Classical language: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|Old language with established literature or use}}

{{For|classical languages in India|Classical languages of India}}{{Short lead|date=September 2024}}

According to the definition by [[George L. Hart]] of the [[University of California, Berkeley]], aA '''classical language''' is any [[language]] with an independent literary tradition and a large body of ancient written [[literature]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Hart|first1=George|title=Statement on the status of Tamil as a Classical Language|url=https://southasia.berkeley.edu/statement-status-tamil-classical-language|publisher=Institute for South Asia Studies, UC Berkeley|access-date=18 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812034850/https://southasia.berkeley.edu/statement-status-tamil-classical-language|archive-date=12 August 2021}}</ref>

Classical languages are usually [[Extinct language|extinct languages]]. Those that are still in use today tend to show highly [[Diglossia|diglossic]] characteristics in areas where they are used, as the difference between spoken and written language has widened over time.

== Classical studies in Europe ==

{{Main|Classics}}

In the context of traditional European [[classical studies]], the "classical languages" refer to [[ancient Greek|Greek]] and [[classical Latin|Latin]], which were the literary languages of the Mediterranean world in [[classical antiquity]].

Greek was the language of [[Homer]] and of [[Classical Athens|classical Athenian]], [[Hellenistic]] and [[Byzantine]] historians, playwrights, and philosophers. It has contributed many words to the vocabulary of English and many other European languages, and has been a standard subject of study in Western educational institutions since [[the [[Renaissance]]. [[Latinisation of names|Latinized]] forms of Ancient Greek roots are used in many of the scientific names of species and in other scientific terminology. [[Koine Greek]], which served as a [[lingua franca]] in the Eastern Roman Empire, remains in use today as a sacred language in some [[Eastern Orthodox churches]]. Eventually Koine Greek gave rise to [[Medieval Greek]] and then [[Modern Greek]].

Latin became the lingua franca of the early [[Roman Empire]] and later of the [[Western Roman Empire]]. Despite the decline of the Western Roman Empire, the Latin language continued to flourish in the very different social and economic environment of the [[Middle Ages|the Middle Ages]], not least because it became the official language of the [[Roman Catholic Church]]. In Western and Central Europe and in parts of northern Africa, Latin retained its elevated status as the main vehicle of communication for the learned classes throughout the Middle Ages and subsequently; witness especially the Renaissance and Baroque periods. This language was not supplanted for scientific purposes until the 18th century, and for formal descriptions in [[zoology]] as well as [[botany]] it survived to the later 20th century. The modern international [[binomial nomenclature]] holds to this day: taxonomists assign a Latin or Latinized name as the scientific name of each [[species]].

In Western and Central Europe and in parts of northern Africa, Latin retained its elevated status as the main vehicle of communication for the learned classes throughout the Middle Ages and subsequently in the [[Early modern period]]. In the 21st century, Latin is still taught in the United States, mostly in elite private schools.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Accredited Schools |url=https://classicallatin.org/accredited-schools/ |access-date=2023-05-15 |website=Classical Latin School Association - |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Outside of western civilization ==

Latin was not supplanted for scientific purposes until the 18th century, and for formal descriptions in [[zoology]] as well as [[botany]] it survived to the later 20th century. The modern international [[binomial nomenclature]] holds to this day: taxonomists assign a Latin or Latinized name as the scientific name of each [[species]].

In terms of worldwide cultural importance, [[Edward Sapir]] in his 1921 book ''Language'' extends the list to include [[classical Chinese]], [[Classical Arabic|Arabic]], and [[Classical Sanskrit|Sanskrit]]:

[[Vulgar Latin]], the range of non-formal [[Register (sociolinguistics)|registers]] of Latin spoken from the Late Roman Republic onward, is the ancestor of the [[Neo-Latin languages]] ([[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[French language|French]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Romanian language|Romanian]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]], etc).

