* No written records: Languages developed long before the invention of writing. We can only speculate about the nature of early languages based on clues from linguistics and archaeology.
* Evolution, not a single origin: Languages are constantly evolving, with new languages emerging from older ones. There wasn't a single point in history when a "first language" appeared.
* Language families: Linguists classify languages into families based on shared features, suggesting common ancestors. However, tracing these families back to a single ultimate origin is incredibly difficult.
What we can say:
* Early human communication: Our ancestors likely used a combination of gestures, sounds, and proto-language (basic communication systems) before fully developed languages.
* The "Proto-World" hypothesis: Some linguists theorize that all languages descend from a single ancestral language, sometimes referred to as "Proto-World." However, there's no concrete evidence to support this.
* The importance of reconstruction: Linguists study the relationships between languages and use techniques to reconstruct earlier forms. This allows us to get glimpses of how languages evolved over time.
While we can't pinpoint the "earliest language," the study of language evolution continues to provide fascinating insights into human history and the development of communication.