Classical Languages

The Minister for Culture and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja has said that the criteria for declaration of a language as a Classical Language are as under :

(i) High antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1500-2000 years;

(ii) A body of ancient literature/texts, which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers;

(iii) The literary tradition should be original and not borrowed from another speech community;

(iv) The classical language and literature being distinct from modern, there may also be a discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or its offshoots.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today Kumari Selja said, Classical Language status has already been conferred upon Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu and Kannada. Subsequently, a Memorandum on this subject was submitted by a delegation led by the then Chief Minister of Kerala to Prime Minister in May, 2010. Another memorandum which, inter alia, requests for giving the status of classical language to Malayalam has been received from the present Chief Minister of the State in August, 2012. The Report of the Committee of Linguistic Experts on the subject of according Malayalam classical status is under consideration of the Government.

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