<blockquote>When we realize that an educated [[Japanese people|Japanese]] can hardly frame a single literary sentence without the use of Chinese resources, that to this day [[Thai language|Siamese]] and [[Burmese language|Burmese]] and [[Cambodian Language|Cambodgian]] bear the unmistakable imprint of the Sanskrit and [[Pali language|Pali]] that came in with Hindu Buddhism centuries ago, or that whether we argue for or against the teaching of Latin and Greek [in schools,] our argument is sure to be studded with words that have come to us from [[Rome]] and [[Athens]], we get some indication of what early Chinese culture and [[Buddhism]], and classical [[Mediterranean civilization]] have meant in the world's history. There are just five languages that have had an overwhelming significance as carriers of culture. They are classical Chinese, Sanskrit, Arabic, Greek, and Latin. In comparison with these, even such culturally important languages as [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and [[French language|French]] sink into a secondary position.<ref>{{cite book | last =Sapir| first=Edward| author-link =Edward Sapir | title =Language: An introduction to the study of speech | publisher =Harcourt, Brace and Company| date =1921| ___location =New York| page =164| url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12629| isbn =4-87187-529-6| access-date=February 17, 2006}}</ref></blockquote>

== Classical languages in Asia ==

In terms of worldwide cultural importance, [[Edward Sapir]] in his 1921 book ''[[Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech|Language]]'' extends the list to include [[classical Chinese]], [[Classical ArabicSanskrit|ArabicSanskrit]], and [[Classical SanskritArabic|SanskritArabic]]:

<blockquote>When we realize that an educated [[Japanese people|Japanese]] can hardly frame a single literary sentence without the use of Chinese resources, that to this day [[Thai language|Siamese]] and [[Burmese language|Burmese]] and [[CambodianKhmer Languagelanguage|Cambodgian]] bear the unmistakable imprint of the Sanskrit and [[Pali language|Pali]] that came in with Hindu Buddhism centuries ago, or that whether we argue for or against the teaching of Latin and Greek [in schools,] our argument is sure to be studded with words that have come to us from [[Rome]] and [[Athens]], we get some indication of what early Chinese culture and [[Buddhism]], and classical [[Mediterranean civilization]] have meant in the world's history. There are just five languages that have had an overwhelming significance as carriers of culture. They are classical Chinese, Sanskrit, Arabic, Greek, and Latin. In comparison with these, even such culturally important languages as [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and [[French language|French]] sink into a secondary position.<ref>{{cite book | last =Sapir| first=Edward| author-link =Edward Sapir | title =Language: An introduction to the study of speech | publisher =Harcourt, Brace and Company| date =1921| ___location =New York| page =164| url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12629| isbn =4-87187-529-6| access-date=February 17, 2006}}</ref></blockquote>

In this sense, a classical language is a language that has a broad influence over an extended period of time, even after it is no longer a [[Colloquialism|colloquial]] [[Mother-tongue|mother tongue]] in its original form. If one language uses roots from another language to coin words (in the way that many [[European languages]] use Greek and Latin [[Root (linguistics)|roots]] to devise new words such as "telephone", etc.), this is an indication that the second language is a classical language.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

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== General usage ==

{{Original research|date=November 2022}}

{{verify|section|date=March 2023}}

The following languages are generally taken to have a "classical" stage. Such a stage is limited in time and is considered "classical" if it comes to be regarded as a literary "golden age" retrospectively.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}} Thus, [[Ancient Greek|Classical Greek]] is the language of 5th to 4th century BC [[Classical Athens|Athens]] and, as such, only a small subset of the varieties of the [[Greek language]] as a whole. A "classical" period usually corresponds to a flowering of literature following an "archaic" period, such as [[Classical Latin]] succeeding [[Old Latin]], [[Sumerian language|Classical Sumerian]] succeeding Archaic Sumerian, Classical Sanskrit succeeding [[Vedic Sanskrit]], [[Persian language#Classical Persian|Classical Persian]] succeeding [[Old Persian]]. This is partly a matter of terminology, and for example [[Old Chinese]] is taken to include rather than precede [[Classical Chinese]]. In some cases, such as those of [[Persian language|Persian]] and [[Tamil language|Tamil]], the "classical" stage corresponds to the earliest attested literary variant.<ref>{{Citation| last=Ramanujan|first= A. K.|author-link = A. K. Ramanujan|title=Poems of Love and War: From the Eight Anthologies and the Ten Long Poems of Classical Tamil|publisher= New York: Columbia University Press. Pp. 329|year = 1985|isbn=0-231-05107-7|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=nIybE0HRvdQC}}Quote (p.ix–x) "Tamil, one of the four classical languages of India, is a Dravidian language ... These poems (''[[Sangam literature]]'', 1st century BC to 3rd century AD) are 'classical,' i.e. early, ancient; they are also 'classics,' i.e. works that have stood the test of time, the founding works of a whole tradition. Not to know them is not to know a unique and major poetic achievement of Indian civilization."</ref>

