Classical language - Definition and Overview

A classical language is a language with a literary tradition that can be judged as "classical".

[To] qualify as a classical tradition, a language must fit several criteria: 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.

Note that the judgement of a language as "classical" is a judgement of its literature, not the language itself. No language is inherently more "classical" or "ancient" than another in terms of phonology or grammar.

List

The following languages fit George L. Hart's definition:

• Indo-European languages:
  • Attic Greek (see also Koine Greek)
  • Latin (despite its Greek influence)
  • Sanskrit
  • Persian
• Afro-Asiatic languages:
  • Classical Arabic
  • Hebrew
• Dravidian languages:
  • Tamil
• Sino-Tibetan languages:
  • Classical Chinese

Tamil

Written Tamil is relatively unaltered since 2500 years ago. For example, the Tirukkural (2000 years old) is comprehensible to present-day speakers. Currently, the language has 75 million speakers.

See also: Recognition of Tamil as a classical language

See also

• literary language
• official language
• sacred language
• standard language