Here's why:
* Language Evolution: Languages constantly evolve over time. What we consider a "language" today might have been a dialect or a group of related dialects in the past. Tracing language origins is a complex process with many uncertainties.
* Lack of Written Records: Many ancient languages existed before written records were developed. This makes it difficult to track their evolution and compare them to modern languages.
* Multiple "First" Languages: It's likely that several languages developed independently around the same time, making it impossible to pinpoint a single "first" language.
What we do know:
* The Indo-European Language Family: This family is thought to be one of the oldest and most widespread, with origins possibly in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe around 4500-2500 BCE. Languages like English, Spanish, Hindi, and Russian belong to this family.
* The Proto-Sino-Tibetan Language: This is another candidate for an early language, with origins possibly in the Yangtze River Valley around 4000 BCE. Chinese and Tibetan are part of this family.
* The Basque Language: This language, spoken in the Pyrenees region of Europe, is considered a language isolate, meaning it is not related to any other known language family. It's thought to be one of the oldest languages in Europe, possibly dating back to the Paleolithic period.
In Conclusion: While we can identify some of the oldest language families and isolates, it's impossible to definitively declare a single "first language" due to the complex and often undocumented history of language evolution.