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The languages of India primarily belong to two major linguistic families, Indo-European (whose branch Indo-Aryan is spoken by about 70% of the population) and Dravidian (spoken by about 22%). India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family The Indo-Aryan languages (within the context of Indo-European studies also Indic) are a branch of the Indo-European language family The Dravidian family of languages includes approximately 73 languages (including the four literary languages of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada Other languages spoken in India come mainly from the Dardic language family, the Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman linguistic families, as well as a few language isolates. The Dards are an ethnic group predominantly found in Afghanistan, Kashmir Valley, Kargil, and Northern Areas of Pakistan Controlled Kashmir The Austro-Asiatic languages are a large Language family of Southeast Asia, and also scattered throughout India and Bangladesh. The Tibeto-Burman family of languages (often considered a sub-group of the Sino-Tibetan Language family) is spoken in various central and south Asian countries including A language isolate, in the absolute sense is a Natural language with no demonstrable genealogical (or "genetic" relationship with other living languages that is [1]

Individual mother tongues in India number several hundred[2] (SIL Ethnologue lists 415). A first language (also mother tongue, native language, arterial language, or L1) is the language a human being learns from birth Ethnologue Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics a Christian According to Census of India of 2001, 29 languages are spoken by more than a million native speakers, 122 by more than 10,000. Three millennia of language contact has led to significant mutual influence among the four language families in India and South Asia. Two contact languages have played an important role in the history of India: Persian and English. A lingua franca (from Italian, literally meaning Frankish language, see etymology under Sabir and Italian below is any Language widely This article is about the history of South Asia prior to the Partition of British India in 1947 English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States [3]

Sanskrit and Tamil are the classical languages of India according to the Government. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical Tamil (ta தமிழ்; t̪əmɨɻ is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent.

Contents

History

Main article: Linguistic history of India
A bazaar in Andhra Pradesh with signs, from left to right, in Urdu, Hindi, Arabic, and English.
A bazaar in Andhra Pradesh with signs, from left to right, in Urdu, Hindi, Arabic, and English. Originating over 5000 years ago the linguistic history of India describes the evolution and transformation of early human communications techniques - from pictures pictorial scripts
Language families in South Asia
Language families in South Asia

The northern Indian languages from the Indo-European family evolved from Old Indo-Aryan such as Sanskrit, by way of the Middle Indo-Aryan Prakrit languages and Apabhramsha of the Middle Ages. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical The Middle Indo-Aryan ( Middle Indic) languages are the early medieval dialects of the Indo-Aryan languages, the descendants of the Old Indo-Aryan dialects such as Prakrit (also transliterated as Pracrit) ( Sanskrit: prākṛta प्राकृत (from pra-kṛti प्रकृति according to one There is no consensus for a specific time where the modern north Indian languages such as Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Sindhi, Bengali and Oriya emerged, but CE 1000 is commonly accepted. Hindi ( Devanāgarī: hi [[wiktहिन्दी हिन्दी]] or hi [[wiktहिंदी हिंदी]] IAST:, IPA:) is Marathi (mr मराठी Marāṭhī) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of what is considered western India. Punjabi may refer to The Punjabi language of Pakistan and India Punjabi grammar List of Punjabi Sindhi ( Arabic script: سنڌي Devanagari script: सिन्धी Sindhī) is the language of the Sindh region of South Asia Oriya (ଓଡ଼ିଆ oṛiā) is one of the Indian Languages mainly spoken in the Indian state of Orissa. [4] Each language had different influences, with Hindi/Urdu and closely related languages being strongly influenced by Persian and Arabic. The South Indian (Dravidian) languages had a history independent of Sanskrit. The Dravidian family of languages includes approximately 73 languages (including the four literary languages of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada However in later stages all the Dravidian languages had been heavily influenced by Sanskrit. The major Dravidian languages are Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. Tamil (ta தமிழ்; t̪əmɨɻ is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. Kannada (kn [[wiktಕನ್ನಡ ಕನ್ನಡ]] Kannaḍa) is one of the major Dravidian languages of India, spoken predominantly in the state Not to be confused with the Malay language. Malayalam (മലയാളം malayāḷaṁ) is a Dravidian language used

