Sanskrit

History

The Sanskrit belongs to the Indo-European family of languages, in the Indo-Iranian branch , in the Indo-Aryan subbranch . The Sanskrit deeply influenced the languages of the north of India, like the Hindi, the Urdu one, the Bengali, the marathi, the cachemirien, the punjabi, the Nepalese, even the Rromani (Tzigane). Its name, saṃskr̥tam , which means “completed” (see low), is rather recent; the language during centuries was simply indicated by vāc or śabda , “the word, the language”, the Sanskrit being felt like the only possible language; some metaphorical designations, like gīrvāṇabhāṣā , “language of the gods”, mark his eminently religious character well.

The first direction of Sanskrit is that of “old Indo-Aryan”, mother language which gave birth to a multitude of dialects and language sister of old Iranian (or Avestique), from which it hardly separates. According to documents found in countries hittite and compiled in this other Indo-European language, including/understanding some Indo-Aryan words, it is possible to determine that a form of Indo-Aryan was spoken with the oldest attested form of Sanskrit in a more tangible way is named vedic : it is the language in which the Veda S are written, There is only a veda (knowledge) in the form of four volumes: of which the R̥g Veda or “Veda of the anthems (r̥g-) ”, the oldest whole of texts of the Hindouisme. It is however extremely difficult to date the R̥g Veda itself, and thus the beginnings of the real history of the vedic language: the texts crowned, indeed, before were very recited and learned by heart (they are it besides still).

However of recent studies on the seals harrapéens allow to pose in an unquestionable way that Rig-Veda was undoubtedly composed towards 3900 av JC. indeed, Veda contain description of eclipses which it is possible to date precisely. This antiquated and little normalized language is one of closest to the common Indo-European and proves to be invaluable for the compared Linguistique. The Sanskrit vedic is the antiquated form of Sanskrit in which the four Vedas (Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sama-Veda and Atharva-Veda) were made up. The Sanskrit vedic differs from traditional Sanskrit in an extent comparable with the difference between Homérique Greek, and Greek traditional. As an indication, one can indicate the principal differences between the Sanskrit vedic and the traditional Sanskrit (see low for this concept of traditional language ):

the Sanskrit vedic had a fricative deaf bilabial (/ɸ/, Upamādhamīya ) and fricative a velar deaf person (/X/, jihvāmūlīya ) - that it used until the breath visarga respectively appears in front of the labial and velar deaf consonants. Both were lost in traditional Sanskrit.
the Sanskrit vedic had a roughly side rétroflexe ( /ɭ/ ), which was lost in the traditional Sanskrit.
many parallel forms and irregularities, that the traditional Sanskrit will level;
more developed inflections nominal and pronominal;
more forms of participles and gerunds;
use attends of a subjunctive absent from the traditional Sanskrit;
twelve forms of infinitives, against one in traditional Sanskrit;
presence of a pitch; today, the pitch can be only heard in the traditional songs vedic;
rules of Sandhi (see low) less constraining, etc
the traditional Sanskrit also borrowed many words from the languages dravidiennes.

A late form of vedic, already advanced (one notes the disappearance of the subjunctive, for example), form a preclassical Sanskrit, used in the neighborhoods of the {{mini Ve}} or fourth century BC It is this Sanskrit which Pāṇini, undoubtedly the first grammairien of Antiquity (though its structuralist approach can be only the fruit of an older heritage), described phonologiquement and grammatically in a work of a precision and an unequalled formal rigor until modern linguistics develops, well later. This one attempts to describe in its treaty, the Aṣṭādhyāyī , the language which he speaks and underlines the formulas that he considers clean with the vedic anthems, without really saying that they are antiquated. The language starts to be standardized.