===Antiquity===

* [[Sumerian language#Stages|Classical Sumerian]] (literary language of [[Sumer]], c. 26th to 23rd centuries BC) [[Sumerogram]]s were used in [[Cuneiform writing]] even for non-Sumerian texts until the writing system went out of use around the [[1st century|first century]] AD

* [[Egyptian language#Middle Egyptian|Middle Egyptian]] (literary language of [[Ancient Egypt]] from c. the 20th century BC to the 4th century AD)

* [[Akkadian language#Development|Old Babylonian]] (the Akkadian language from c. 20th to 16th centuries BC, the imitated standard for later literary works)

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* [[Sanskrit#Classical Sanskrit|Classical Sanskrit]] (described by [[Pāṇini|Pāṇini's]] [[Aṣṭādhyāyī|Ashtadhyayi]] of the 4th century BC)<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Panini.html Article "Panini" from ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'' (Sixth Edition) at Encyclopedia.com]</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HR-_LK5kl18C&pg=PA21 |title= The Sanskrit epics, Part 2| volume = 12|first= J. L. |last= Brockington|page = 28|publisher = BRILL| year=1998|isbn=978-90-04-10260-6}}</ref>

* [[Old Tamil|Classical Tamil]] ([[Sangam literature]] c. 3rd century BC to 3rd century AD, defined by [[Tolkāppiyam]])<ref>{{Citation|last=Zvelebil|first=Kamil|year = 1997|title=The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India: On Tamil Literature of South India|publisher=BRILL Academic Publishers. p. 378|isbn=90-04-03591-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VF2VMUoY_okC&q=smile+of+murugan}} Quote: "Chart 1 literature: 1. the "Urtext" of the ''Tolkappiyam'', i.e. the first two sections, ''Eluttatikaram'' and ''Collatikaram'' minus later interpolations, '''ca. 100 BC''' 2. the earliest strata of bardic poetry in the so-called ''Cankam'' anthologies, '''ca. 1 Cent. BC–2 Cent. AD.'''"</ref>

* [[Pali#Pali literature|Classical Pali]] (Buddhist Canoncanon used this language from 2nd centuries BC)

* [[Maharashtri Prakrit]] (a [[Prakrit]] language, was the official language of the Satavahana dynasty c. 2st century BC)

* [[Classical Latin]] (literary language of the 1st century BC)

* [[Mandaic language|Classical Mandaic]] (literary [[Aramaic]] of [[Mandaeism]], 1st century AD)

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===Middle Ages===

* [[Geʽez|Ge'ez]], (language of the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]],; the [[Garima Gospels]] are dated from the 5th century to the 10th century by various scholars).

* [[Classical Armenian]], the (oldest attested form of [[Armenian language|Armenian]] from the 5th century and literary language until the 18th century)

* [[Classical Arabic]], (based on the language of the [[Quran|Qur'an]], 7th century to present; liturgical language of [[Islam]])

* [[Kannada#Old Kannada|Classical Kannada]], (court language of [[Rashtrakuta dynasty|Rashtrakuta empire]],; earliest available literary work is the ''[[Kavirajamarga|Kavirājamārga]]'' of 850 AD) 850.<ref name=BritannicaLit>''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2008. "Kannada literature" Quote: "''The earliest literary work is the ''Kavirājamārga'' (c. AD 850), a treatise on poetics based on a Sanskrit model.''"</ref>

* [[Old Saxon#Literature|Old Saxon]], (language of Saxon Christian literature, 9th to 12th centuries)

* [[Old English]], (language of ''[[Beowulf]]'' and the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' with many divergent written dialects, but partially standardized in [[West Saxon dialect|West Saxon]] form)

* [[Old French]], (language of Chivalric[[chivalric romance]], 8th to 14th centuries)

* [[Old Georgian]], (language of Georgia, 5th to 11th centuries.)

