Proto-Indo European

In many of my posts on etymology I have spoken about Proto-Indo European, the language from the end of the last Ice Age which has given rise to almost all the tongues across Europe, the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent. I thought it about time I posted an image of the language family tree with Proto-Indo-European at the hub. I say an image, because having tried to explain it in writing several times, the visual image is undoubtedly much easier to understand. Actually a number of images, because the complexity requires a number of different angles on that tree.

That covers the spoken word, but it is worthwhile mentioning the written word, especially as Proto-Indo-European had no written form. The oldest written language, with the earliest known records, is generally considered to be Sumerian, a language spoken in Mesopotamia around 3500 BC. While Sumerian is no longer spoken, its written form is the earliest evidence of a language system in existence. Other contenders for the title of oldest language, including those still spoken today, include Egyptian and Tamil, which also have documented histories dating back thousands of years.