At third century BC, the first Prâkrit S (or prākr̥ta , “ordinary”) are attested, in particular thanks to the inscriptions of Ashoka. These languages thus indicated correspond to “noble” dialects less that Sanskrit, i.e. vulgar and vernacular languages of daily use which, quickly, separated from/to each other and gave rise to the multitude of the Indo-Aryan languages present in the Indian sub-continent. All exits of old Indo-Aryan of the origins, they know each one an evolution as well as a destiny different. It is of such prâkrits that come, inter alia, the modern languages like the hindī, the pañjābī (penjâbî), or the bangālī (Bengali). These languages “vulgar” as well as the Vulgar Latin , i.e. “are spoken by the people”; their statute of alive vernacular idioms, therefore of languages considered lower, explains why at least the 19th century should have been waited so that the literature in modern languages supplants finally that in Sanskrit. In addition to the inscriptions of Ashoka, many quotations in prâkrits are also attested in texts Sanskrits, especially in the theater, where the characters of lower row generally express themselves in vernacular language; these testimonys, however, are of literary gasoline, and cannot be taken for money cash. One can establish here an analogy with the “patois” used in certain parts of Molière, like Dom Juan , being used to represent a popular speech; what it gives cannot be regarded as a real certificate of the French vernacular languages of its time, but are likely, mutatis-mutandis , to inform somewhat about these idioms; Molière indeed gives to understand a literary and artificial synthesis probable linguistic features. The literature prâkrite is however represented in a way independent, but often masked by the traditional Sanskrit. One of the prâkrits, the pāḷi, knows a different destiny: become him also crowned language, that of the Buddhism theravâda, it does not evolve/move almost more and remains employed such as it is in the liturgy and interpretations until our days. Lastly, the gun jain, written in a prâkrit named ardhamāgadhī , offers many testimonys, although once again arts persons, of one of the vulgar languages really spoken in Indian Antiquity.

It is in the comments that Patañjali made grammar of Pāṇini (in its work named Mahābhāṣya ), at second century BC, that the first criticisms appear: the commentator proves that the Sanskrit, is still a living language, but that dialectal forms can enamel it; the existence of the prâkrits is thus recognized and the use of blamed vulgar forms; the concept of grammatical standard more strongly appears, and it is as from this moment that the Sanskrit solidified to become the traditional Sanskrit, finally indicated in the texts by means of the term saṃskr̥ta (which is however not used by Patañjali), properly “completed”, “perfectly glossy” (also food is said). The language, after the Christian era, is not spoken any more in a natural way, it is entirely described by grammar and does not evolve/move any more. It is a cultural and religious language, without direct link with the living languages, used often like Lingua franca and like literary language (even by the people not speaking a language resulting from the old Indian, like the speakers of idioms dravidiens), until the languages néo-Indians resulting from the prâkrits, in the neighborhoods of the 14th century, really do not start to be essential on the writing for, at the 19th century, to supplant the Sanskrit in the literary production. It is notable that the tamiḻ, language dravidienne without report/ratio of filiation with the Sanskrit, extremely of a very old culture also, was to him in competition with the Sanskrit much earlier, as of the first centuries after J. - C. One finds loans with the Sanskrit however there.

The history of the Sanskrit can be summarized as follows:

the old Indian theoretical, ancestor of all the Indo-Aryan languages, is especially represented by the vedic then the traditional Sanskrit which, solidifying, gives up its statute of living language to become a literary and immutable idiom;
continuing to evolve/move, the old Indian gives rise to a multitude of languages - the average Indian - named prâkrits , among which the pāḷi, which will not evolve/move any more;
finally, the average Indian evolves/moves in néo-Indian , i.e. the modern living languages, like the hindī or the bangālī.

From kind, all the languages néo-Indians derive from the Sanskrit.

The writing S of the Sanskrit

A long time of purely oral tradition, the religion hindouist did not need to fix its texts. It is tardily that the use of the brāhmī initially (Semi-spelling-book used for the edicts of Ashoka) then of the multitude of writings which derive from it is generalized, for the crowned profane texts then. Each area of India uses the writing which is used for to him to note its own language in order to write the texts sanskrits ; so that the Sanskrit does not have a appointed writing and, especially, can be noted by various semi-spelling-books which must thus be able to represent some Phonème S of which they do not have the use differently. One can give an example of this flexibility of the Indian writings with the same sentence sanskrite noted in several C-Ws communication:
Que Śiva blesses the amateurs of the language of the gods. (Kālidāsa)

They are the British colonists who, during their supremacy, imposed one of these writings, the devanāgarī, it so resulting from the brāhmī. It is now in devanāgarī that one mainly writes the Sanskrit in India and in the Western editions.

