Table of Contents
- 1 Which is the first Indian language to be given a classical language status?
- 2 Who gives classical language status in India?
- 3 What is classical language status?
- 4 Which language got classical status?
- 5 Which is the longest surviving classical language of India?
- 6 Which Indian languages qualify for the UNESCO World Heritage List?
Which is the first Indian language to be given a classical language status?
Tamil
The first language to be accorded with that status is Tamil. Tamil was declared classical language back in 2004. As per Schedule VIII of the Constitution of India, 22 languages have been recognised as Scheduled languages.
Who gives classical language status in India?
In the year 2004, it was decided by the Government of India to declare Indian Languages meeting certain requirements as “Classical language” and Tamil was declared as a Classical Language by the Government of India in June 2004.
What are the classical languages by Unesco?
They are classical Chinese, Sanskrit, Arabic, Greek, and Latin. In comparison with these, even such culturally important languages as Hebrew and French sink into a secondary position.
Why is Tamil a classical language?
In 2004 Tamil was declared a classical language of India, meaning that it met three criteria: its origins are ancient; it has an independent tradition; and it possesses a considerable body of ancient literature. The earliest Tamil writing is attested in inscriptions and potsherds from the 5th century bce.
What is classical language status?
The criteria adopted by the government to determine the eligibility of a language for classical status includes its recorded history over a period of 1500-2000 years, body of ancient literature, whether its literary tradition is original and not borrowed from another speech community and other yardsticks.
Which language got classical status?
“So far, Tamil, Telugu, Sanskrit, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia have been given the status of classical languages.
What makes Tamil a classical language?
According to Wikipedia, Tamil has been described as ‘the only language of contemporary India which is recognisably continuous with a classical past’. This is what makes the beautiful language a classical one. The literature is one of the oldest and has existed for over 2000 years.
How many classical languages are there in India?
Currently, six languages enjoy the ‘Classical’ status: Tamil, Sanskrit, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, and Odia.
Which is the longest surviving classical language of India?
Tamil is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world. A. K. Ramanujan described it as “the only language of contemporary India which is recognizably continuous with a classical past.”.
Which Indian languages qualify for the UNESCO World Heritage List?
Among the Indian languages, only Tamil and Sanskrit strictly qualify the interpreted criteria. While Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Odia have also Classical language status accorded by the Sahitya Academy, but not UNESCO. The reasons in Tamil’s favour.