghe andMingrelian | Travel Book ofEvliya Çelebi[187] | |
| 1651 | Pashto | copy ofXayru 'l-bayān in the library of theUniversity of Tübingen[188] | ThePata Khazana, purporting to date from the 8th century, is considered by most scholars to be a forgery.[188] |
| 1663 | Massachusett | Mamusse Wunneetupanatamwe Up-Biblum God | Also known as theEliot Indian Bible or theAlgonquian Bible |
| 1693 | Tunisian Arabic | copy of a Tunisian poem written bySheykh Hassan el-Karray[189] | Before 1700, lyrics of songs were not written in Tunisian Arabic but inClassical Arabic.[189] |
| c. 1695 | Seri | grammar and vocabulary compiled byAdamo Gilg | No longer known to exist.[190] |
| 17th century | Hausa | Riwayar Annabi Musa by Abdallah Suka[191] | |
| late 17th century | Basque–Icelandic pidgin | Vocabula Gallica[192] | |
| 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.[193] |
| 18th century | Língua Geral of São Paulo | Vocabulário da Língua Geral dos Índios das Américas (anonymous)[194] | Another source is thedictionary byCarl Friedrich Philipp von Martius (1867) and thevocabulary (1936) byJosé Joaquim Machado de Oliveira. The language is now extinct. |
| 1711 | Swahili | letters written inKilwa[195] | |
| 1718 | Sranan Tongo | Herlein fragment[196] | |
| 1728 | Northern Sami | Catechism | An early wordlist was published in 1589 byRichard Hakluyt. First grammar in 1743 |
| 1736 | Greenlandic | Grönländische Grammatica byPaul Egede[197] | A poor-quality wordlist was recorded byJohn Davis in 1586.[198] |
| 1743 | Chinese Pidgin English | sentence recorded inMacau byGeorge Anson[199] | |
| 1747 | Borgarmålet | Beskrifning öfwer Sweriges Lapmarker by Pehr Högström[200] | |
| 1757 | Haitian Creole | Lisette quitté la plaine by Duvivier de la Mahautière[201][202] | |
| 1788 | Sydney language | notebooks ofWilliam Dawes[203][204] | |
| 1795 | Afrikaans | doggerel verses[205] | |
| 1800 | Inuktitut | "Eskimo Grammar" by Moravian missionaries[197] | A list of 17 words was recorded in 1576 by Christopher Hall, an assistant toMartin Frobisher.[197][198] |
| 1806 | Tswana | Heinrich Lictenstein –Upon the Language of the Beetjuana | The first completeBible translation was published in 1857 byRobert Moffat. |
| 1819 | Cherokee | Sequoyah'sCherokee syllabary | |
| 1820 | Maori | grammar byThomas Kendall andSamuel Lee | Kendal began compiling wordlists in 1814. |
| 1820 | Aleut | description byRasmus Rask | A short word list was collected byJames King in 1778. |
| 1823 | Xhosa | John Bennie'sXhosa reading sheet | CompleteBible translation 1859 |
| c. 1833 | Vai | Vai syllabary created byMomolu Duwalu Bukele. | |
| 1833 | Sotho | reduced to writing by French missionariesCasalis andArbousset | First grammar book 1841 and completeBible translation 1881 |
| 1837 | Zulu | Incwadi Yokuqala Yabafundayo | First grammar book 1859 and completeBible translation 1883 |
| 1839 | Lule Sami | pamphlet byLars Levi Laestadius | Dictionary and grammar byKarl Bernhard Wiklund in 1890–1891 |
| 1845 | Santali | A Santali Primer byJeremiah Phillips[206] | |
| 1849 | Solombala English | Ocerki Arxangel'skoj Gubernii by Vasilij Vereščagin[207] | |
| 1851 | Sakha (Yakut) | Über die Sprache der Jakuten, a grammar byOtto von Böhtlingk | Wordlists were included inNoord en Oost Tartarije (1692) byNicolaas Witsen andDas Nord-und Ostliche Theil von Europa und Asia (1730) byPhilip Johan von Strahlenberg. |
| 1854 | Inari Sami | grammar byElias Lönnrot | Primer and catechism published in 1859. |
| 1856 | Gamilaraay | articles byWilliam Ridley[208] | Basic vocabulary collected byThomas Mitchell in 1832. |
| 1864 | Français Tirailleur | letter by P. Durpatz[209] | |
| 1872 | Venda | reduced to writing by the Berlin Missionaries | First completeBible translation 1936 |
| 1878 | Kildin Sami | Gospel of Matthew | |
| 1882 | Mirandese | O dialecto mirandez byJosé Leite de Vasconcelos[210] | Thesame author also published the first book written inMirandese:Flores mirandezas (1884)[211] |
| 1884 | Skolt Sami | Gospel of Matthew in Cyrillic | |
| 1885 | Carrier | Barkerville Jail Text, written in pencil on a board in the then recently createdCarrier 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 byAlexander MacKenzie. |
| 1885 | Motu | grammar byW.G. Lawes | |
| 1886 | Guugu Yimidhirr | notes byJohann Flierl,Wilhelm Poland andGeorg Schwarz, culminating inWalter Roth'sThe Structure of the Koko Yimidir Language in 1901.[212][213] | A list of 61 words recorded in 1770 byJames Cook andJoseph Banks was the first written record of an Australian language.[214] |
| 1891 | Galela | grammatical sketch by M.J. van Baarda[215] | |
| 1893 | Oromo | translation of theNew Testament byOnesimos Nesib, assisted byAster Ganno | |
| 1900 | Qaqet | grammar by Matthäus Rascher[216] | |
| 1903 | Lingala | grammar by Egide de Boeck | |
| 1905 | Istro-Romanian | Calindaru lu rumeri din Istrie byAndrei Glavina andConstantin Diculescu[217] | Compilation of Istro-Romanian popular words, proverbs and stories.[217] |
| c. 1940 | Kamoro | materials byPeter Drabbe[215] | A Kamoro wordlist recorded in 1828 by Modera and Müller, passengers on a Dutch ship, is the oldest record of any of thenon-Austronesian languages ofNew Guinea.[215][218] |
| 1968 | Southern Ndebele | small booklet published with praises of their kings and a little history | A translation of theNew Testament of theBible was completed in 1986; translation of theOld Testament is ongoing. |
| 1984 | Gooniyandi | survey byWilliam B. McGregor[219] |
Attestation by majorlanguage family:
The oldest known Akk text is a hymn to the sungod Šamaš⁵ found in Ereš (Tell Abū Ṣalābīḫ, ca. 2600).⁶
All experts agree on the meaning of the second word: "I (he) grant(s)", and many consider the first word to be the name of the owner of the sword that the scabbard belonged to. Opinions vary on how this name should be read, just as the latter two words have been interpreted very differently. Keeping in mind the function of the piece, some academics read the last word as "sword(s)".
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