Malayalam may get classical language status
Malayalam may be conferred with the status of classical language like other southern languages, which include Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.
According to the rules laid down by the government, a language can be accorded classical status if it has a history over a period of 1,500-2,000 years, has a body of ancient literature/texts which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers. The criteria for declaration of a language as classical also say that the literary tradition should be original and not borrowed from another speech community and classical language and literature being distinct from modern.
Classical language status has already been conferred upon Tamil (2004), Sanskrit (2005), Telugu (2008) and Kannada (2008).
According to minister of culture Kumari Selja, “Requests for giving the status of classical language to Malayalam has been received from the chief minister early this month and the matter is under consideration,” she said.
The issue has already been considered by the committee of linguistic experts on the subject. While the experts gave their negative opinion citing that Malayalam does not meet the criterion of high antiquity, it however cleared the other norms which included a provision that it has a body of ancient literature and literary tradition being original.
The committee also agreed that Malayalam has a rich literary heritage, dating back to ninth century CE.
Senior officials in the ministry say that final decision is yet to be taken.
“The government is the final authority. Even if the recommendations are not favourable, view of the ministry is yet to be taken. The matter is under active consideration, if need be, the government may establish another committee to take final decision on the issue.”
While the classical status will get Central funds for those promoting the language, according to the experts the status, is all the more important considering that all other Dravidian languages have already got the same status.
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