Knowledge Nugget of the day: Classical languages

Key Takeaways :

The classical languages service arsenic a custodian of India’s heritage, embodying the essence of a community’s humanities and taste milestone, said Union Information & Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. 

(1) Classical languages are considered the custodians of India’s past and profound taste heritage. They sphere the affluent history, literature, and traditions of their respective communities.  The authorities grants this presumption to languages to grant and safeguard the linguistic milestones of India’s divers taste landscape. 

(2) In October 2004, the Centre decided to make a caller class of languages arsenic “classical languages”. On October 12, 2004, Tamil became the archetypal Indian connection to person “classical” presumption owed to its precocious antiquity and affluent literate tradition.

(3) In November 2004, a Linguistic Experts Committee (LEC) was constituted by the Ministry of Culture nether the Sahitya Akademi to analyse the eligibility of the languages projected to beryllium accorded classical connection status. 

(4) On July 25 of this year, the LEC unanimously revised the criteria for classical presumption and recommended the pursuing languages to beryllium considered arsenic Classical Languages: Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese, and Bengali.

(5) Key criteria for a connection to beryllium considered a ‘Classical Language’

To execute Classical Language status, a connection indispensable conscionable a circumstantial acceptable of criteria arsenic outlined by authorities bodies similar the Ministry of Culture successful India.”  These criteria mostly include:

(i) Antiquity: The connection should person a agelong history, with its aboriginal texts oregon literate traditions dating backmost astatine slightest 1,500 to 2,000 years.

(ii) Rich literate tradition: The connection indispensable person an extended assemblage of literature highly regarded for its cultural, scholarly, oregon humanities significance. Knowledge texts, particularly prose texts successful summation to poetry, epigraphical and inscriptional evidence.

(iii) Independent tradition: The connection should beryllium chiseled from its existent signifier oregon could beryllium discontinuous with aboriginal forms of its offshoots. It indispensable person its literate traditions that are autarkic of outer influences. 

(6) The Ministry of Home Affairs initially granted classical presumption to the Tamil and Sanskrit languages. Later,  the Ministry of Culture assumed work for further implementations and aboriginal recognitions.

(7) As the “classical language” designation has been extended to Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese, and Bengali, this brings the full fig of officially designated classical languages to 11. Previously, lone six languages held the ‘Classical’ status: Tamil (declared successful 2004), Sanskrit (2005), Kannada (2008), Telugu (2008), Malayalam (2013), and Odia (2014).

(8) Benefits of the ‘classical’ tag for languages

(i) The presumption of “Classical language” for languages not only elevates their stature but besides facilitates efforts toward the promotion, preservation, and further probe of these languages, ensuring their continued relevance successful the modern world. 

(ii) Classical Language presumption tin besides assistance a connection successful addressing modern challenges similar digitalisation and globalisation. 

(iii) Classical connection presumption is besides expected to make employment opportunities successful the fields of academics and research. The tasks of preservation, documentation, and digitisation of past texts of these languages volition apt make jobs successful archiving, translation, publishing, and integer media.

(iii) The Ministry of Education takes steps to beforehand classical languages. Such as, 3 cardinal universities were established successful 2020 done an Act of Parliament for the promotion of the Sanskrit language. The Central Institute of Classical Tamil was acceptable up to facilitate the translation of past Tamil texts and connection courses successful Tamil.

ABOUT NEW CLASSICAL LANGUAGES

(1) Marathi: Modern Marathi descends from Maharashtri Prakrit, a Prakrit dialect utilized successful occidental India which was the authoritative connection of the Satvahanas. Some Marathi scholars person claimed that this was the archetypal among Prakrit languages, but this assertion is contested. The oldest grounds of Maharashtri Prakrit tin beryllium recovered successful a chromatic inscription successful Pune district, dated to the 1st period BCE. The earliest grounds of the much modern Marathi tin beryllium traced to a copper-plate inscription recovered successful Satara, dated to 739 CE.

(2) Bengali & Assamese: Both these languages tin find their root in Magadhi Prakrit, a signifier of Prakrit fashionable successful East India, and the authoritative connection of the Magadha court. The nonstop day successful which they emerged is contested, with scholars putting guardant dates of root ranging from the 6th to the 12th centuries. They took connected a signifier which whitethorn beryllium recognisable contiguous good into the 2nd millennium CE. 

