Classical Languages Status Granted to 5 Remarkable Languages: Discover Their Significance!

The land of languages, India has got 'classical' language status for five languages as the Union cabinet approved classical language status to Marathi, Bengali, Assamese, Pali, and Prakrit yesterday. Since 2013, the demand for the classical status of the language Marathi has been pending and now has been accepted ahead of the crucial Assembly elections in Maharashtra. On the other hand, the status of Bengali has come amidst the biggest festival in West Bengal, Durga Puja. Before this, India had six classical languages including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Sanskrit, and Odia wherein Tamil was the first language to be given classical status in 2004 followed by Sanskrit in 2005. The status signifies languages having high antiquity, and value, with original and distinct literary heritage. Here are the recent five languages about which you should know!

Marathi 

According to historical documentation, Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language that belongs to the southern group of the outer sub-branch of the Indo-Aryan family of languages. It is said to have originated from Maharashtri Prakrit, with Apabhramsha dialects also contributing to the formation of the Marathi language. Culturally, Marathi is spoken in Maharashtra, and 'Marāṭhā,' as the word implies, refers to the dominant peasant-warrior caste of the Maharashtra region.

Bengali

The language of West Bengal can be traced back to 3500 B.C. and to the Indo-European language family. While many assume that it was born from Sanskrit, scholars and linguists believe that it was derived from Indo-Aryan languages like Magadhi Prakrit and Pali. You would be amazed to know that the evolution of Bengali has been divided into three stages: Old Bengali, Middle Bengal, and Modern Bengali. Modern Bengali also takes references from Turkish, Portuguese, Persian, or English. According to the reports, the oldest text in Bengali ever found is Charyapada, which is a collection of mystical poems of revelation around the 8th and 12th centuries. Bangala is widely spoken in West Bengal and Assam.

Assamese

It is said that the original Assamese language started in the ancient Kamrupa Kingdom, closer to Guwahati. It has evolved from the Kamrupi Prakrit. Initially, it was not known as the Assamese language. Many people also believe that the original Assamese language was similar to Bengali, however, it is similar to the dialects spoken in the present Kamrup district of Assam. However, reportedly, the modern Assamese language started in the Chutia kingdom. It is said that earlier, the Chutia language was the most used language in upper Assam but as the Assamese language reached upper Assam, the people began adopting Assamese and created a dialect of the Assamese language which was "better" than the original Assamese and Chutia languages. That is also the reason as to why the Assamese language has many words of Chutia origin.

Pali

While the origin of the Pali language is unknown, various documents suggest it was the language used by Gautam Buddha. It is an ancient Middle Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian subcontinent. There is no specific region to which Pali might belong but it is said that it might have originated in northern India before 200 BCE but died out in and around 14 century CE. Moreover, the language also finds traces in Srilanka Burma, and later, also in Thailand and Cambodia. Various Buddhist scriptures are found in the Pali language, which is often interchangeably used with the Magadhi language in north India!

Prakrit

As per the documents, the Prakrits were Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were spoken between about 500 B.C. and 500 A.D. The name Prakrit means ‘derived’, which also contrasts with Sanskrit. This is testimony to the fact that, historically, the Prakrit languages were considered secondary to, and less prestigious than, Sanskrit. The most prominent form of Prakrit is said to be Ardhamāgadhı̄, associated with the ancient kingdom of Magadha. In modern Bihar, Mahavira, the founder of Jainism was born and the earliest Jain texts were composed in Ardhamāgadhı̄. In that way, the history goes to the Mauryan empire. Currently, there is no place where the language is spoken as a lot of languages have been derived from this and are used in the northern parts of India.