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TOP 10 languages that have been lost to history

Hunnic 

The Huns did not prioritize the preservation of their language through scripts or texts. However, it is known that many words in the Hunnic language were borrowed from Roman scholars. Despite the limited inscriptions and evidence of this language, experts are working to reconstruct Hunnic words and alphabets. There is a common belief that the Huns were connected to modern Hungarians, and some theories link them to the Xiongnu nomads, who were neighbors of the Han Chinese.

Dacian 

The Dacian language, known to have been extinct since the 6th or 7th century, was spoken by people living in Dacia, modern-day Romania. Only one inscription in the Dacian language survives, making it difficult for experts to decipher and translate. Dacian is believed to have links with Indo-European languages and is considered a dead branch in language.

Eteocretan 

The Eteocretan language, developed by the Minoans of Crete, an island in present-day Greece, is considered a Linear A language. It is also written in Cretan hieroglyphics. To this day, experts have been unable to trace or decipher anything related to this mysterious and dead language.

Harappan 

The language spoken by the people of the modern Indus Valley Civilization is known as the Harappan language, but its origins and when it disappeared from the world remain a mystery. Some experts have suggested connections between the Harappan language and Indo-European and Dravidian languages, but it is unclear which one it is closely related to. Like the Indus Valley civilization itself, the Harappan language left behind traces without any clear answers as to why it ceased to exist.

Meroitic 

Meroitic, also referred to as Kushitic, was the language spoken by the ancient Nubian civilization in present-day Sudan. While it was influenced by Egyptian culture, it was not entirely derived from the Egyptian language. The Kushites developed their own unique script, distinct from hieroglyphics or Demotic. Although the script was deciphered in 1911, translating the texts written in this language proved to be a challenge. Some scholars have also suggested connections between Meroitic and modern Sudanese languages.

Maypure 

Maypure was spoken by a tribe in the Orinoco Basin, which is now present-day Venezuela. Alexander von Humboldt prevented the language from completely dying out by learning some words and phrases from a Maco native. A rumor quickly spread that the Maypure language was extinct and that it was now only spoken by parrots who were descendants of the tribe. Conceptual artist Rachel Berwick even went as far as testing this rumor by attempting to teach the language to the parrots.

Etruscan 

The Etruscan language was widely spoken in central Italy, and the last known person to speak this language was Caesar Claudius, who also wrote and compiled the history of the Etruscans. Although not many texts were written in this language, the Etruscans developed their own alphabet based on Eubean Greek and their rich literary tradition, giving rise to the Etruscan language. When the Etruscans ruled over Latin, the word that comes from this language and is still used today is Rome.

Hattic 

The Hattic language was spoken by the Hattians living in the Anatolian plateau, which is present-day Turkey. With the invasion of the Indo-Europeans into Anatolia, the Hattians assimilated with them, leading to the loss of the Hattic language. Some experts believe that the Hattic language is related to other Caucasian languages like Abkhaz and Georgian. Due to the scarcity of texts written in the Hattic language, there is limited evidence to support its continued existence.

Iberian 

The history of the Iberian language in the Iberian Peninsula, encompassing present-day Spain and Portugal, is vague and unclear. It is believed that this language was not written in a single alphabet but had three different variants of a script derived from Phoenician. With the Roman conquest of the region, the Iberian language gradually disappeared, although some place names and words still bear similarities to the Spanish language.

Proto-indo Europen 

The Proto-Indo-European language, also known as PIE, is an extremely ancient language. Many phonemes in this language still cannot be pronounced by language experts worldwide. This language existed before the development of writing and its influence can be observed in numerous European languages today. Interestingly, it is believed that the Bengali language, along with other languages like Farsi, Russian, Albanian, and Kurdish, has also been influenced by PIE.