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| 1. |
When was Tamil declared a Classical language? |
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Tamil was declared a Classical language by the Government of India in its notification through the Ministry of Human Resource Development dated 12 October 2004. |
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| 2. |
What is meant by a Classical language? |
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The word “Classical is ultimately derived from the Latin ‘Classics’, which means “of the highest class”.
Prof.George Hart states that to quality as a classical tradition, a language should be ancient, should posses an independent tradition and a large and extremely rich body of ancient literature. |
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| 3. |
What criteria are used by the government of India to declare a language Classical? |
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The following criteria will be used to determine the eligibility of languages to be considered for classification as a “Classical Language “:
| i) |
High antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a thousand years. |
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A body of ancient literature/texts, which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers. |
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The literary tradition be original and not borrowed from another speech community.
It is also notified that the Tamil language satisfies the criteria listed above and would henceforth be classified as a ‘Classical Language’.
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The Ministry of Culture will take all further steps to follow up and implement the above decisions.
In the “Corrigendum” issued later, the following point was added:
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The classical language and literature being distinct from modern, there may also be a discontinuity between the Classical language and its later forms or its offshoots. |
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| 4. |
Should a language be dead in order to the called ‘Classical’? |
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With regard to the common belief that to be called Classical, a language should be ‘dead’, the Oxford Companion to the English Language (ed. Tom McArthur) provides the following clarification:
There is a widespread view that to be truly Classical, a language should be ‘dead’, that is, not passed on from parent to child within a community. Some Classical languages, such as Latin and Sanskrit, have not been mother tongues for centuries, but this is not a universal feature of such languages. At one and the same time, Greek in various forms was the mother tongue of the Greeks, a Mediterranean lingua franca, and for the Romans a Classical source of literary and rhetorical inspiration. In such situations, there has been a tendency to look to one variety of such a language as ‘the best’, that is, the properly classical and normative. In the case of Greek, this was the educated Attic or Athenian variety (P.219).
Neither the oxford companion to the English Language nor anyother Western Publication of its kind mentions the unique case of Tamil, which serves as a mother tongue to a considerably large group of people for centuries and at a stretch retains its quality and status as a Classical language. Philologists would do well to take note of the fact that modern Tamil does not differ as much from Sangam Tamil as modern Greek does from Classical Greek or even as contemporary English varies from old or Middle English. |
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| 5. |
How did the Centre of Excellence for Classical Tamil (CECT) come into being? |
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Soon after the declaration of Tamil as a Classical language by the Government of India in its notification through the Ministry of Human Resource Development dated 12 Oct 2004. CECT was established as a part of Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore, in order to research, document, edit, publish and teach ancient Tamil writings. |
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| 6. |
What are the projects presently undertaken by CECT? |
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There are ten major projects presently undertaken by CECT.
They are listed in the Projects page. |
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| 7. |
What are the ancient Tamil Works which have been chosen by CECT for translation into Indian and foreign language? |
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The following forty one Tamil texts have been chosen for translation:
tolkāppiyam
naṟṟiṇai
kuṟuntokai
aiṅkurunūṟu
patiṟṟuppattu
paripāṭal
kalittokai
akanānūṟu
puṟanānūṟu
tirumurukāṟṟuppaṭai
porunarāṟṟuppaṭai
ciṟupāṇāṟṟuppaṭai
perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai
mullaippāṭṭu
maturaikkāñci
neṭunalvāṭai
kuriñcippāṭṭu
paṭṭinappālai
malaipaṭukaṭām
nālaṭiyār
nānmaṇikkaṭikai
iṉiyavai nāṟpatu
iṉṉā nāṟpatu
kār nāṟpatu
kaḷavaḻi nāṟpatu
aintiṇai aimpatu
tiṇaimoḻi aimpatu
aintiṇai eḻupatu
tiṇaimālai nūṟṟaimpatu
tirukkuṟaḷ
tirikaṭukam
ācārakkōvai
paḻamoḻinānūṟu
ciṟupañcamūlam
kainnilai
mutumoḻikkāñci
ēlāti
cilappatikāram
maṇimēkalai
muttoḷḷāyiram
iṟaiyāṉār kaḷaviyal
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| 8. |
What are the ancient Tamil works which have been chosen by CECT for the preparation of definitive editions? |
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The fourty one Tamil texts specified above for the question number seven. |
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| 9. |
What are the forty-one Tamil classics about? Why have they been chosen by CECT for special treatment? |
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Please Click here for answer. |
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| 10. |
What is the task of the Tamil Language Promotion Board ? |
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The Tamil Language Promotion Board, constituted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development to advice the CECT on all matters relating to the promotion of Classical Tamil, with Professor V.C. Kulandaiswamy as Chairman, Professor Udaya Narayana Singh as Member Secretary, Joint Secretary, MHRD; Deputy Secretary, MHRD: Financial Advisor, MHRD; Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Secretary, Sahitya Akademi, Director, National Book Trust as Ex-Offices members and Dr. M. Nannan, Dr. Silampoli Chellappan, Kavikko Dr. Abdul Rahman, Dr. Manavai Mustafa, Dr. Avvai Natarajan, Professor Solomon Pappiah, Kavinar Dr. Erode Thamizhanban, Perunkavikko Dr. V.M. Sethuraman, Professor M.P. Balasubramaniyam, Dr. Iravatham Mahadevan as Members, has already met more than once and has been providing extremely valuable guidelines for the effective functioning of CECT. |
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