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Union Cabinet approves classical language status for five Languages

Posted 04 Oct 2024

2 min read

Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali were accorded Classical Language status.

  • The primary states involved are Maharashtra (Marathi), Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh (Pali and Prakrit), West Bengal (Bengali), and Assam (Assamese).

About Classical Language

  • Genesis: Created in 2004
  • Linguistic Experts Committee (LEC): In 2004, it was constituted by the Ministry of Culture under the Sahitya Akademi. 
    • Its mandate is to examine the eligibility of the languages proposed to be accorded classical language status.   
  • Criteria for inclusion (instituted in 2004 and revised by LEC in 2024)
    • 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.
  • Languages and year of inclusion: Tamil (2004), Sanskrit (2005), Telugu and Kannada (2008), Malayalam (2013) and Odia (2014). 

 

About New Classical languages:

  • Marathi: Earliest poetry and prose is byJnaneshwar who wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita
  • Prakrit: It is a colloquial language. Ashoka’s inscriptions have used Prākṛt along with Pali. Gāthā Sattasai is written in prakrit 
  • Pali: Buddhist philosophical works like Dhammapada and stories like Jātaka Tales are in Pali.
  • Assamese: Shankardev’s Vaishnavite poetries
  • Bengali: Poet-saints Sri Chaitanyadeva produced literary masterpieces in Bengali, and Rabindranath Tagore’s Geetanjali received Nobel Prize.
  • Tags :
  • Sahitya Akademi
  • Classical Languages
  • Linguistic Experts Committee
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