Language families

The languages of India may be grouped by major language families. List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family The largest of these in terms of speakers is the Indo-European family, predominantly represented in its Indo-Aryan branch (accounting for some 700 million speakers), but also including minority languages such as Persian, Portuguese or French, and English as lingua franca. The Indo-Aryan languages (within the context of Indo-European studies also Indic) are a branch of the Indo-European language family A lingua franca (from Italian, literally meaning Frankish language, see etymology under Sabir and Italian below is any Language widely The second largest is the Dravidian family, accounting for some 200 million speakers. The Dravidian family of languages includes approximately 73 languages (including the four literary languages of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada Minor linguistic families include the Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman families (with some 10 and 6 million speakers, respectively). The Austro-Asiatic languages are a large Language family of Southeast Asia, and also scattered throughout India and Bangladesh. The Tibeto-Burman family of languages (often considered a sub-group of the Sino-Tibetan Language family) is spoken in various central and south Asian countries including Kashmiri, considered a Dardic language, has some 4. Kashmiri (कॉशुर کٲشُر Koshur) is a Dardic language spoken primarily in the valley of Kashmir, a region situated in the Indian state The Dards are an ethnic group predominantly found in Afghanistan, Kashmir Valley, Kargil, and Northern Areas of Pakistan Controlled Kashmir 6 million speakers in India. There is also a language isolate, the Nihali language. A language isolate, in the absolute sense is a Natural language with no demonstrable genealogical (or "genetic" relationship with other living languages that is Kalto (also known as Nihali or Nahali) is a Language isolate spoken in west-central India (in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra

Classical languages of India

By a formal declaration of the Indian government, Sanskrit and Tamil are accorded special recognition as Classical Languages of India. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical In the mid-19th century, Indologists referred to Paninian Sanskrit as "classical Sanskrit," distinguishing it from the older Vedic language. Pāṇini ( IAST: Pāṇini Dēvanāgarī: sa पाणिनि a Patronymic meaning "descendant of {{IAST|Paṇi}} " was an ancient Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical [5][6][7] Robert Caldwell, the first linguist to systematically study the Dravidian languages as a family, used the term "classical" to distinguish the literary forms of Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and Tulu from the diglossic colloquial forms. Bishop Robert Caldwell (1814 -1891 was an orientalist who pioneered the study of the Dravidian languages with his work Comparative Grammar of Dravidian Languages The Dravidian family of languages includes approximately 73 languages (including the four literary languages of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada Tamil (ta தமிழ்; t̪əmɨɻ is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. Not to be confused with the Malay language. Malayalam (മലയാളം malayāḷaṁ) is a Dravidian language used Kannada (kn [[wiktಕನ್ನಡ ಕನ್ನಡ]] Kannaḍa) is one of the major Dravidian languages of India, spoken predominantly in the state In Linguistics, diglossia is a situation where in a given society there are two (often closely-related languages one of high prestige, which is generally used [8] In the second half of the 20th century, academics began to suggest that the Old Tamil poems of the Sangam anthologies were also "classical" in the sense that they shared many features with literatures commonly accepted as classical. Sangam literature refers to a body of classical Tamil literature created between the years 300 BCE and 600 CE This point, first made by Kamil Zvelebil in the 1970s,[9] has since been supported by a number of other scholars,[10][11][12] and the terminology "classical Tamil" is commonly used in historical literature to refer to texts from that period. Kamil Vaclav Zvelebil (* September 17 1927) is a distinguished Czech scholar in Indian literature and linguistics notably Sanskrit [13] Martha Ann Selby argues that if classicality is defined with reference to age and the value a literature has within the tradition it represents, the Tamil poetry of the Sangam anthologies and the Maharashtri poems of the Sattisai are "classical", in addition to Sanskrit literature. Sangam literature refers to a body of classical Tamil literature created between the years 300 BCE and 600 CE Maharashtri (महाराष्ट्री प्राकृत is a language of ancient and medieval India, descended from Sanskrit, and spoken in what is [14]

