Sanskrit and Latin are considered to be the ancient languages of the world.
Sanskrit,
is considered to be the liturgical language of India,the language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism,and the mother of Proto-Indo-Iranian and Proto-Indo-European lanuage group.
With Thirty Million Manuscripts existing even today,Sanskrit is the oldest Language of the world and the Rig Veda which is in Sanskrit is the oldest literature of the world.
There is a view that the Hitti Language is older than Sanskrit.
Not so.
I shall be posting on this an article(‘ https://ramanan50.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/thirty-million-manuscripts-700-poetic-meters-amazing-sanskrit/)
‘
The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and in the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three without believing them to have sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists.’ william Jones.
Number Sanskrit Latin Greek 1 éka unus mono- 2 dvá duo di- 3 trí tres tri- 4 catúr quattuor tetra- 5 páñca quinque 6 sás sex hexa- 7 saptá septem hepta- 8 astá octo octa- 9 náva novem ennea- 10 dása decem deca-
Western scholars date it to 2nd millennium BCE (for Rig-vedic)
( there are primary classifications,Vedic and Post Vedic.
Latin.
Old Latin, also known as Early Latin and Archaic Latin, refers to the Latin language in the period before 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin.[2] In New and Contemporary Latin, it is called prisca Latinitas (“ancient Latin”) rather than vetus Latina (“old Latin”) as the latter is used to refer to a set of Biblical texts.(wiki)
But Sanskrit was used during the period of Ramayana and the language was in use much earlier as the Vedas were learnt during Ramayana.
Hence it should predate Ramayana at least by 2000 yeas to attain the level of maturity.
And the Rig veda is dated to 5000 BC and it recorded as the oldest literature of Humans.
Now Rama date is 5114 BC.
”
Luv and Kush grew in his ashram as his disciples. We need to be proud of the fact that Valmiki was perhaps the first great astronomer and that his study of planetary configurations has stood the test of times. Even the latest computer softwares have corroborated his astronomical calculations, which proves that he did not commit any error.
Shabri is stated to be belonging to the Bhil tribe. Shri Rams’ army, which succeeded in defeating Ravana, was formed by various tribes from Central and South India.
Taking into account these details the Birth date of Lord Rama is January 10 in the year 5114 BC.
(Ramayana Lord Rama’s Exile Date and other details .
(https://ramanan50.wordpress.com/2012/04/05/ramayana-lord-ramas-exile-date-and-other-details/)
Hence Sanskrit dates to at least 7000 BC.
Therefore Sanskrit is older than Latin.
Wait, there is some more information.
Tamil.
Tamil /ˈtæmɪl/[10] (தமிழ், tamiḻ, [t̪ɐmɨɻ] ?) also spelt Tamizh is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people ofTamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. It has official status in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu,[11] Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Tamil is also an official and national language of Sri Lanka[12] and one of the official languages of Singapore.[13] It is legalised as one of the languages of medium of education in Malaysia along with English, Malay and Mandarin.[14][15] It is also chiefly spoken in the states of Kerala, Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands as a secondary language and by minorities in Karnataka & Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and was the first Indian language to be declared a classical language by the Government of India in 2004. Tamil is also spoken by significant minorities inMalaysia, England, Mauritius, Canada,[16] South Africa,[17] Fiji,[18] Germany,[19] Philippines, United States, Netherlands,Indonesia,[20] Réunion and France as well as emigrant communities around the world.
Tamil is one of the longest surviving classical languages in the world.[21][22] 2,200-year-old Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been found on Samanamalai It has been described as “the only language of contemporary India which is recognizably continuous with a classical past.
The fact that Tamil Kings were mentioned in the Ramayana and Mahabharata would enable one to date tamil around, again 7000 BC, at a conservative estimate.
”
The archaeological finds from Attirappakkam northeast of Chennai evidences the existence of Tamils about a million years ago!
“The prehistoric period during which Lower Paleolithic settlements existed in the Tamil Nadu region has been estimated to span the period from about 1,510,000 BCE[1] until around 3000 BCE.[2] For most part of the lower Paleolithic stage, humans lived close to river valleys with sparse forest cover or in grassland environments. The population density was very low and so far only two localities of this lower Palaeolithic culture have been found insouth India. One of these is in Attirampakkam valley in the northwest of Chennai in Tamil Nadu.[3] Archaeological research has uncovered evidence of fossil remains of animals and primitive stone implements around the northern Tamil Nadu that could be dated to belong to around 3000,000 BCE.[citation needed]Humans inSouth India, belonging to the species of Homo erectus, lived in this primitive ‘old stone age’ (Palaeolithic) for quite a long time, using only crude implements such as hand axes and choppers and subsisting as hunter-gatherers“(wiki)
The Tamil History based on this, Tamil Literature,Sanskrit Literature and Arikkamedu findings,Puducherry is between 15,000 BCE to 10,000 BCE.
Such an old civilization quotes Sanskrit and Vedic Literature .
But we are dating the Vedas around 5000 BC.
If the Sangam period , Muthal Sangam, at 500 BC is true, how is it that the Purana, which are earlier by at least by 4000 years, quote Tamils, Tamil Kings?
( https://ramanan50.wordpress.com/2013/12/27/million-year-old-tamil-quotes-vedas-they-quote-tamil/)
People who call themselves scholars conveniently overlook these facts in assigning dates to Tamil and Sanskrit.
It would be fair to state, based on the available evidence that,
Sanskrit and Tamil date earlier to Latin and
as to the question “Which one is earlier, Tamil or Sanskrit?’,
I am unable to establish on the basis of available evidence as each language quotes the other.
One might state that , as of now, that Sanskrit and Tamil are the oldest languages of Humans .
References.
http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/sanskrit.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Latin
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