Which language did Objective-C borrow its object model from?

Objective-C borrowed its object model from Smalltalk.

Objective-C was created in the early 1980s by Brad Cox and Tom Love. Its design added Smalltalk-style object-oriented messaging to the C programming language. This combination gave developers C’s low-level capabilities while providing dynamic object-oriented features.

Smalltalk influenced Objective-C’s use of message sending, dynamic dispatch, and runtime behavior. Objective-C did not simply copy the whole Smalltalk language; instead, it integrated selected ideas into a language whose base syntax and compilation model came from C.

Objective-C became especially important in Apple software development. Apple adopted it for NeXTSTEP and later used it extensively for macOS and iOS programming. Swift eventually became Apple’s preferred modern language, but Objective-C remains part of Apple’s frameworks and legacy codebases.