LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Classical Language Issues for Telugu and Kannada

M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

Welcome to the Classical Languages Club!

It is a welcome step that the Government of India has decided to grant classical language status to Telugu and Kannada. The antiquity of these languages now receives official seal of approval and I do hope that Malayalam will also be awarded soon the classical language status.

Unique Antiquity of Dravidian Languages

With these recognitions, we celebrate the uniqueness of major Dravidian languages, their heritage and ways and means by which these languages continued/continue to prosper throughout history. Because they chose to present themselves in writing early enough, they were able to retain their past in concrete forms of literature and other records. They were able to chart their history in some conscious manner and look back and forward to assess their progress. In addition, the pioneers of these languages must have felt in them something distinct, positive and impressive to keep their identity afloat, despite many odds. So, we salute these pioneers in literature, arts and other fields including warfare.

Continuity of the Languages in the Future

This raises the question of continuity of these languages in the future. What kinds of continuity can these languages look forward to? Are there precedents in their history that direct such enquiry in the present for the benefit of the future? A major part of this short paper or note will be devoted to finding some answers in this direction. I do this analysis in the background of my desire and love for all Indian languages, and, also because, the duty I feel towards the retention and continuity of my mother tongue, Tamil.

What May Constitute Continuity?

Continuity of a language, for me, is not simply the existence of a language in any form. While change is inevitable, continuity must ensure that we always have adequate provisions in the current language to access the past stages of our language. The model set for continuity of European languages is good, but not adequate enough for Indian languages. Lexical incorporation from the past stages of a language into the present stage for purposes of science, etc. is already done to some extent in these major Dravidian languages.

Change Is an Addition

As our cultural tradition demands that change is only an addition, not a replacement or total negation of what went before (as in most European systems), we have to work out a process by which the speakers of these classical languages in India will acquire skills and admiration for the classical phase of these languages as part of their schooling.

Different from the Indo-Aryan Modern Languages Model

We also do not and should not adopt the Sanskrit model of keeping Modern Indo-Aryan languages aloof and distinct from Sanskrit. The Dravidian model should not elevate the classical phase to a distinct entity and then offer courses separately to those who wish to acquire that distinct entity, for whatever purposes they may wish to acquire it.

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