* [[Old East Slavic]], (language of the [[Kievan Rus']], 9th to 13th centuries)

* [[New Persian#Classical Persian|New Persian]], (language of classical [[Persian literature]], 9th to present)

* [[Old Nubian]], (language of [[Nubia]], 9th or 10th to 15th centuries)

* [[Assamese language#Magadhan and Gauda-Kamarupa stages|Old Assamese]], the earliest form of [[Assamese language]], attested between 7th to 12th century CE and emerged during the [[Kamarupa kingdom]]<ref>{{Cite web|date=2024-10-24|title=ASSAMESE (অসমীয়া)–THE HISTORY|url=https://protelostudios.com/assamese/|access-date=2024-10-23 | website=www.protelostudios.com|language=en |quote=The Indo-Aryan language in Kamarupa had differentiated by the 7th-century, before it did in Bengal or Orissa.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |date=2025-02-09 |title=Medieval Indian Literature: Surveys and selections |isbn=978-81-260-0365-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KYLpvaKJIMEC&pg=PA3 |language=en |quote=To find out the written specimens of the Assamese literature, we are to go back to the period of the songs and aphorisms composed by the Buddhist Siddhacharyas between the 8th and the 12th centuries A.D. |author1=Ayyappappanikkar |publisher=Sahitya Akademi }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-31 |title=Assamese language {{!}} Assamese Dialects, Brahmaputra Valley & Eastern India {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Assamese-language |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |quote=Assamese literary tradition dates to the 13th century. Prose texts, notably buranjis (historical works), began to appear in the 16th century.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=2024-08-31 |title=Charyapads as the Oldest Written Specimen of Assamese Literature|url=https://www.neliti.com/publications/429892/charyapads-as-the-oldest-written-specimen-of-assamese-literature#:~:text=While%20dividing%20this%20era%2C%20Charyapad,written%20specimen%20of%20Assamese%20literature.|journal=International Journal of Health Sciences|doi=10.53730/ijhs.v6nS1.6513 |language=en |quote=Charyapads are considered as the first written specimen of Assamese literature. |last1=Deka |first1=Joy Jyoti |last2=Boro |first2=Akashi Tara |pages=7028–7034 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

* [[Old Javanese]] (language of [[Javanese literature|Old Javanese]] literature, used primarily during [[Javanese people#Ancient Javanese kingdoms and empires|Hindu-Buddhist]] Javanese kingdom era from 10th to 15th centuries)<ref name="H.Cresse">{{cite journal |last1=Cresse |first1=Helen |title=Old Javanese Studies: A Review of the Field |journal=Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde |date=2001 |volume=1 |issue=157 |pages=3–33 |doi=10.1163/22134379-90003816 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/43472268 |access-date=23 February 2020|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Ogloblin">{{cite book |last=Ogloblin |first=Alexander K. |year=2005 |chapter=Javanese |title=The Austronesian Languages of Asia and Madagascar |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BAShwSYLbUYC&pg=PA590 |editor1=K. Alexander Adelaar |editor2=Nikolaus Himmelmann |___location=London dan New York |publisher=Routledge |pages=590–624 |isbn=9780700712861 }}</ref>

