Editing Classical language (section)

===Antiquity===
* [[Sumerian language#Stages|Classical Sumerian]] (literary language of [[Sumer]], c. 26th to 23rd centuries BC) [[Sumerogram]]s were used in [[Cuneiform]] even for non-Sumerian texts until the writing system went out of use around the 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)
* [[Akkadian language#Development|Middle Assyrian]] (the Akkadian language from c. 16th to 13th centuries BC)
* [[Vedic Sanskrit]] (the form of Sanskrit before Classical standardization was used in Vedic texts from c. 15th to 5th centuries BC)
* [[Biblical Hebrew|Classical Hebrew]] (the language of the [[Hebrew Bible|Tanakh]], in particular of the [[Nevi'im|prophetic books]] of c. the 7th and 6th centuries BC)
* [[Old Persian]] (court language of the [[Achaemenid Empire]], 6th to 4th centuries BC)
* [[Classical Chinese]] (based on the literary language, [[Yayan]], used in the capital [[Luoyang]] of the [[Eastern Zhou|Eastern Zhou Dynasty]] from c. the 5th century BC)
* [[Ancient Greek|Classical Greek]] ([[Attic Greek|Attic dialect]] of the 5th century BC)
* [[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>
* [[Maharashtri Prakrit]] (a [[Prakrit]] language, was the official language of the Satavahana dynasty c. 3rd century BC to 3rd century AD)
* [[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 canon used this language from 2nd centuries BC)
* [[Classical Latin]] (literary language of the 1st century BC)
* [[Mandaic language|Classical Mandaic]] (literary [[Aramaic]] of [[Mandaeism]], 1st century AD)
* [[Syriac language#History|Classical Syriac]] (literary [[Aramaic]] of [[Syriac Christianity]],  3rd to 5th centuries)
* [[Middle Persian]] (court language of the [[Sasanian Empire|Sassanid Empire]], 3rd to 7th centuries)
* [[Coptic language|Classical Coptic]] (language of Egypt and the [[Coptic Orthodox Church|Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria]], 3rd to 13th centuries, liturgical language to the present day)