Odisha CM Naveen remembers Mar 11, the day Odia got “classical language” status

KalingTV News Network  

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday recalled the day (March 11, 2014) on which Odia received the “classical language”status.

Taking to his twitter handle Patnaik said that March 11 is the day of pride for every Odia as Odia language became the sixth language of the country to get the status of “classical language”. Besides, he assured to work for the development of the language.

୧୧ ମାର୍ଚ୍ଚ, ପ୍ରତ୍ୟେକ ଓଡ଼ିଆଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ଗୌରବର ଦିନ। ୨୦୦୦ ବର୍ଷର ପୁରାତନ ଆମ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାକୁ ୨୦୧୪ର ଏହି ଦିନରେ ଶାସ୍ତ୍ରୀୟ ମାନ୍ୟତା ମିଳିଥିଲା। ଆମ ମାତୃଭାଷା ଆମ ସମ୍ମାନ, ଆମ ଗୌରବ। ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା, ସାହିତ୍ୟ, ସଂସ୍କୃତିର ସୁରକ୍ଷା, ବିକାଶ ଓ ଗବେଷଣାର ଅଭିବୃଦ୍ଧି ପାଇଁ ଆମେ ସଂକଳ୍ପବଦ୍ଧ। pic.twitter.com/zvc1ph2Yfr

— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) March 11, 2018

Notably, Odia language on March 11, 2014 became the sixth language of the country to get “classical language” status after the Union Cabinet conceded a long-pending demand for putting it in the same league as Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

Odia is billed as the first language from the Indo-Aryan linguistic group and the case for making it a classical language was also premised on the fact that it has no resemblance to Hindi, Sanskrit, Bengali and Telugu.

Once a language is declared classical, it gets financial assistance for setting up a centre of excellence for the study of that language and also opens up an avenue for two major awards for scholars of eminence. Besides, the University Grants Commission can be requested to create – to begin with at least in Central Universities – a certain number of professional chairs for classical languages for scholars of eminence in the 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 and a literary tradition that is original and not borrowed from another speech community. Also since the classical language and literature is distinct from the modern, there can also be a discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or its offshoots.