Genesis 11:1

One language. Literally, “one lip and one kind of words,” indicating not only one language understood by all but the absence of differences in dialect as well. Pronunciation and vocabulary were the same among all men. Unity of language goes with unity of descent, and a common language does much to promote unity of thought and action. Modern research in comparative grammar has demonstrated conclusively that all known languages are related and that they have descended from one common original. The question as to whether any known language resembles that original speech cannot be answered. It is possible, even probable, that one of the Semitic tongues, such as Hebrew or Aramaic, is similar to the language men spoke before the confusion of tongues. Personal names of the period preceding the confusion of tongues, as far as they can be interpreted, make sense only if considered to be originally Semitic. The record containing these names, the book of Genesis, is written in Hebrew, a Semitic tongue, by a Semite author, and for Semitic readers. It is therefore possible, although unlikely, that Moses translated these names from an original language unknown to his readers, into Hebrew names that would have meaning for them.