CLASSICAL LANGUAGES

For a language to attain Classical Language status, it must fulfill a set of criteria established by government agencies like the Ministry of Culture in India. These criteria typically include:

• Antiquity: The language should have a long historical background, with early literary texts or traditions dating back at least 1,500 to 2,000 years.
• Rich literary tradition: The language must possess a significant body of literature, valued for its cultural, scholarly, or historical importance. This includes prose and poetic works, as well as epigraphical and inscriptional evidence.
• Independent tradition: The language should have a distinct literary tradition, separate from its current or later forms, and independent of external influences.

Initially, the Ministry of Home Affairs granted classical status to Tamil and Sanskrit. Subsequently, the Ministry of Culture took over the task of managing future recognitions and implementations.

5. Benefits fo Classical Languages

• Granting a language Classical Language status not only enhances its prestige but also supports initiatives aimed at promoting, preserving, and researching the language, ensuring its continued relevance in today's world.
• The recognition can also help the language tackle modern challenges such as digitalization and globalization.
• Classical Language status is expected to open up job opportunities in academic and research sectors. The processes of preservation, documentation, and digitization of ancient texts could create employment in areas such as archiving, translation, publishing, and digital media.
• The Ministry of Education actively promotes classical languages. For instance, in 2020, three central universities were established by an Act of Parliament to promote the Sanskrit language. Additionally, the Central Institute of Classical Tamil was created to assist with the translation of ancient Tamil texts and to offer courses in Tamil

6.New Classical Languages

• Marathi: Modern Marathi has its roots in Maharashtri Prakrit, a dialect spoken in western India and used as the official language by the Satvahanas. Some Marathi scholars argue that this was the earliest Prakrit language, though this is debated. The oldest evidence of Maharashtri Prakrit is a stone inscription from Pune district dating back to the 1st century BCE, while the earliest record of modern Marathi comes from a copper-plate inscription found in Satara, dated to 739 CE
• Bengali & Assamese: These languages trace their origins to Magadhi Prakrit, a dialect prominent in East India and the official language of the Magadha court. The precise period of their emergence is disputed, with scholars suggesting dates between the 6th and 12th centuries. They evolved into forms recognizable today only in the later part of the second millennium CE
• Prakrit: Rather than a single language, Prakrit refers to a group of related Indo-Aryan languages spoken by the masses, in contrast to Sanskrit, which was reserved for elites and high literature. Historian A.L. Basham noted in his book The Wonder that was India (1954) that by the time of the Buddha, people were speaking simpler languages compared to Sanskrit, and these were the Prakrits, with several dialects being documented
• Pali: Traditionally associated with Magadhi Prakrit, the term 'Pali' means "lines or series," referring to its use in Buddhist texts. Some modern scholars believe Pali is a mixture of various Prakrit languages, including some western dialects, with elements of Sanskrit. Pali is recognized as the language of the Theravada Buddhist canon, known as the Tipitaka ("three baskets"), which includes:

(i) Vinaya Pitaka: The "Discipline Basket," addressing the rules for the Buddhist monastic order (sangha).

(ii) Sutta Pitaka: The "Sayings Basket," the largest section containing Buddha's discourses, sermons, and religious poetry.

(iii) Abhidhamma Pitaka: The section that delves deeper into Buddhist philosophy