In 2004, increasing politicisation of language identity led to a new category being created by constitutional decree under which languages that met certain requirements could be accorded the status of a 'classical language' in India. [15] With the creation of this category, Tamil and, a year later, Sanskrit, have been accorded the status. More languages are being considered to be added to the list. [15] Experts consulted by the government and the Sahitya Akademi (Literary Academy) of India, an influential independent Indian literary body, recommended against awarding the tag to any language. The Sahitya Akademi (साहित्य अकादमी is an Indian organisation dedicated to the promotion of Literature in the Languages of Dr. George Hart, a Professor of Tamil and Sanskrit at the University of California - Berkeley, supported classifying Tamil as a classical language. [3][16]

Official languages

Main article: Official languages of India

Article 343 of the Indian Constitution recognises Hindi in Devanāgarī script as the official language of central government India. The Constitution of India envisages Hindi as the primary official language to be used by the Union Government, with English as the subsidiary official language The Constitution of India ( Hindi: भारतीय़ संविधान see names in other Indian languages) is the supreme law of India. Hindi ( Devanāgarī: hi [[wiktहिन्दी हिन्दी]] or hi [[wiktहिंदी हिंदी]] IAST:, IPA:) is An official language is a Language that is given a special legal status in a particular Country, State, or other territory The Constitution also allows for the continuation of use of the English language for official purposes. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Article 345 provides constitutional recognition to "stephne languages" of the union to include any language adopted by a state legislature as the official language of that state. In effect, there are "official languages" at the state and center level but no one "national language". Until the Twenty-First Amendment of the Constitution in 1967, the country recognised 14 official regional languages. The Eighth Schedule and the Seventy-First Amendment provided for the inclusion of Sindhi, Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali, thereby increasing the number of official regional languages of India to 18 [17]. Sindhi ( Arabic script: سنڌي Devanagari script: सिन्धी Sindhī) is the language of the Sindh region of South Asia Konkani ( Devanāgarī: कोंकणी Roman: Konknni Kannada: ಕೊಂಕಣಿ Malayalam: കൊങ്കണി IAST Nepali is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Nepal, Bhutan, and some parts of India and Myanmar (Burma Individual states, whose borders are mostly drawn on socio-linguistic lines, are free to decide their own language for internal administration and education. In 2004, the government elevated Tamil,[18][19][20] to the newly created official status of "Classical Language", followed by Sanskrit[21] in 2005. Tamil (ta தமிழ்; t̪əmɨɻ is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. A classical language, is a language with a Literature that is "classical"&mdashie "it should be ancient it should be an independent tradition that arose mostly Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical The Constitution of India recognises 22 languages, spoken in different parts the country, namely 1. Assamese, 2. Assamese (অসমীয়া) (ɔxɔmija is the easternmost Indo-Aryan language, spoken mainly in the state of Assam in North-East Bengali, 3. Bodo, 4. Bodo, pronounced BO-RO is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Bodo people of north-eastern India, Nepal and Bangladesh Dogri, 5. Not to be confused with the Dogrib language. Dogri (डोगरी or ڈوگرى is an Indo-Aryan Language spoken by Gujarati, 6. Gujarati (ગુજરાતી Gujǎrātī ? Hindi, 7. Hindi ( Devanāgarī: hi [[wiktहिन्दी हिन्दी]] or hi [[wiktहिंदी हिंदी]] IAST:, IPA:) is Kannada, 8. Kannada (kn [[wiktಕನ್ನಡ ಕನ್ನಡ]] Kannaḍa) is one of the major Dravidian languages of India, spoken predominantly in the state Kashmiri, 9. Kashmiri (कॉशुर کٲشُر Koshur) is a Dardic language spoken primarily in the valley of Kashmir, a region situated in the Indian state Konkani, 10. Konkani ( Devanāgarī: कोंकणी Roman: Konknni Kannada: ಕೊಂಕಣಿ Malayalam: കൊങ്കണി IAST Maithili, 11. Maithili (मैथिली Maithilī) is a language spoken in the eastern part of India, mainly in the Indian state of Bihar Malayalam, 12. Not to be confused with the Malay language. Malayalam (മലയാളം malayāḷaṁ) is a Dravidian language used Santali, 13. Santali is a Language in the Munda subfamily of Austro-Asiatic, related to Ho and Mundari. Marathi, 14. Marathi (mr मराठी Marāṭhī) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of what is considered western India. Nepali, 15. Nepali is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Nepal, Bhutan, and some parts of India and Myanmar (Burma Oriya, 16. Oriya (ଓଡ଼ିଆ oṛiā) is one of the Indian Languages mainly spoken in the Indian state of Orissa. Punjabi, 17. Punjabi (pa ਪੰਜਾਬੀ in Gurmukhi script pa-PK {{Nastaliq پنجابی}} in Shahmukhi script Pañjābī in Transliteration) is an Sanskrit, 18. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical Santhali, 19. Santali is a Language in the Munda subfamily of Austro-Asiatic, related to Ho and Mundari. Sindhi, 20. Sindhi ( Arabic script: سنڌي Devanagari script: सिन्धी Sindhī) is the language of the Sindh region of South Asia Tamil, 21. Tamil (ta தமிழ்; t̪əmɨɻ is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. Telugu and 22. Urdu. Urdu ( ur '''{{Nastaliq اردو}}''' trans Urdū, historically spelled Ordu) is a Central Indo-Aryan language Urdu is a standardised Hindi is an official language of the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttaranchal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Marathi is an official language of Maharashtra. Marathi (mr मराठी Marāṭhī) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of what is considered western India. Maharashtra ( Marathi: mahārāṣṭra, IPA) is a state located on the western coast of India. Punjabi is a official language of Punjab. Punjabi may refer to The Punjabi language of Pakistan and India Punjabi grammar List of Punjabi Punjab (ਪੰਜਾਬ पंजाब pəɲdʒaːb is a state in northwest India. Gujarati is the official language of Gujarat. Gujarati (ગુજરાતી Gujǎrātī ? Gujarat (ગુજરાત Gujǎrāt, pronounced) is a state in western India. Tamil is a official language of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Tamil Nadu ( Tamil:, Country of the Tamils, t̪ɐmɨɻ n̪aːɽɯ is one of the 28 states of India. Puducherry (formerly; புதுச்சேரி or பாண்டிச்சேரி పాండిచెర్రి പുതുശ്ശേരി Pondichéry is a The Andaman & Nicobar Islands is a Union territory of India. Informally the territory's name is often abbreviated to A & N Islands, or ANI Malayalam is the official language of Kerala and Lakshadweep. Kerala ( Malayalam: {{Kerala in Malayalam}}; Lakshadweep ( (ലക്ഷദ്വീപ്,) the smallest Union territory of India, is a group of islands 200 to 300 km off of the coast of Kannada is the official language of Karnataka. Karnataka (ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ pronounced) is a state in the southern part of India Telugu is the official language of Andhra Pradesh. Oriya is the official language of Orissa. Oriya (ଓଡ଼ିଆ oṛiā) is one of the Indian Languages mainly spoken in the Indian state of Orissa. Orissa (ଓଡ଼ିଶା is a state located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. English is the co-official language of the Indian Union, and each of the several states mentioned above may also have another co-official language.

