Vedic Sanskrit

Prehistoric derivation The separation of Proto-Indo-Iranian language into Proto-Iranian and Proto-Indo-Aryan is estimated, on linguistic grounds, to have occurred around or before 1800 BCE. The date of composition of the oldest hymns of the Rigveda is vague at best, generally estimated to roughly 1500 BCE. Both Asko Parpola (1988) and J. P. Mallory (1998) place the locus of the division of Indo-Aryan from Iranian in the Bronze Age culture of the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC). Parpola (1999) elaborates the model and has "Proto-Rigvedic" Indo-Aryans intrude the BMAC around 1700 BCE. He assumes early Indo-Aryan presence in the Late Harappan horizon from about 1900 BCE, and "Proto-Rigvedic" (Proto-Dardic) intrusion to Punjab as corresponding to the Gandhara grave culture from about 1700 BCE. According to this model, Rigvedic within the larger Indo-Aryan group is the direct ancestor of the Dardic languages. The early Vedic Sanskrit language was far less homogeneous compared to the language described by Pāṇini, that is, Classical Sanskrit. The language in the early Upanishads of Hinduism and the late Vedic literature approaches Classical Sanskrit. The formalization of the late form of Vedic Sanskrit language into the Classical Sanskrit form is credited to Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī, along with Patanjali's Mahabhasya and Katyayana's commentary that preceded Patanjali's work. The earliest epigraphic records of the indigenous rulers of India are written in the Prakrit language. Originally the epigraphic language of the whole of India was mainly Prakrit and Sanskrit is first noticed in the inscriptions of North India from about the second half of the 1st century BCE. Sanskrit gradually ousted Prakrit from the field of Indian epigraphy in all parts of the country. Chronology Five chronologically distinct strata can be identified within the Vedic language: • Ṛg-vedic • Mantra • Saṃhitā prose • Brāhmaṇa prose • Sūtras The first three are commonly grouped together, as the Saṃhitās comprising the four Vedas: ṛg, atharvan, yajus, sāman, which together constitute the oldest texts in Sanskrit and the canonical foundation both of the Vedic religion, and the later religion known as Hinduism. Ṛg-vedic Many words in the Vedic Sanskrit of the Ṛg·veda have cognates or direct correspondences with the ancient Avestan language, but these do not appear in post-Rigvedic Indian texts. The text of the Ṛg·veda must have been essentially complete by around the 12th century BCE. The pre-1200 BCE layers mark a gradual change in Vedic Sanskrit, but there is disappearance of these archaic correspondences and linguistics in the post-Rigvedic period. ==Phonology==

Vedic differs from Classical Sanskrit to an extent comparable to the difference between Homeric Greek and Classical Greek. The following differences between Vedic and Classical Sanskrit may be observed in the phonology: • Vedic had a voiced retroflex lateral approximant as well as its breathy-voiced counterpart , which are not found in classical Sanskrit; these were allophones of the corresponding plosives ḍ () and ḍh (). • The vowels e and o were realized in Vedic as diphthongs ai and au, but they became monophthongs in later Sanskrit, such as ' > 'and '>'. However, the diphthongal quality still resurfaces in sandhi. • The vowels ai and au were realized in Vedic as long diphthongs āi and āu, respectively, but they became correspondingly short in Classical Sanskrit: ' > '. • The Prātiśākhyas claim that the "dental" consonants were articulated from the teeth ridge (dantamūlīya, alveolar), but they became dentals later, whereas most other authorities including Pāṇini designate them as dentals. • The Prātiśākhyas are inconsistent about but generally claim that it was also a dantamūlīya. According to Pāṇini it is a retroflex consonant. which only distinguishes tone height. However, the contraction of two syllables, the first of which carries an udātta (high pitch) and the second a so-called "dependent svarita" (high falling pitch), gave rise to a small number of words with the "independent svarita" on a short vowel in a late pronunciation of Vedic. The origin of the independent svarita can be inferred from metrically restored versions of the Rig Veda. This tonal system persisted for some time after the Vedic period. Early Sanskrit grammarian Pāṇini marked the position of the accent, giving accent rules for both the spoken language of his time as well as the differences of Vedic accent. However, no extant post-Vedic text with accents are found. Pluti Pluti, or prolation, is the term for the phenomenon of protracted or overlong vowels in Sanskrit; the overlong or prolated vowels are themselves called pluta. Pluta vowels are usually noted with a numeral "3" () indicating a length of three morae (). A diphthong is prolated by prolongation of its first vowel. Pāṇinian grammarians recognise the phonetic occurrence of diphthongs measuring more than three morae in duration, but classify them all as prolated (i.e. trimoraic) to preserve a strict tripartite division of vocalic length between (short, 1 mora), (long, 2 morae) and (prolated, 3+ morae). () rendered with pluta'' Pluta vowels are recorded a total of 3 times in the Rigveda and 15 times in the Atharvaveda, typically in cases of questioning and particularly where two options are being compared. For example: • : "Was it above? Was it below?" : Rigveda 10.129.5d • : "Is this larger? Or this?" : Atharvaveda 9.6.18 The attained the peak of their popularity in the Brahmana period of late Vedic Sanskrit (roughly 8th century BC), with some 40 instances in the Shatapatha Brahmana alone. ==Grammar==