Question

Which one was given classical language status recently?
A) Odia
B) Konkani
C) Bhojpuri
D) Assamese

Answer 1

Hint: A classical language has its own literary tradition as well as a substantial and ancient corpus of written literature. Classical languages are often dead languages, or display a high degree of diglossia, as spoken dialects diverge from the classical written language through time.

Complete answer:
Six Indian languages have been designated as classical languages: Tamil, Telugu, Sanskrit, Kannada, Malayalam, and Odia. Tamil is the first language to be given that rank. In 2004, Tamil was designated as a classical language.

Let us look at the given options:
A) Odia: This is the correct answer. Following approval by the Union Cabinet on February 20, 2014, the Odia (Odia) language became the country's sixth classical language. Odia is regarded as the first Indo-Aryan language, and its classification as a classical language was based on the fact that it bears no resemblance to Hindi, Sanskrit, Bengali, or Telugu.
B) Konkani: This option is incorrect because Konkani is not given the status of classical language. Konkani is an Indo-Aryan language spoken predominantly along India's western coast by the Konkani people.
C) Bhojpuri: Because Bhojpuri does not have the status of a classical language, this option is wrong. Bhojpuri is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by 51 million people in India's Northern-Eastern region and Nepal's Terai area. Western Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh are the main areas where it is spoken.
D) Assamese: Assamese, also known as Asamiya, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken mostly in the state of Assam in northeast India, where it is an official language. Because Assamese does not have the status of a classical language, this option is wrong.

Thus, the correct answer is Option (A) i.e, Odia.

Note: A high antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1,500-2,000 years, a body of ancient literature/texts that is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers, and a literary tradition that is original and not borrowed from another speech community are all required for a language to be classified as classical.