A
classical language, is a language with a
literature that is
classical— i.e.,
it should be ancient, it should be an independent tradition that arose mostly on its own, not as an offshoot of another tradition, and it must have a large and extremely rich body of ancient literature.[1] (
UC Berkeley linguist
George L. Hart)
Thus classical languages tend to be either dead languages, or show a high degree of diglossia, as the spoken varieties of the language diverge further and further away from the classical written language over centuries.
In a most restricted meaning, in the inherently Eurocentric context of Classical studies, "the Classical Languages" are the Greek and Latin literary languages of Classical Antiquity, foundational to Western culture.
In terms of worldwide cultural importance, Edward Sapir in Language (1921) would extend the list by Chinese, Arabic and Sanskrit
