A classical language is a language with a literature that is "classical"—ie, "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." (George L. Hart)

Note that the judgement of a language as "classical" is a judgement of its literature, not of the language itself. Although languages may change at different rates, languages that change at slower rates are not necessarily the same as languages judged as "classical". Also, since there is no language immune to change, classical languages tend to be either dead languages, or show a high degree of diglossia, as the spoken varieties of the language diverge further and further away from the classical written language over centuries.

List of classical languages

• Indo-European languages:
  • Classical Greek
  • Sanskrit
  • Latin
  • Classical Persian
• Afro-Asiatic languages:
  • Classical Arabic
  • Hebrew
• Dravidian languages:
  • Tamil
• Sino-Tibetan languages:
  • Classical Chinese

See also

• history of the Greek language
• literary language
• official language
• sacred language
• standard language
• List of languages by first written accounts

External links

• Prof. Hart's support for the inclusion of Tamil as a Classical language

Notes

^* 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.

Kó·-tián gú-giân | Κλασική γλώσσα | Klasični jezik | Klassiska språk