Dates

Question 1

Anatolian languages from oldest to youngest; Hittite, Palaic, Luwian, Hiero Luwian, Lycian, Lydian.

Answer 1

1. Hittite: 17th–13th century BCE
2. Palaic: 14th–13th century BCE
3. Luwian: 14th–13th century BCE
4. Hieroglyphic Luwian: from 15th century BCE
5. Lycian: 5th–4th century BCE
6. Lydian: 7th–4th century BCE

Question 2

Indic (“Indo-Aryan”) languages from oldest to youngest

Answer 2

Sanskrit: Vedic, transmitted orally from ca. 1200–1000 BCE; oldest written texts from the 2nd century CE; oldest written Indic texts (Prakrit) from the 3rd century BCE

Question 3

Iranian languages from oldest to youngest; Avestan, Old Persian

Answer 3

1. Avestan: orally transmitted from ca. 1000 BCE; oldest written texts from the early centuries CE
2. Old Persian: inscriptions from 6th–4th century BCE
3. Middle Iranian: Middle Persian (Pahlavi), Sogdian, Khotanese Saka, etc.
4. Modern Iranian: Persian, Kurdish, Pashto, Ossetic, etc.

Question 4

Italic languages from oldest to youngest; Latin, Faliscan, Oscan, Umbrian, Venetic

Answer 4

1. Latin: from 7th century BCE
2. Umbrian: from 7th century BCE
3. Oscan: from 6th century BCE
4. Venetic: 6th–1st century BCE (perhaps)
5. Faliscan: 3rd–2nd century BCE

Question 5

Greek languages from oldest to youngest

Answer 5

1. Mycenaean: 14th century BCE
   Inscriptions and literature from the 8th century BCE (Homer)

Question 6

Celtic, Continental Celtic languages from oldest to youngest; Gaulish, Lepontic, Celtiberian

Answer 6

1. Gaulish: inscriptions from ca. 200 BCE to 200 CE
2. Lepontic: inscriptions from 5th–1st century BCE
3. Celtiberian: inscriptions from 2nd–1st century BCE

Question 7

Celtic, Insular Celtic languages from oldest to youngest

Answer 7

1. Irish: Old Irish inscriptions from 400, literature from the 7th century CE
2. Brittonic: Welsh (from 8th century), Breton (from 8th century), Cornish (9th–18th century)

Question 8

Germanic languages from oldest to youngest

Answer 8

Runic inscriptions from ca. 150 CE

1. East Germanic: Gothic (Bible translation of Wulfila, 4th century CE)
2. North Germanic: Old Norse, Old Icelandic (runic inscriptions, literature from 13th century CE)
3. West Germanic: Old English (after ca. 700 CE), Old High German (from 8th century CE), Old Saxon (from 9th century CE)

Question 9

Baltic languages from oldest to youngest

Answer 9

1. Old Prussian: 14th–17th century CE
2. Lithuanian: from 16th century CE
3. Latvian: from 16th century CE

Question 10

Slavic

Answer 10

1. Old Church Slavonic: from 10th century CE
2. East Slavic: Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian
3. West Slavic: Czech, Slovak, Polish, Upper Sorbian, Lower Sorbian
4. South Slavic: Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian/Montenegrin, Slovenian, Macedonian, Bulgarian

Question 11

Armenian

Answer 11

Attested from the 5th century CE

Question 12

Tocharian

Answer 12

Tocharian A: 8th–9th century CE
Tocharian B: 6th–9th century CE

Question 13

Albanian

Answer 13

Attested from the 15th century CE

Question 14

Phrygian

Answer 14

Phrygian: Old Phrygian inscriptions from the 8th–4th century BCE; New Phrygian from the 2nd–3rd century CE

Question 15

Messapian

Answer 15

Inscriptions from the 5th century BCE