Classical languages of India

[C.R. Selvakumar]

'>'
'>'Am 27 Sep 2000, um 22:08 schrieb ravindran sri:
'>'
'>'> Classical languages of India
'>'> Toda, Santhali, Mundari, Badaga, [...]
'>'>
'>'> Ofcourse people would say Tamil,Sanskrit etc. (which is an Orientalist
'>'> conspiracy!)
'>'
'>'Another evil conspiracy? By whom, and why?
'>'
'>''Classical' does not mean the same as 'ancient' or 'attested since
'>'very old times'. Furthermore, that something is not 'classical' does
'>'*not* mean that it is not worth serious scholarly attention. (Perhaps
'>'this needs to be mentioned here.)

    Would you or soemone else on this list be kind enough to explain
    what is a classical language and why Tamil is not one of them ?

    Thanks

    C.R.Selvakumar
'>'
'>'RZ
'>'Prof. Dr. Robert J. Zydenbos
'>'Institut f=FCr Indologie und Iranistik
'>'Universit=E4t M=FCnchen
'>'Tel. (089) 2180-5782
'>'E-mail zydenbos at gmx.de