Classical language

A classical language is a language with a literature that is classical. According to UC Berkeley linguist George L. Hart, "it should be ancient, it should be an independent tradition that arose mostly on its own, not as an offshoot of another tradition, and it must have a large and extremely rich body of ancient literature."^[1]

Classical languages are typically dead languages, or show a high degree of diglossia, as the spoken varieties of the language diverge further away from the classical written language over time.

18th century thinkers

During the 18th century conjectural history, based on a mix of linguistics and anthropology, on the topic of both the origin and progress of language and society was fashionable. These thinkers contributed to the construction of academic paradigms in which some languages were labelled "primitive" relative to the English language. Within this paradigm a primitive people could be discerned by their primitive language, as in the case of Hugh Blair who argued that Native Americans gesticulated wildly to compensate for poor lexicon of their primitive language. Around the same time, James Burnett authored a 6 volume treatise that delved more deeply into the matter of "savage languages". Other writers theorized that Native American languages were "nothing but the natural and instinctive cries of the animal" without grammatical structure. The thinkers within this paradigm connected themselves with the Greeks and Romans, viewed as the only civilized persons of the ancient world, a view articulated by Thomas Sheridan who compiled an important 18th century pronunciation dictionary: "It was to the care taken in the cultivation of their languages, that Greece and Rome, owed that splendor, which eclipsed all the other nations of the world".^[2]

Decline of classics education

Ancient Greek and Latin classics departments are not able to compete with fields like medicine, business or engineering in the present day. The classics department at SUNY Albany has closed and in 2009 the Latin literature AP exam was discontinued. At the university level, classics programs are often the first to be cut when the budget tightens. Classics education in the United States had a healthy start in the 18th century; back then Latin and sometimes Greek were required courses, and sometimes even prerequisites for admission. The tradition of education in classics, meaning ancient Greek and Latin language literature, goes back to the Middle Ages. Despite early efforts to expand access to classics education to freed African Americans, and women (who were taught Latin was alongside needlework in the antebellum South), prominent figures like Benjamin Franklin criticized the heavy focus on classics in education. In 1828, Yale University responded to a Connecticut State Legislature request for removal of Greek/Latin language proficiency as an admission requirement: “The models of ancient literature which are put into the hands of the young student, can hardly fail to imbue his mind with the principles of liberty, to inspire the liveliest patriotism, and to excite [him] to noble and generous action, and are therefore peculiarly adapted to the American youth.” Up until the 1850s, Latin remained the largest department at the University of Virginia.^[3]

Classical languages

Some languages are have a "classical" stage that is limited in time. The stage is considered "classical" if it comes to be regarded as a literary "golden age" retrospectively.^{[citation needed]} Thus, Classical Greek is the language of 5th to 4th century BC Athens and, as such, only a small subset of the varieties of the Greek language as a whole. A "classical" period usually corresponds to a flowering of literature following an "archaic" period, such as Classical Latin succeeding Old Latin, Classical Sumerian succeeding Archaic Sumerian, Classical Sanskrit succeeding Vedic Sanskrit, Classical Persian succeeding Old Persian. This is partly a matter of terminology, and for example Old Chinese is taken to include rather than precede Classical Chinese. In some cases, such as those of Arabic and Tamil, the "classical" stage corresponds to the earliest attested literary variant.^[4]

Antiquity

Classical Sumerian (literary language of Sumer, c. 26th to 23rd centuries BC)
Middle Egyptian (literary language of Ancient Egypt from c. the 20th century BC to the 4th century AD)
Old Babylonian (The Akkadian language from c. 20th to 16th centuries BC, the imitated standard for later literary works)
Middle Assyrian (The Akkadian language from c. 16th to 13th centuries BC)
Vedic Sanskrit (The form of Sanskrit before Classical standardization was used in Vedic texts from c. 15th to 10th centuries BC)
Classical Hebrew (the language of the Tanakh, in particular of the prophetic books of c. the 7th and 6th centuries BC)
Classical Aramaic (the administrative language of the Achaemenid Empire, 6th to 4th centuries BC)
Classical Chinese (based on the literary language of the Zhou Dynasty from c. the 5th century BC)
Classical Greek (Attic dialect of the 5th century BC)
Classical Sanskrit (later described by Pāṇini's Ashtadhyayi, but used since c. 8th century BC in post-Vedic texts)^[5] ^[6]
Classical Tamil (Sangam literature c. 2nd century BC to 2nd century AD, defined by Tolkāppiyam)^[7]
Classical Pali (Buddhist Canon used this language from 2nd centuries BC)
Classical Latin (literary language of the 1st century BC)
Classical Mandaic (literary Aramaic of Mandaeism, 1st century AD)
Classical Syriac (literary Aramaic of the Syriac Christianity, 3rd to 5th centuries)
Middle Persian (court language of the Sassanid Empire, 3rd to 7th centuries)
Classical Coptic (language of Egypt and the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, 3rd to 13th centuries, liturgical language to the present day)

