What is the oldest language, Hebrew or Aramaic?

TJ Curioso

I've read conflicting opinions about it .

blondie

I thought it was Sanskrit...taking the bible bias out of it.

My question is not about the oldest language of humankind. My question is only in terms of the two languages: hebrew or aramaic. Some says that hebrew is oldest and the aramaic derivated from hebrew, some say the oposite.

Others say that aramaic and hebrew are similar and have the same root.

Amelia Ashton

It is more than probable that the oldest language was not ever in a written form so can only be speculated on. I don't think either Aramaic or Hebrew are the oldest but of the two Hebrew was first. That is just my belief though.

Vidqun

Both languages, Hebrew and Aramaic, are classified under the section ‘Semitic Languages’. These are subdivided into Eastern Semitic (Accadian), Northwest Semitic (Languages of Canaan: Ugaritic, Hebrew, Phoenician, Moabitic, and Aramaic: West Aramaic, Ex. Samaritan; East Aramaic, Ex. Mandaic, Syriac), and Southwest Semitic (Arabian, Ethiopic, and Amharic). So these languages originate from Proto-Canaanite. Don't know whether one can call any of these "oldest". But according to some, Summerian is the oldest, then came Accadian. If you are interested in the subject, the following topics could be researched:

The adherents of the theory of a monogenetic origin of writing trace all writing systems to a single system. These discern the following steps in the development of writing: Pictographic writing > logographic writing (one sign, one word) > phonetic system. About 3000 BCE Sumerian scribes supplemented their logographic system by introducing a phonetic or syllabic use of signs, making it an agglutanitive language: it is made up of elements which almost always consist of a single syllable.

When Akkadian scribes took over this writing system, they inherited both logographic and phonetic signs. They would add new phonetic values based on Akkadian, as well as determinatives and semantic classifiers. These have a specialized logographic value: the determinative is a logogram preceding or following a word and identifying the class to which it belongs. It is not to be pronounced when reading the text aloud. Phonetic complements are added to a logogram to specify its reading. Phonetic (syllabic) values of a sign can be represented in alphabetic script. Due in part to the nature of the Summerian language, a given syllable in Akkadian may be represented by one of several signs.

The Proto-Canaanite alphabet originated as a purely consonantal form of writing, derived acrophonically, under direct or indirect Egyptian influence, with a center of radiation somewhere in Canaan, probably in Phoenicia proper. This alphabet would become the ancestor of the standard Phoenician, Aramaic and early Hebrew scripts, on the one hand, and the different South Semitic scripts on the other. Studies in Early Hebrew Orthography also indicate a system of phonetic consonantism, i.e., vocalization by means of consonants alone. However, in the absence of vowels, phonemes would have to be employed to assist pronunciation.

ProdigalSon

If it's unclear which of the two is actually older, one thing I do know for sure is that the Paleo- Hebrew alphabet, the forerunner of Hebrew, comes directly from the Phoenician alphabet.... which is the oldest. The Israelites had been using Paleo-Hebrew long before they adopted Aramaic, which was probably the result of the influence of the Babylonian exile.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleo-Hebrew_alphabet

The Paleo-Hebrew alphabet (Hebrew: ???? ????? ????? ‎) (Yiddish: ??? ???? ), is an abjad offshoot of the ancient Semitic alphabet, identical to the Phoenician alphabet. It dates to the 10th century BCE or earlier. It was used as the main vehicle for writing the Hebrew language by the Israelites, both Jews and Samaritans.

It began to fall out of use by the Jews in the 5th century BCE when they adopted the Aramaic alphabet as their writing system for Hebrew, from which the present Jewish "square-script" Hebrew alphabet descends. The Samaritans, who now number less than one thousand people, continue to use a derivative of the Old Hebrew alphabet, known as the Samaritan alphabet.

TJ Curioso

Thanks!

NOLAW

Let me add an unknown fact

A major part of the Greek language stems from the Semetic language too.

Does it sound crazy to you? Haven't you ever heard about it? Well, time to do a serious research yourself and learn the true history of mankind-not the crap that is served to you and no in this case wikipedia cannot be your friend.

-

Lars are you reading this? Are you the messiah? You should know...

mP

The points about Hebrew square script and other forms being derivatives is particularly interesting for a number of reasons. If we examine many other major things like the Calendar or Language we can see many things are copied even the pagan ones.

Ive always liked to ask why God didnt give the Jews an alphabet that from the beginning recorded all the vowels, so they could accurately record each and every word accurately including the exact way to pronounce YHWH. After all God who sees the future should have known this lack of exactness would have meant his name would be replaced by Lord. The true reason is of course that Jesus was not the Son of God, this was vote in many centuries later and his invention.

It is also interesting that the Jews used names of months that include homages to other pagan gods. How does one explain the priests or Jehovah not demanding Tammuz be changed ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_calendar

4

????????

Tammuz

Tamuz

29 days

Dumuzu

Seventeenth of Tammuz

Named for the Babylonian god Dumuzi

So if God was with the Jews how come he didnt give them any technology ? If he gave them some machines they wouldnt have to attack their pagan neighbours to gain any slaves. The very same slaves who supposedly distracted them with pagan gods.

The original reason for the split between Israel from the United Kingdom Of Israel after Solomon was because Solomon was taxing them too much. If he had machines then things would have been sweeter and this division could have been avoided.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rehoboam

Conventional Bible chronology dates the start of Rehoboam's reign to the mid 10th century BC. His reign is described in 1 Kings 12 and 14:21-31 and in 2 Chronicles 10-12 In the Hebrew Bible, Rehoboam was 41 years old when he ascended the throne. [2]

The United Kingdom of Solomon breaks up, with Jeroboam ruling over the Northern Kingdom of Israel (in green on the map).

The people, led by Jeroboam, feared that Rehoboam would continue to tax them heavily - as had his father Solomon. Jeroboam and the people promised their loyalty in return for lesser burdens. The older men counseled Rehoboam at least to speak to the people in a civil manner (it is not clear whether they counseled him to accept the demands). However, the new king sought the advice from the people he had grown up with, who advised the king to show no weakness to the people, and to tax them even more, which Rehoboam did. He proclaimed to the people,

Phizzy

I have amemory of the WT laughably claiming that Adam spoke Hebrew as it was the oldest language, and they may have even said that he wrote it !

I cannot be sure, this is all from my dodgy memory.

So far as I can see, Hebrew as a language did not exist in 4026 BCE when "Adam" is supposed to have been moulded from clay, and writing did not exist either.

The WT got it wrong again, there's a surprise.

What is the oldest language, Hebrew or Aramaic?

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