Question

Which of the following was given the classical language status in 2014?
1. Odiya
2. Gujarati
3. Dongari
4. Bangla

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 1 : Odiya

The correct answer is Odiya.

• Odiya language on 11 March 2014 became the sixth language of the country to get “classical language” status.
• It is billed as the first language from the Indo-Aryan linguistic group.
• Prior to that, the state government had submitted a 500 page report to the Centre on its demand for classical status to the language.
• The report was compiled by an 11-member committee constituted by the state government comprising eminent litterateurs, linguists and historians.
• Once a language is declared classical, it gets financial assistance for setting up a centre of excellence for the study of that language.
• The criteria for declaring a language as ‘classical’ mandates-
  • high antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1500-2000 years
  • a body of ancient literature/texts which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers
  • a literary tradition that is original and not borrowed from another speech community
• So far, Tamil, Telugu, Sanskrit, Kannada, Malayalam and Odiya have been given the status of classical