Classical Language : In News
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister of India has approved to confer the status of Classical Language to Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali languages.
- The recognition of a classical language is based on criteria established by a Linguistic Experts Committee.
- According to the committee, the following revised benchmarks must be met for a language to be considered “classical”:
- High antiquity of (its) early texts/recorded history over a period of 1500- 2000 years.
- A body of ancient literature/texts, which is considered a heritage by generations of speakers.
Knowledge texts, especially prose texts in addition to poetry, epigraphical and inscriptional evidence. - The Classical Languages and literature could be distinct from its current form or could be discontinuous with later forms of its offshoots.
- Other Recognised Classical Languages are: Tamil ( 2004), Sanskrit (2005), Telugu( 2008), Kannada (2008), Malayalam( 2013) and Odia (2014).