Moreover, while being transmitted by the Buddhism, of the Sanskrits terms were adapted in Chinese then in Japanese, whose writings logographic claim the creation of phonetic characters intended for this use or the use of characters independently of their direction; thus, the term Sanskrit Bodhisattva is noted by 菩提薩埵, which was read probably drunk-dej-sat-thwa in Moyen Chinese (nowadays pútísàduǒ , shortened in 菩薩 púsà , from which the French word poussah comes besides, “toy with rocker” then “large corpulent man and débonnaire”!). Of these natures alone 提 tí , “to draw”, and 埵 duǒ , “compact ground”, has a direction, which is évincé in the compound with the profit of the sound, while 菩 and 薩 were never useful that with this transcription and do not have any significance in addition.

Lastly, Xe congress of the Orientalists fixed, in 1894 in Geneva, a Latin transcription which, nowadays, is only used in the Western didactic works. It is this same transcription, which, somewhat increased, also makes it possible to transcribe all the other Indian languages, that they are or not Indo-Aryan, by means of the same symbols. This transcription is described in detail in the article devoted to with the traditional transcription of the languages of India.

Study of the culture of expression sanskrite in France

The literature sanskrite being one of richest world, all at the same time by its extension in time and the variety of the subjects of which it treats, it fascinated many people apart from India. In France, the most important contributor with the knowledge of the culture of expression sanskrite is the indianist Louis Renou (1896 - 1966).

An important French reference book, very useful for the knowledge of this culture, is L' India Classique, Manuel of the studies indiennes (2 vol.), which it directed with his colleague Jean Filliozat (1906 - 1982).

Principal characteristics

Phonology

The traditional Sanskrit has 48 phonemes:

vowels, by pairs short-long

monophtongues: /a/-/ ā/, /u/-/ ū/, /i/-/ ī/
diphthongs: /e/-/ai/, /o/-/au/
consonants syllabic:

spirantes side/ḷ/
rolled rétroflexes/ṛ/-/ṝ/

consonants

plosives at the joints respective bilabial, dental, rétroflexe, palatal, velar:

deaf

not aspired /p/, /t/,/ṭ/, /c/, aspired /k/
: /ph/, /dh/,/ṭh/, /ch/, /gh/

sound

not aspired: /b/, /d/,/ḍ/, /j/, aspired /g/
: /bh/, /dh/,/ḍh/, /jh/, nasal /gh/

: /m/, /n/,/ṇ/,/ñ/,/ṅ/

fricative at the joints dental, rétroflexe, palatal, glottal (sound): liquid /s/,/ṣ/,/ś/, /h/
at the joints labiodental, dental, rétroflexe, palatal: /v/, /l/, /r/, /y/
prolonging the preceding consonant:

fricative prolongation glottale deaf/ḥ/
nasal prolongation/ṃ/

detailed Article: phonology of the Sanskrit .

Morphology

The Sanskrit is a inflected Language.

The verbs combine according to three voice (activates, average, passivates), three modes (indicative, Optatif, Impératif), four temporal systems and Aspect uels:

present (present, Imperfect),
future (future, Conditional),
Aorist,
Perfect

and three nobody S. Existent also forms for the Infinitif and the Gérondif, like for various modes of lawsuit (Fréquentatif, Causatif, etc). The inflection uses Préfixe S, suffix S and Infixe S, as well as the Redoublement and the Ablaut.

The Substantive S and the Pronom S know three kinds (male, female, Neutre), three number S (Singulier, duel, Pluriel) and eight Cas (Nominatif, Vocatif, Accusatif, Instrumental, Datif, Ablatif, Génitif, Locatif). The inflection uses the affixation and the vocalic Alternance.

The language has features agglutinant S with regard to the construction of made up words following the example German .

detailed Article: Morphology of the Sanskrit .

Syntax

The word order in Sanskrit is relatively free with a tendency SOV.

detailed Article: Syntax of the Sanskrit .

Sanskrit in the saga Star Wars

George Lucas enormously took as a starting point the Sanskrit, language which he appreciated much, for the proper names of the universe of Star Wars .

Words such as Vader, Yoda, Padawan, Padmé… are words of origin sankrite.

See too

Internal bonds

Linguistic

Dictionary of the languages

Languages by family

Indo-European Languages

Indo-Iranian Languages

Indo-Aryan Languages

Languages by geographical area

Languages of India

the Grammar of the Sanskrit:

Yoga

External bonds

Guide of pronunciation of the Sanskrit with the International Phonetic Alphabet (API)
Dictionary French-Sanskrit by Gerard Huet
Initiation with the Sanskrit

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