Writing systems

Main articles: Indic scripts and Nasta'liq script

Indian languages have corresponding distinct alphabets. The Brahmic family is a family of syllabaries (writing systems used in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of Central Asia and East Asia, (also anglicized as Nastaleeq;) is one of the main genres of Islamic calligraphy. The two major families are those of the Dravidian languages and those of the Indo-Aryan languages, the former largely confined to the south and the latter to the north. The Dravidian family of languages includes approximately 73 languages (including the four literary languages of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada The Indo-Aryan languages (within the context of Indo-European studies also Indic) are a branch of the Indo-European language family South India is the area encompassing India 's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union Geography Northern India lies mainly on continental India and a very small part of it lies on the Indian peninsula Urdu and sometimes Kashmiri, Sindhi and Panjabi are written in modified versions of the Arabic script. Kashmiri (कॉशुर کٲشُر Koshur) is a Dardic language spoken primarily in the valley of Kashmir, a region situated in the Indian state Sindhi ( Arabic script: سنڌي Devanagari script: सिन्धी Sindhī) is the language of the Sindh region of South Asia Punjabi (pa ਪੰਜਾਬੀ in Gurmukhi script pa-PK {{Nastaliq پنجابی}} in Shahmukhi script Pañjābī in Transliteration) is an Except for these languages, the alphabets of Indian languages are native to India. Most scholars consider these Indic scripts a distant offshoot of the Aramaic alphabet, although there are differing opinions. The Brahmic family is a family of syllabaries (writing systems used in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of Central Asia and East Asia, The Aramaic alphabet is an Abjad, a Consonantal Alphabet, used for writing Aramaic.

