Cantonese and Mandarin are both Sinitic languages. This means they share a common ancestor, which linguists call Old Chinese.
* Old Chinese was the language of the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) and beyond.
* Both Cantonese and Mandarin evolved from Old Chinese.
So, they are both "ancient" in the sense that they stem from the same root.
However, it's not accurate to say one is more ancient than the other. Here's why:
* Different dialects evolve at different rates. Some features of Old Chinese survived longer in Cantonese, while others survived longer in Mandarin.
* The word "ancient" in language can be misleading. Both languages have been evolving continuously for centuries.
In summary:
* Cantonese and Mandarin are both ancient languages, descended from Old Chinese.
* There's no clear winner in a "which is older" debate. They both represent different paths of evolution from a common ancestor.
It's more accurate to think of Cantonese and Mandarin as different branches of the same linguistic family. They share a history, but their development paths have diverged over time.