Sanskrit: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 00:15, 28 February 2005

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The [[Vedic]] form of Sanskrit is a close descendant of [[Proto-Indo-European]], the reconstructed root of all later Indo-European languages. Vedic Sanskrit is the oldest attested language of the [[Indo-Iranian language family|Indo-Iranian]] branch of the Indo-European family. It is very closely related to [[Avestan language|Avestan]], the language of [[Zoroastrianism]]. The genetic relationship of Sanskrit to modern European languages and classical [[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Latin]] can be seen in [[cognates]] like Eng. <i>mother</i> /Skt. &#2350;&#2340;&#2371; <i>{{IPA|mat&#7771;}}</i> or Eng. <i>father</i> /Skt. &#2346;&#2367;&#2340;&#2371; <i>{{IPA|pit&#7771;}}</i>. Other interesting links are to be found between Sanskritic roots and [[Persian language|Persian]] (the language of modern-day [[Iran]]), present in such a striking example as the generic term for 'land' which in Sanskrit is ''sthaan'' and in Persian ''staan''.

European scholarship in Sanskrit, initiated by [[Heinrich Roth]] and [[Johann ErnestErnst Hanxleden]], led to the proposal of the Indo-European language family by [[William Jones (philologist)|Sir William Jones]], and thus played an important role in the development of Western [[linguistics]]. Indeed, [[linguistics]] (along with [[phonology]], etc.) first arose among Indian grammarians who were attempting to catalog and codify Sanskrit's rules. Modern linguistics owes a great deal to these grammarians, and to this day, key terms for compound analysis are taken from Sanksrit.

== Phonology and writing system ==