* [[Old Bengali]], the earliest forms of the [[Bengali Language]], emerged during the [[Kingdom of Gauda]], 7th to 12th centuries.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Das |editor1-first=Amitava |editor2-last=Sanyal |editor2-first=Rajat |editor3-last=Chakraborty |editor3-first=Rajib |title=Classical Bangla |date=2025 |publisher=[[Institute of Language Studies and Research]] (ILSR), Kolkata |___location=[[Kolkata]] |isbn=9788198479358 |page=386 |quote=The beginning of literary expression in Bengali in the 7th century AD as Caryāpada relates that the language developed over a considerable period before it reached the present status of literary expression in the 7th century. The oral traditions-proverbs, riddles, folks, stories which are the staple of the Bengali culture germinated before the written literature and were handed down from generation to generation. .... Caryāpada, which was composed in the 7th century AD, is the earliest literary expression (discovered so far) in Bengali language. Its composition in the 7th century is proof enough of a thirteen hundred years of ancestry of Bengali language in the written form. .... According to French scholar Sylvain Levi, in 657 A.D. during the period of King Narendra Deb, Matsyendranath who is also known as Mīnanātha according to Näthagitikā, travelled to Nepal. He was the founder and propagator of Nathism and also happens to be the oldest writer in the Bengali language, as has been recognized by many.}}</ref>

* [[Old Church Slavonic]] (language of the [[First Bulgarian Empire]] during its Golden Age, 10th century, earliest manuscript is ''Freising manuscripts'')

* [[Old Javanese]], (language of [[Javanese literature|Old Javanese]] literature, used primarily during [[Javanese people#Ancient Javanese kingdoms and empires|Hindu-Buddhist]] Javanese kingdom era from 10th to 15th centuries)<ref name="H.Cresse">{{cite journal |last1=Cresse |first1=Helen |title=Old Javanese Studies: A Review of the Field |journal=Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde |date=2001 |volume=1 |issue=157 |pages=3–33 |doi=10.1163/22134379-90003816 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/43472268 |access-date=23 February 2020|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Ogloblin">{{cite book |last=Ogloblin |first=Alexander K. |year=2005 |chapter=Javanese |title=The Austronesian Languages of Asia and Madagascar |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BAShwSYLbUYC&pg=PA590 |editor1=K. Alexander Adelaar |editor2=Nikolaus Himmelmann |___location=London dan New York |publisher=Routledge |pages=590–624 |isbn=9780700712861 }}</ref>

* [[Classical Tibetan]] (religious and literary language of Tibet, 10th century to present)

* [[ClassicalOld JapaneseChurch Slavonic]], (language of the [[HeianFirst periodBulgarian Empire]] literatureduring its Golden Age, 10th tocentury 12thearliest centuries)manuscript is [[Freising manuscripts]]

* [[MiddleClassical KoreanTibetan]], religious and literary (language of [[Goryeo]] and [[Joseon]]Tibet, 10th tocentury 16thto centuries)present

* [[OldClassical OccitanJapanese]], (language of the [[troubadourHeian period]]s literature, 11th10th to 14th12th centuries)

* [[Middle High GermanKorean]], (language of [[MiddleGoryeo]] Highand German literature|Medieval German literature[[Joseon]], 11th10th to 14th16th centuries)

* [[Old Church Slavonic#Serbian recension|Old SerbianOccitan]], (language of [[Serbia]] before its conquest by the [[Ottoman Empiretroubadour]]s, 11th to 14th centuries)

* [[Middle High German]], language of [[Middle High German literature|Medieval German literature]], 11th to 14th centuries

* [[Telugu language|Classical Telugu]] (The earliest available literary work is the Telugu Mahabharata, 1067 AD)

* [[Old Church Slavonic#Serbian recension|Old Serbian]], language of [[Serbia]] before its conquest by the [[Ottoman Empire]], 11th to 14th centuries

* [[Malayalam|Classical Malayalam]] (The earliest extant prose work is the ''Ramacharitam'', 12th century)<ref name="charitam">K. Ramachandran Nair in Ayyappapanicker (1997), p.301</ref>

* [[OdiaTelugu language|Classical OdiaTelugu]]: (languagethe ofearliest [[Odiaavailable literature]],literary 12thwork tois the Telugu Mahabharata, 18thAD centuries)1067.