Middle Ages

Ge'ez (language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Garima Gospels are dated from the 5th century to the 10th century by various scholars)
Classical Armenian (oldest attested form of Armenian from the 5th century and literary language until the 18th century)
Classical Arabic (based on the language of the Qur'an, 7th century to present)
Classical Kannada (court language of Rashtrakuta empire, earliest available literary work is the Kavirājamārga of 850 AD)^[8]
Old Saxon (language of Saxon Christian literature, 9th to 12th centuries)
Old Javanese, (from the 9th century to 15th century)
Old English (language of Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle with many divergent written dialects, but partially standardized in West Saxon form)
Classical Georgian (language of the Georgian Golden Age, 9th to 12th centuries)
Old East Slavic (language of the Kievan Rus', 9th to 13th centuries)
Angkorian Old Khmer (language of the Khmer Empire, 9th to 14th centuries)
New Persian (language of classical Persian literature, 9th to present)
Old Nubian (language of Nubia, 9th or 10th to 15th centuries)
Old Bulgarian (language of the First Bulgarian Empire during its Golden Age, 10th century, earliest manuscript is Freising manuscripts)
Classical Tibetan (religious and literary language of Tibet, 10th century to present)
Classical Japanese (language of Heian period literature, 10th to 12th centuries)
Classical Occitan (language of the troubadours, 11th to 14th centuries)
Classical Tagalog (Language of the Mai State, Kingdom of Tondo, central and entire Southern Luzon during the Classical Period-c 900 AD-14th century)^[9]
Middle High German (language of Medieval German literature, 11th to 14th centuries)
Old Serbian (language of Serbia before its conquest by the Ottoman Empire, 11th to 14th centuries)
Classical Telugu (The earliest available literary work is the Telugu Mahabharata, 1067 AD)
Classical Malayalam (The earliest extant prose work is the Ramacharitam, 12th century)^[10]
Old Norse (language of the Viking Age, from the 12th century)
Middle Bulgarian (language of the Second Bulgarian Empire, 12th to 15th centuries)
Middle Low German (language of the Hanseatic League, 12th to 17th centuries)
Classical Icelandic (the language of the Icelandic sagas, 13th century)
Classical Catalan (language of literature in Aragon, 13th to 14th centuries)
Classical Manding (language of the Mali Empire, 13th to 16th centuries)
Old Ruthenian (one language of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, 13th to 16th centuries)
Old Anatolian Turkish (11th to 15th centuries)
Classical Ge'ez (language of Golden Age of Ge'ez literature, 13th to 16th centuries)
Classical Irish or Classical Gaelic (language of the 13th to 18th centuries Scottish and Irish Gaelic literature)
Classical Wolof (language of the Wolof Empire, 13th to 19th centuries)
Middle English (language of The Canterbury Tales, 14th to 15th centuries, with many divergent written dialects, but partially standardized based on London speech)
Classical Hungarian (language of Hungarian literature, 14th to 15th centuries)
Classical Songhai (lingua franca of the Songhai Empire, 14th to 16th centuries)
Early New High German (language of the Holy Roman Empire, the German Renaissance, and the Protestant Reformation, 14th to 17th centuries)
Classical Malay (language of Maritime Southeast Asia, 14th to 18th centuries)
Middle Oriya (language of Odia literature, 14th to 19th centuries)
Chagatai (classical Turkic language of Central Asia and the Volga, 14th to early 20th centuries)

Pre-Colonial Americas

Classical Maya (the language of the mature Maya civilization, 3rd to 9th centuries)
Classical Quechua (lingua franca of the 16th century Inca Empire)
Classical Nahuatl (lingua franca of 16th century central Mexico)
Classical K'iche' (language of 16th century Guatemala)
Classical Tupi (language of 16th to 18th centuries Brazil)
Classical Mapuche (language of 16th to 19th centuries Chile)
Chinook Jargon (trade language of Native American tribes of the Pacific Northwest, 19th century)

