Study shows world spoke tens of thousands more languages in antiquity than today

Humankind may have spoken tens of thousands of different languages during antiquity, a stark contrast to the roughly 7,500 languages in use today, according to a new study. Researchers employed mathematical modeling, drawing on insights from anthropology, linguistics, and demography, to estimate language numbers dating back approximately 12,000 years to the end of the last Ice Age.

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Languages are meaningful to their communities. They carry knowledge, associations and memories.

The study identified a period spanning the first millennium BC and the first millennium AD as a linguistic "golden age." During this time, the number of distinct languages spoken worldwide is estimated to have peaked, potentially ranging from 30,000 to over 75,000 at any given time. This era saw the rise and evolution of numerous language families, with written language eventually emerging in various regions.

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There's no direct evidence for language numbers until very recently. We cannot rely on the extremely patchy records from antiquity. But because we know a lot about the relationships between languages and societies, we can use a couple of assumptions to make a simulation model of language diversification through time.

However, the research charts a significant decline since this peak. The expansion of large empires in antiquity and European colonialism over the past several centuries are identified as key drivers of language replacement. Claire Bowern, a lead researcher and professor at Yale University, emphasized that "Languages are meaningful to their communities. They carry knowledge, associations and memories."

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The people who speak that language are killed or the people who speak that language shift or are forced to shift to another language.

Estimates suggest that around 12,000 years ago, dispersed nomadic hunter-gatherer populations spoke perhaps 4,500 to 6,200 languages. The study highlights the fragility of linguistic diversity, noting that about half of the languages used today are considered endangered. Bowern pointed out the concentration of speakers, stating, "90% of the world's population speaks 10% of the world's languages, so there are many languages with small numbers of speakers."

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90% of the world's population speaks 10% of the world's languages, so there are many languages with small numbers of speakers.