* [[Malayalam|Classical Malayalam]]: (Thethe earliest extant prose work is the ''Ramacharitam'', 12th century).<ref name="charitam">K. Ramachandran Nair in Ayyappapanicker (1997), p.301</ref>

* [[Old Norse]] (language of the [[Viking Age]], from the 12th century)

* [[MiddleOdia Bulgarianlanguage|Classical Odia]], (language of the [[Second BulgarianOdia Empireliterature]], 12th to 15th18th centuries)

* [[MiddleOld Low GermanNorse]], (language of the [[HanseaticViking LeagueAge]], 12thfrom tothe 17th12th centuries)century

* [[OldMiddle UyghurBulgarian]] (Turkic, language whichof wasthe spoken[[Second inBulgarian QochoEmpire]], from12th theto 9th–14th15th centuries and in Gansu)

* [[SagasMiddle of Icelanders|ClassicalLow IcelandicGerman]] (the, language of the [[SagasHanseatic of Icelanders|Icelandic sagasLeague]], 13th12th to 17th century)centuries

* [[Old Catalan|Classical CatalanUyghur]], Turkic (language of literaturespoken in the [[Crown of AragonQocho]], 13thfrom tothe 14th9th–14th centuries) and in Gansu

* [[MandinkaSagas languageof Icelanders|Classical MandingIcelandic]], the (language of the [[MaliSagas Empireof Icelanders|Icelandic sagas]], 13th to 16th centuries) century

* [[RuthenianOld languageCatalan|OldClassical RuthenianCatalan]] (one, language of literature in the [[Grand DuchyCrown of LithuaniaAragon]], 13th to 16th14th centuries)

* [[OldMandinka Anatolianlanguage|Classical TurkishManding]], (11thlanguage of the [[Mali Empire]], 13th to 15th16th centuries)

* [[Geʽez#13thRuthenian to 14th centurieslanguage|ClassicalOld Ge'ezRuthenian]], one (language of the [[GoldenGrand AgeDuchy of Ge'ez literatureLithuania]], 13th to 16th centuries)

* [[Old Anatolian Turkish]], 11th to 15th centuries

* [[Early Modern Irish#Classical Gaelic|Classical Irish or Classical Gaelic]] (language of the 13th to 18th centuries Scottish and Irish Gaelic literature)

* [[WolofGeʽez#13th languageto 14th centuries|Classical WolofGe'ez]], (language of the [[JolofEthiopian Empireliterature#Medieval literature (1200–1672)|WolofGolden EmpireAge of Ge'ez literature]], 13th to 19th16th centuries)

* [[Early Modern Irish#Classical Gaelic|Classical Irish or Classical Gaelic]], (language of the 13th to 18th centuries Scottish and Irish Gaelic literature)

* [[Middle English]] (language of [[The Canterbury Tales]], 14th to 15th centuries, with many divergent written dialects, but partially standardized based on London speech)

* [[MiddleWolof Frenchlanguage|Classical Wolof]], (language of the [[FrenchJolof Empire|Wolof RenaissanceEmpire]], 14th13th to 17th19th centuries)

* [[Middle English]], (language of [[The Canterbury Tales]], 14th to 15th centuries, with many divergent written dialects, but partially standardized based on London speech)

* [[History of the Hungarian language#Old Hungarian (10th to 15th centuries)|Classical Hungarian]] (language of [[Hungarian literature]], 14th to 15th centuries)

* [[SonghayMiddle languages|Classical SonghaiFrench]], (lingua francalanguage of the [[SonghaiFrench EmpireRenaissance]], 14th to 16th17th centuries)

* [[EarlyHistory Newof Highthe German]]Hungarian (language#Old ofHungarian the(10th [[Holyto Roman15th Empire]], the [[Germancenturies)|Classical RenaissanceHungarian]], andlanguage theof [[Reformation|ProtestantHungarian Reformationliterature]], 14th to 17th15th centuries)

* [[HistorySonghay of the Malay language#Classical Malaylanguages|Classical MalaySonghai]], (languagelingua franca of the [[Maritime SoutheastSonghai AsiaEmpire]], 14th to 18th16th centuries)