Early modern period

Awadhi (lingua franca of Northern India during Mughal rule led to its use by poets, 14th to 18th centuries)
Renaissance Italian (language of the Italian Renaissance, 15th to 16th centuries)
Late Old Portuguese (language of Portuguese Golden Age, 15th to 16th centuries)
Early Modern Spanish (language of the Spanish Golden Age, 15th to 17th centuries)
Classical Azeri (lingua franca of the Caucasus Mountain region and language of Azeri literature, 15th to 18th centuries)
Classical Danish (lingua franca of the Kalmar Union and Denmark-Norway from the 15th to the 19th centuries and language of Danish literature from the 16th to the 19th centuries)
Old Lithuanian (the other language of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, 16th to 17th centuries)
Early Modern English (language of KJV Bible and Shakespeare, 16th to 17th centuries)
Middle Polish (language of the Polish Golden Age, 16th to 18th centuries)
Classical Ottoman Turkish (language of poetry and administration of the Ottoman empire, 16th to 19th centuries)
Manchu language (language of the Manchus who ruled China, 16th–20th centuries)
Early Modern Dutch (language of the Dutch Golden Age, 17th century)
Early Modern French (language of France under Louis XIV to Napoleon, 17th to 18th centuries)
Classical Ladino (language of Sephardic Jewish literature, 17th to 19th centuries)
Classical Russian (language of the Russian Empire, 18th to 19th centuries)
Classical Mongolian language (the language of Mongolian literature and translations of Tibetan Buddhist religious texts from 1700–1900)
Modern Bengali (the modern language Bengali from 1820s to 1940s)
Classical Yiddish (language of the Yiddish Renaissance, 19th–20th centuries)

References

^ Hart, George. "Statement on the status of Tamil as a Classical Language". Tamil Classes. Institute for South Asia Studies, UC Berkeley. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
^ Beach, Adam R. (2001). "The Creation of a Classical Language in the Eighteenth Century: Standardizing English, Cultural Imperialism, and the Future of the Literary Canon". Texas Studies in Literature and Language. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |Issue= ignored (|issue= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Volume= ignored (|volume= suggested) (help)
^ https://wilsonquarterly.com/quarterly/spring-2011-the-city-bounces-back-four-portraits/classical-education-in-america/
^ Ramanujan, A. K. (1985), Poems of Love and War: From the Eight Anthologies and the Ten Long Poems of Classical Tamil, New York: Columbia University Press. Pp. 329, ISBN 0-231-05107-7Quote (p.ix–x) "Tamil, one of the four classical languages of India, is a Dravidian language ... These poems (Sangam literature, 1st century BC to 3rd century AD) are 'classical,' i.e. early, ancient; they are also 'classics,' i.e. works that have stood the test of time, the founding works of a whole tradition. Not to know them is not to know a unique and major poetic achievement of Indian civilization."
^ Article "Panini" from The Columbia Encyclopedia (Sixth Edition) at Encyclopedia.com
^ Brockington, J. L. (1998). The Sanskrit epics, Part 2. Vol. Volume 12. BRILL. p. 28. ISBN 978-90-04-10260-6. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
^ Zvelebil, Kamil (1997), The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India: On Tamil Literature of South India, BRILL Academic Publishers. p. 378, ISBN 90-04-03591-5 Quote: "Chart 1 literature: 1. the "Urtext" of the Tolkappiyam, i.e. the first two sections, Eluttatikaram and Collatikaram minus later interpolations, ca. 100 BC 2. the earliest strata of bardic poetry in the so-called Cankam anthologies, ca. 1 Cent. BC–2 Cent. AD."
^ Encyclopædia Britannica, 2008. "Kannada literature" Quote: "The earliest literary work is the Kavirājamārga (c. AD 850), a treatise on poetics based on a Sanskrit model."
^ "Tagalog - Language Information & Resources". www.alsintl.com.
^ K. Ramachandran Nair in Ayyappapanicker (1997), p.301

Flood, Gavin (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-43878-0 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Nair, K. Ramachandran (1997). "Malayalam". In Ayyappapanicker (ed.). Medieval Indian Literature:An Anthology. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 81-260-0365-0.