Ishwa helper Reged: 03/03/02 Posts: 553

Re: Sanskrit - 'The Proto Indo European' language? [Re: Bala Umasankar] #12896 - 03/03/02 12:46 PM Edit Reply Quote

Before naming Sanskrit as the PIE we have to assume that Sanskrit is indeed the oldest language and the mother of the whole branch. Suppose it is so, than we immediately meet with problems. About which Sanskrit are we talking? The Vedic language has mainly a more West-UP, Haryana dialect. The Brahmana and Upanishads have a more easterner dialect. The Prakrit languages are named according to their geographical location. Many features ot Prakritic words of those areas don't agree with a reconstructed RigVedic original. But lets stay closer to the RigVeda: What about the change of consonants and vowels and even some Prakritisms within: like the word tita-u for sieve. We clearly miss a consonant. Or the word pani for parni. The RigVeda is the oldest stage of Sanskrit as we have now, but in itself it is already the end of many developments. According to some authorities the VIII th Mandala of mainly the Kanva family has many similarities with the oldest Avestan Gathas. The oldest bulk of the RigVeda are the Mandalas II-VII. Besides the RigVeda we have the AtharvaVeda to compare with, and the prose Brahmana portions. The Samhitas contain the oldest form of Sanskrit, but have many differences within. The Brahmanas have a different stage of Sanskrit so also the Aranyaka-Upanishas. Suppose that (proto-)Vedic is the mother of all other languages of the branch, the differences are becoming greater after being separated, but also because of the (proto-)Vedic language developing into the Vedic Samhita language. This Vedic might be different from the period of exodus, so the changes must be considerable. Technically speaking, the Vedic language is not PIE, that would be proto-Vedic. It all depends on in which period the exodus really happened. But this is all conjecture or supposition.