* [[Early New High German]], language of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], the [[German Renaissance]], and the [[Reformation|Protestant Reformation]], 14th to 17th centuries

* [[Marathi language]] derived from early forms of [[Prakrit]]. Marathi is one of several languages that further descend from [[Maharashtri Prakrit]] in 12th to 13th Centuries <ref>{{Cite book |last=Mokāśī |first=Digambara Bālakṛṣṇa |title=Palkhi: an Indian pilgrimage |last2=Mokashi |first2=Digambar Balkrishna |last3=Engblom |first3=Philip C. |last4=Mokāśī |first4=Digambara Bālakṛṣṇa |last5=Mokāśī |first5=Digambara Bālakṛṣṇa |date=1987 |publisher=State Univ. of New York Pr |isbn=978-0-88706-461-6 |___location=Albany, NY}}</ref>

* [[ChagataiHistory of the Malay language#Classical Malay|ChagataiClassical Malay]] (classical Turkic, language of Central[[Maritime Asia andSoutheast the VolgaAsia]], 14th to early 20th18th centuries)

* [[OldChagatai Khmerlanguage|Angkorian Old KhmerChagatai]], classical Turkic (language of theCentral [[KhmerAsia Empire]],and fromthe Volga, 14th century)to early 20th centuries

* [[Old Khmer|Angkorian Old Khmer]], language of the [[Khmer Empire]], from 14th century
* [[Rekhta]], (poetic language of [[Delhi]] and the Northern/Central Indian subcontinent, 13th-18th century, became standardized as [[Urdu]] in the 19th century).

===Amerindian languages===

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===Early modern period===

* [[Awadhi language|Awadhi]] (one of two major literary traditions of Northern India during [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] rule led to its use by poets, 14th to 18th centuries)

{{verify|section|date=March 2023}}

* [[Awadhi language|Awadhi]] (one of two major literary traditions of Northern India during Mughal rule led to its use by poets, 14th to 18th centuries)

* [[Braj literature|Braj Bhasha]] (the second of two major literary traditions in early modern Northern India used by poets, 15th-19th centuries)

* [[Italian language#Renaissance|Renaissance Italian]] (language of the [[Italian Renaissance]], 15th to 16th centuries)

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* [[Ottoman Turkish#History|Classical Ottoman Turkish]] (language of poetry and administration of the [[Ottoman Empire]], 16th to 19th centuries)

* [[Manchu language]] (language of the Manchus who ruled China, 16th–20th centuries)

* [[Harari language|Classical Harari]] (language of the city of [[Harar]]. Major language of Islamic scholarship from the 16th -20th centuries.)

* [[History of the Dutch language#Standardization and Modern Dutch|Early Modern Dutch]] (language of the [[Dutch Golden Age]], 17th century)

* [[History of French#Modern French|Early Modern French]] (language of [[France]] under [[Louis XIV]] to [[Napoleon]], 17th to 18th centuries)

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* [[Sadhu bhasha|Sadhu Bhasha]] (the modern language Bengali from 1820s to 1940s)

* [[Yiddish#Secularization|Classical Yiddish]] (language of the [[Yiddishist movement|Yiddish Renaissance]], 19th–20th centuries)

* [[Classical Newar|Classical Newari]] (language of Malla kingdom and lingua franca in India-Tibet trade)

== See also ==

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*Beach, Adam R. 2001. "The creation of a classical language in the eighteenth century: standardizing English, cultural imperialism, and the future of the literary canon." ''Texas Studies in Literature and Language'' 43, no. 2: 117+.

*Coulson, Michael. 1976. ''Sanskrit: An Introduction to the Classical Language.'' Sevenoaks, Kent: Hodder and Stoughton.

*Crooker, Jill M., and Kathleen A. Rabiteau. 2000. "An interwoven fabric: The AP latinLatin examinations, the SAT II: Latin test, and the national "standards for classical language learning." ''The Classical Outlook'' 77, no. 4: 148–53.

*Denizot, Camille, and Olga Spevak. 2017. ''Pragmatic Approaches to Latin and Ancient Greek.'' Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

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