Sumerian language is the language of Sumerians in the two river basins of ancient West Asia. Its writing form is one of the oldest characters-cuneiform. In about 4000 BC, Sumerians created hieroglyphics, which developed into cuneiform characters in about 3000 BC. It was first designed by temple administrators for bookkeeping and note-taking, and then gradually developed into a set of phonetic systematic characters. The phonology consists of four vowels and 16 consonants. Each symbol represents one or several syllables. Most of them are monosyllabic words, which need to be distinguished by tone. Loose structure and semi-combination, clauses and even whole sentences are often combined into compound verbs. Before 2000 BC, it was replaced by Akkadian (Assyrian, Babylonian). Akkadian was only used as spoken language, but its written form was used around the beginning of the era.

Chinese name: Sumerian speakers: Sumerian status: the oldest known ways to preserve human characters: clay tablets, sculptures, etc. Sumerians invented a hieroglyph, which was later developed into cuneiform. This is the oldest known human writing. Today, hundreds of thousands of Sumerian objects have been excavated, most of which are carved on clay tablets. These include personal and business letters, remittances, cookbooks, encyclopedias, laws, hymns, prayers, spells and scientific articles including mathematics, astronomy and medicine. Many large buildings, such as large sculptures, are also engraved with words. Multiple versions of many articles have been preserved because they are often copied (for example, as writing exercises). Copying was the only way for people to spread articles at that time. After Sumerians became the rulers of Mesopotamia, Sumerian remained the language of religion and law. Even experts find it difficult to understand Sumerian writing. Especially the early Sumerian characters are very difficult, because they usually do not contain all grammatical structures.