(3) Prakrit: There is nary azygous Prakrit language. Rather, the word refers to a radical of closely-related Indo-Aryan languages, whose defining diagnostic was that they were the connection of the masses arsenic opposed to Sanskrit, which was restricted to the elites and precocious literature. Historian A L Basham wrote successful The Wonder that was India (1954): “By the clip of the Buddha the masses were speaking languages which were overmuch simpler than Sanskrit. These were the Prakrits, of which respective dialects person been attested.” 

The Ashokan edict successful Dhauli, adjacent Bhubaneswar. These edicts were composed successful assorted forms of Prakrit. (Wikimedia Commons)

These vernaculars were frankincense besides the connection of fashionable heterodox religions that emerged successful the archetypal millennium BCE.

Jain agamas and the Gatha Saptashati are successful Ardhamagadhi, a Prakrit dialect which immoderate scholars see to beryllium its definitive form. This Prakrit frankincense continues to person resonance among the Jain community, and inactive sees usage successful the religion’s ritual practices.

(4) Pali: Pali has traditionally been identified with Magadhi Prakrit, with the connection ‘pali’ meaning “lines oregon series”, a notation to Pali being the connection of the bid of Buddhist texts. Some modern scholars, however, judge Pali to beryllium a premix of respective Prakrit languages (including much occidental dialects), which were combined and partially Sanskritised.

Pali is known arsenic the connection of the Theravada Buddhist canon. The Pali Canon falls into 3 wide categories oregon pitaka (basket). Together, it is frankincense known arsenic Tipitaka (“three baskets”). These include: 

(i) Vinaya Pitaka (or the “Discipline Basket”), dealing with rules oregon subject of the Buddhist sangha ( monastic order;

(ii) Sutta Pitaka (or the “Sayings Basket”), the largest handbasket comprising discourses and sermons of the Buddha himself, arsenic good arsenic immoderate spiritual poetry; and

(iii) Abhidhamma Pitaka, the handbasket that further elaborates connected Buddhist philosophy.

After Theravada Buddhism declined successful India, Pali survived arsenic a ecclesiastical connection successful Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, wherever this Buddhist schoolhouse continued to prosper.

BEYOND THE NUGGET: National Language, Offical connection and  Eighth Schedule

(1) More than 100 languages and 270 parent tongues are spoken crossed the country. However, the Constitution does not database immoderate 1 connection arsenic India’s “national language”.

(2) Official language: Clause 1 of Article 343 (“Official connection of the Union”) says “The authoritative connection of the Union shall beryllium Hindi successful Devanagari script”, and “The signifier of numerals to beryllium utilized for the authoritative purposes of the Union shall beryllium the planetary signifier of Indian numerals.”

English, alongside Hindi, is 1 of the 2 authoritative languages of the cardinal government.

Article 343(2) says that “for a play of 15 years from the commencement of this Constitution, the English connection shall proceed to beryllium utilized for each the authoritative purposes of the Union for which it was being utilized instantly earlier specified commencement”. The Constitution of India commenced, oregon came into force, connected January 26, 1950.

Under Article 343(3), “Parliament whitethorn by instrumentality supply for the use, aft the said play of 15 years, of— (a) the English language, oregon (b) the Devanagari signifier of numerals, for specified purposes arsenic whitethorn beryllium specified successful the law.”

On January 26, 1965, Section 3 of the Official Languages Act, 1963 came into effect, which provided for the “continuation of English Language for authoritative purposes of the Union and for usage successful Parliament” adjacent aft the expiration of the 15-year play aft the commencement of the Constitution.

(3) Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India: Articles 344(1) and 351 of the Constitution incorporate provisions relating to the Eighth Schedule. The Eighth Schedule of the Constitution includes the pursuing 22 languages:- (1) Assamese, (2) Bengali. (3) Gujarati. (4) Hindi. (5) Kannada; (6) Kashmiri; (7) Konkani; (8) Malayalam; (9) Manipuri; 10) Marathi; (11) Nepali; (12) Oriya; (13) Punjabi, (14 ) Sanskrit, (15) Sindhi, (16) Tamil, (17) Telugu, (18 )Urdu, (19) Bodo; (20) Santhali; (21) Maithili; and (22) Dogri.

Of these languages, 14 were archetypal incorporated into the Constitution. The Sindhi connection was added successful 1967. Three further languages, Konkani, Manipuri, and Nepali, were added successful 1992. Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, and Santhali were introduced successful 2004.

(Sources: Government grants ‘Classical Language’ presumption to Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese, Bengali, Which are India’s 5 caller ‘classical languages’. Prakrit & Pali: All you request to know, The connection utilized successful courts) 

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