| Vedic Sanskrit | |
|---|---|
| Native to | South Asia |
| Region | NorthwesternIndian subcontinent |
| Era | c. 1500 – 600 BCE |
Indo-European
| |
Early forms | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | vsn |
| Glottolog | vedi1234 |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
Vedic Sanskrit, also simply referred as theVedic language, is the earliest attested form of theSanskrit andPrakrit languages: members of theIndo-Aryan subgroup of theIndo-European language family. It is attested in theVedas and related literature[1] compiled over the period of the mid-2nd to mid-1st millennium BCE.[2] It isorally preserved, predating the advent of writing by several centuries.[3][4]
Extensive ancient literature in the Vedic Sanskrit language has survived into the modern era, and this has been a major source of information for reconstructingProto-Indo-European andProto-Indo-Iranian history.[5][6]
The separation of Proto-Indo-Iranian language into Proto-Iranian andProto-Indo-Aryan is estimated, on linguistic grounds, to have occurred around or before 1800 BCE.[5][7] The date of composition of the oldest hymns of theRigveda is vague at best, generally estimated to roughly 1500 BCE.[8] BothAsko Parpola (1988) andJ. P. Mallory (1998) place the locus of the division of Indo-Aryan from Iranian in the Bronze Age culture of theBactria–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 theLate Harappan horizon from about 1900 BCE, and "Proto-Rigvedic" (Proto-Dardic) intrusion to Punjab as corresponding to theGandhara grave culture from about 1700 BCE. According to this model, Rigvedic within the larger Indo-Aryan group is the direct ancestor of theDardic languages.[9]
The early Vedic Sanskrit language was far less homogeneous compared to the language described byPāṇini, that is,Classical Sanskrit. The language in the earlyUpanishads of Hinduism and the late Vedic literature approaches Classical Sanskrit.[10] The formalization of the late form of Vedic Sanskrit language into theClassical Sanskrit form is credited toPāṇini'sAṣṭādhyāyī, along withPatanjali'sMahabhasya andKatyayana's commentary that preceded Patanjali's work.[11][12] The earliest epigraphic records of the indigenous rulers of India are written in thePrakrit 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.[13]
Five chronologically distinct strata can be identified within the Vedic language:[14][15][16]
The first three are commonly grouped together, as the Saṃhitās[A] comprising the four Vedas:[B] 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.[19]
Many words in the Vedic Sanskrit of theṚg·veda have cognates or direct correspondences with the ancientAvestan language, but these do not appear in post-Rigvedic Indian texts. The text of theṚg·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.[14][15]
This period includes both the mantra and prose language of theAtharvaveda (Paippalada and Shaunakiya), theṚg·vedaKhilani, theSamaveda Saṃhitā, and the mantras of theYajurveda. These texts are largely derived from the Ṛg·veda, but have undergone certain changes, both by linguistic change and by reinterpretation. For example, the more ancient injunctive verb system is no longer in use.[14][15]
An important linguistic change is the disappearance of theinjunctive, subjunctive, optative, imperative (theaorist). New innovations in Vedic Sanskrit appear such as the development of periphrastic aorist forms. This must have occurred before the time ofPāṇini because Panini makes a list of those from the northwestern region of India who knew these older rules of Vedic Sanskrit.[14][15]
In this layer of Vedic literature, the archaic Vedic Sanskrit verb system has been abandoned, and a prototype of pre-Panini Vedic Sanskrit structure emerges. TheYajñagāthās texts provide a probable link between Vedic Sanskrit, Classical Sanskrit and languages of the Epics. Complex meters such asAnuṣṭubh and rules ofSanskrit prosody had been or were being innovated by this time, but parts of the Brāhmaṇa layers show the language is still close to Vedic Sanskrit.[20][15]
This is the last stratum of Vedic literature, comprising the bulk of theŚrautasūtras andGṛhyasūtras and someUpaniṣads such as theKaṭha Upaniṣad andMaitrāyaṇiya Upaniṣad.[15] These texts elucidate the state of the language which formed the basis of Pāṇini's codification into Classical Sanskrit.[21]
Vedic differs from Classical Sanskrit to an extent comparable to the difference betweenHomeric Greek andClassical Greek.[22]
The following differences between Vedic and Classical Sanskrit may be observed in the phonology:
Vedic had apitch accent[28] which could even change the meaning of the words, and was still in use in Pāṇini's time, as can be inferred by his use of devices to indicate its position.[a]
Since a small number of words in the late pronunciation of Vedic carry the so-called "independentsvarita" on a short vowel, one can argue thatlate Vedic wasmarginally atonal language. Note however that in the metrically restored versions of theRig Vedaalmost all of the syllables carrying anindependentsvarita must revert to a sequence of two syllables, the first of which carries anudātta and the second a so-called dependentsvarita. Early Vedic was thus definitely not a tonal language likeChinese but a pitch accent language likeJapanese, which was inherited from theProto-Indo-European accent.[29]
Pitch accent was not restricted to Vedic. Early Sanskrit grammarianPāṇini gives accent rules for both the spoken language of his post-Vedic time as well as the differences of Vedic accent. However, no extant post-Vedic text with accents are found.[30]
| ā3 (आ३) |
| ī3 (ई३) |
| ū3 (ऊ३) |
| ai3 (ए३) |
| āi4 (ऐ४) |
| ā3i (आ३इ) |
| au3 (ओ३) |
| āu4 (औ४) |
| ā3u (आ३उ) |
| ṝ3 (ॠ३) |
| ḹ3 (ॡ३) |
Pluti, orprolation, is the term for the phenomenon of protracted oroverlong vowels inSanskrit; the overlong orprolated vowels are themselves calledpluta.[31] Pluta vowels are usually noted with a numeral "3" (३) indicating a length of threemorae (trimātra).[32][33]
A diphthong is prolated by prolongation of its first vowel.[32]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 betweenhrasva (short, 1 mora),dīrgha (long, 2 morae) andpluta (prolated, 3+ morae).[32][34]
Pluta vowels are recorded a total of 3 times in theRigveda and 15 times in theAtharvaveda, typically in cases of questioning and particularly where two options are being compared.[31][32] For example:[32]
Thepluti attained the peak of their popularity in theBrahmana period of late Vedic Sanskrit (roughly 8th century BC), with some 40 instances in theShatapatha Brahmana alone.[35]
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