Romanization

Main articles: ISO 15919 and National Library at Kolkata romanization
unvoiced consonantsvoiced consonantsnasals
unaspiratedaspiratedunaspiratedaspirated
velar plosiveskkhgghṅ
palatal affricatescchjjhñ
retroflex plosivesṭṭhḍḍhṇ
dental plosivestthddhn
bilabial plosivespphbbhm
glides and approximantsyrlv
fricativesśṣsh


Inventories

Main articles: Official languages of India and List of Indian languages by total speakers

Linguists generally distinguish the terms "language" and "dialects" on the basis of 'mutual comprehension'. ISO 15919 Transliteration of Devanagari and related Indic scripts into Latin characters is an international standard for the Transliteration of Indic scripts to the The National Library at Kolkata Romanization is the most widely used Transliteration scheme in dictionaries and grammars of Indic languages The Constitution of India envisages Hindi as the primary official language to be used by the Union Government, with English as the subsidiary official language India is home to several hundred languages. Most languages spoken in India belong either to the Indo-European ( ca The Indian census uses two specific classifications in its own unique way: (1)'language' and (2) 'mother tongue'. The 'mother tongues' are grouped within each 'language'. Many 'mother tongues' so defined would be considered a language rather than a dialect by linguistic standards. This is specially so for many 'mother tongues' with tens of millions of speakers that is officially grouped under the 'language' Hindi.

The Indian census of 1961 recognised 1,652 different languages in India (including languages not native to the subcontinent). The 1991 census recognizes 1,576 classified "mother tongues"[4] SIL Ethnologue lists 415 living "Languages of India" (out of 6,912 worldwide). Ethnologue Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics a Christian

According to the 1991 census, 22 'languages' had more than a million native speakers, 50 had more than 100,000 and 114 had more than 10,000 native speakers. The remaining accounted for a total of 566,000 native speakers (out of a total of 838 million Indians in 1991). [5]

According to the most recent census of 2001, 29 'languages' have more than a million native speakers, 60 have more than 100,000 and 122 have more than 10,000 native speakers.

Government of India has given 22 "languages of the 8th Schedule" the status of official language. The number of languages given this status has increased through the political process. Some languages with a large number of speakers still do not have this status, the largest of these being Bhili/Bhiladi with some 9. Bhili is a Western Indo-Aryan language spoken in west-central India, in the region east of Ahmedabad. 6 million native speakers (ranked 14th), followed by Santali with 6. Santali is a Language in the Munda subfamily of Austro-Asiatic, related to Ho and Mundari. 5 million speakers (ranked 15th), Gondi with 2. Gondi (Gōndi is spoken by the Gondi people. It is one of the most important Central Dravidian languages spoken by about two million people chiefly in the states 7 million speakers(ranked 18th) and Khandesi with 2. 1 million speakers (ranked 22nd). On the other hand, 2 languages with fewer than 2 million native speakers have recently been included in the 8th Schedule for mostly political reasons: Manipuri/Maithei with 1. Meitei-lon (মেইতেই লোন্ also Meitei-lol (মেইতেই লোল্ and Manipuri (মনিপুরি (and sometimes the 19th century 5 million speakers (ranked 25th) and Bodo with 1. Bodo, pronounced BO-RO is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Bodo people of north-eastern India, Nepal and Bangladesh 4 million speakers (ranked 26th). For cultural/historical reason Sanskrit is on the official schedule though only 14 thousand people claim it to be their language, but many more study it in school as the classical language of India.

