3 lesser known languages from around the world 

Can you imagine a world without language? Well, our ancestors communicated through hand gestures and funny vocal noises in the past, well before civilizations, kingdoms, and social standards were established by us. Then, only about 10,000 years ago, the notion of languages originated, altering the history of mankind forever. Usage of language literally skyrocketed evolution of the human race and got us to where we are today.  

Now, it is practically impossible to say precisely how many languages exist in the world! However, an estimate puts the total number of languages spoken globally at around 6809. Have you wondered what was the first language? Well, Sumerian is considered as the world's first language. The Kish tablet, a large stone found during excavation in modern-day Iraq, has the earliest evidence of Sumerian language engravings, dating back to about 3500 BC. Next, Sanskrit, the sacred language of Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism, is an old Indo-Aryan language found in Vedas, the ancient documents whose origin dates back to 1500 BC. Third comes Tamil, belonging to the Dravidians, dating back to the 500 BC. Let's explore three such ancient, yet lesser-known languages in the world.  

Basque 
Basque language, also known as Euskara or Euskera, is one of the oldest language spoken, dating back to first to second centuries BC. It persisted through Europe long before the entrance of Roman languages in obscure parts of this region. Few people who live in Spain and France are native speakers of Basque. However, it has nothing to do with French, Spanish, or any other European language.  

Today, Basque is primarily spoken in about 10,000 square kilometers of area in Spain and France. The Basque region of Spain includes the provinces of Guipzcoa, Vizcaya (Biscay), and Navarra (Navarre), as well as a small portion of Lava. In addition, the western portion of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department serves as the geographic center of the French Basque country. 

However, other parts of Europe and the Americas also have sizable populations of Basque speakers. Although there are limited numbers now, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, it was thought that there were close to one million Basque speakers, and the majority were bilingual. 

Lithuanian 
Lithuanian language, known as Lithuanian Lietuviu Kalba, is an East Baltic language closely related to Latvian, primarily spoken in Lithuania. It has been the country’s official language since 1918 and is regarded as one of the earliest languages known to humanity. Lithuanian language is a part of the Indo-European language family, which is the origin of modern German, Italian, and English. Interestingly, Sanskrit, Latin, and Ancient Greek are closely related to Lithuanian!  

The unique feature of this language is that unlike all Baltic languages, Lithuanian has retained many of the Proto-Indo-European language's archaic traits. It has preserved the sounds and grammatical elements of the old language. Today, Lithuanian is one of the official languages of the European Union as well as of the Republic of Lithuania. Moreover, language laws and specialized institutions safeguard it. 

Farsi 
The Persian language Farsi belongs to the Indo-Iranian language family's Iranian branch. It is the official language of modern-day Iran. Modern Persian is closely linked to Old Persian, the old languages of the Fārs (Persia); thus, called Fārsī by native speakers. A large monument to Persian ruler Darius I, the third King of the Achaemenid Empire (559–330 BC), erected in Bīsitūn, Iran, is one of many cuneiform inscriptions that testify the use of Old Persian, until third century BC. Numerous epigraphic inscriptions of Sasanian kings (Sassanian Iranian dynasty from 224–651 AD) written in Aramaic script show Middle Persian, a language spoken from the third century BC until the ninth century AD.