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Criteria
The criteria for declaring a language as classical mandates high antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1,500- 2,000 years, a body of ancient lit-erature/texts which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers and a literary tradition that is original and not borrowed from another speech community. Also since the classical language and literature is distinct from the modern, there can also be a discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or its offshoots.11