Footnotes and References

  1. ^ see: Nihali language, Burushaski language, Andamanese languages
  2. ^ More than a thousand including major dialects. Kalto (also known as Nihali or Nahali) is a Language isolate spoken in west-central India (in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra Burushaski (بروشسکی - burū́šaskī is a Language isolate not known to be related to any other language of the world The Andamanese languages form a proposed Language family spoken by the Andamanese peoples of the Andaman Islands, a Union territory The 1991 census recognized "1576 rationalized mother tongues" which were further grouped into language categories [1]; the 1961 census recognized 1,652 [2].
  3. ^ Bhatia, Tej K and William C. Ritchie. (2006) Bilingualism in South Asia. In: Handbook of Bilingualism, pp. 780-807. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
  4. ^ Shapiro, M: Hindi.
  5. ^ Whitney, William D. (1854). "On the History of the Vedic Texts". Journal of the American Oriental Society 4: 245-261.   at p. 259.
  6. ^ Whitney, William D. (1853). "On the Main Results of the Later Vedic Researches in Germany". Journal of the American Oriental Society 3: 289-328.   at p. 296.
  7. ^ Prichard, James Cowles (1850). "[htt368-0358%281850%292%3C119%3AAAF1TT%3E2. 0. CO%3B2-2 Anniversary Address for 1848, to the Ethnological Society of London on the Recent Progress of Ethnology]". Journal of the Ethnological Society of London 2: 119-149.   at p. 139.
  8. ^ Caldwell, Robert [1913] (1998). A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Or South-Indian Family of Languages, Second AES reprint, New Delhi: Asian Educational Services, 30, 78-81. ISBN 8120601173.  
  9. ^ Zvelebil, Kamil (1975). Tamil Literature. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 5-21, 50-53. ISBN 9004041907.  
  10. ^ Takahashi, Takanobu (1995). Tamil Love Poetry and Poetics, Brill's Indological Library. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2. ISBN 9004100423.  
  11. ^ Ramanujan, A.K. (1985). For the mathematician, see Srinivasa Ramanujan Attipat Krishnaswami Ramanujan (1929-1993 was a scholar of Indian literature Poems of Love and War from the Eight Anthologies and the Ten Long Poems of Classical Tamil, UNESCO Collection of Representative Works. New York: Columbia University Press, ix. ISBN 0231051069.  
  12. ^ Annamalai, E. & Steever, S. B. (1998), “Modern Tamil”, in Steever, Sanford B. , The Dravidian Languages, London: Routledge, pp. pp. 100-128, ISBN 0415100232  at p. 100.
  13. ^ See e. g. Stein, Burton (1977). "Circulation and the Historical Geography of Tamil Country". The Journal of Asian Studies 37: 7-261.   at p. 12; Maloney, Clarence (1970). "The Beginnings of Civilization in South India". The Journal of Asian Studies 29 (3): 603-616.   at p. 605.
  14. ^ Selby, Martha Ann (2000). Grow long, Blessed Night: Love Poems from Classical India. New York: Oxford University Press, 3-4. ISBN 019512734X.  .
  15. ^ a b India sets up classical languages. BBC. Retrieved on 2007-05-01. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor.
  16. ^ Classic case of politics of language. The Telegraph. Retrieved on 2007-04-20. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1303 - The University of Rome La Sapienza is instituted by Pope Boniface VIII.  “. . . The government has declared Tamil a classical language despite the objections of experts it consulted and after a committee it had appointed refused to recommend it. . . . The Sahitya Akademi office bearers wrote a second time. In essence, they repeated that it was not the government's business to declare a language classical. It is a classically foolish move, a source said. . . . ”
  17. ^ "Legislation: Legislation dealing with the use of languages". Constitution of India. Articles 29, 30, 120, 210, 343-351 as amended in the 21st and 71st Amendments.
  18. ^ Item 41 of President Kalam's address to a joint sitting of both houses of Indian Parliament
  19. ^ BBC news item on the formal approval by the Indian Cabinet
  20. ^ "Tamil as a classic language: Report to Central Government by Tamil Nadu Government", report submitted by Tamil Nadu State Government to Central Government of India to claim the Classic Language status.
  21. ^ News item that appeared in "The Hindu" on the Cabinet decision to declare Sanskrit as a classical language.

See also

External links

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