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| name            = Vedic Sanskrit
| name            = Vedic Sanskrit
| nativename      =  
| nativename      =  
| region           = Northwestern [[Indian subcontinent]] and eastern [[Iranian plateau]]
| states           = [[South Asia]]
| states           = [[Pakistan]], [[Afghanistan]], [[India]] and [[Nepal]]
| region           = Northwestern [[Indian subcontinent]]
| era              = {{circa|1500}} - 600 BCE
| ethnicity        =
| era              = {{circa|1500}} – 600 BCE
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2            = [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
| fam2            = [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
| fam3            = [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]]
| fam3            = [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]]
| iso3            = –<!-- vsn has been proposed but has not yet been approved -->
| ancestor        = [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]]
| ancestor2        = [[Proto-Indo-Iranian language|Proto-Indo-Iranian]]
| ancestor3        = [[Proto-Indo-Aryan language|Proto-Indo-Aryan]]
| iso3            = vsn
| isoexception    = dialect
| isoexception    = dialect
| iso3comment      = ({{code|vsn}} is proposed)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://iso639-3.sil.org/request/2011-041|title=Change Request Documentation: 2011-041|publisher=[[SIL International]]}}</ref>{{update after|2012|6}}
| linglist        = vsn
| linglist2        = qnk
| lingname2        = Rigvedic
| notice          = IPA
| notice          = IPA
| ietf            = sa-vaidika
| glotto          = vedi1234
| glottorefname    = Vedic Sanskrit
}}
}}


'''Vedic Sanskrit''' was an ancient language of the [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] subgroup of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European language]] family. It is attested in the [[Vedas]] and related literature<ref>Burrow, p. 43.</ref> compiled over the period of the mid-[[2nd millennium BCE|2nd]] to mid-1st millennium BCE.<ref name="Mair2006p160">{{cite book|author=Michael Witzel|author-link=Michael Witzel|chapter=Early Loanwords in Western Central Asia: Indicators of Substrate Populations, Migrations, and Trade Relations|editor=Victor H. Mair|title=Contact And Exchange in the Ancient World|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8-OilJCX1moC&pg=PA160|year=2006|publisher=[[University of Hawaii Press]]|isbn=978-0-8248-2884-4|page=160}}</ref> It was [[oral tradition|orally preserved]], predating the advent of writing by several centuries.<ref>Macdonell (1916), §1.2.</ref><ref>Reich, p. 122.</ref>
'''Vedic Sanskrit''', also simply referred as the '''Vedic language''', is the earliest attested form of the [[Sanskrit]] and [[Prakrit]] languages: members of the [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] subgroup of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European language]] family. It is attested in the [[Vedas]] and related literature{{Sfn|Burrow|2001|p=43}} compiled over the period of the mid-[[2nd millennium BCE|2nd]] to mid-1st millennium BCE.<ref name="Mair2006p160">{{cite book|first=Michael |last=Witzel|author-link=Michael Witzel|chapter=Early Loanwords in Western Central Asia: Indicators of Substrate Populations, Migrations, and Trade Relations|editor-first=Victor H. |editor-last=Mair|title=Contact And Exchange in the Ancient World|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8-OilJCX1moC&pg=PA160|year=2006|publisher=[[University of Hawaii Press]]|isbn=978-0-8248-2884-4|page=160}}</ref> It is [[oral tradition|orally preserved]], predating the local advent of writing by several centuries.{{Sfn|Macdonell|1916|p=2}}{{Sfn|Reich|2019|p=122}}


Extensive ancient literature in the Vedic Sanskrit language has survived into the modern era, and this has been a major source of information for reconstructing [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] and [[Proto-Indo-Iranian language|Proto-Indo-Iranian]] history.<ref name="Baldi1983p51"/><ref name=beckwith366/>
Extensive ancient literature in the Vedic Sanskrit language has survived into the modern era, and this has been a major source of information for reconstructing [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] and [[Proto-Indo-Iranian language|Proto-Indo-Iranian]] history.<ref name="Baldi1983p51">{{cite book|first=Philip |last=Baldi|author-link=Philip Baldi|title=An Introduction to the Indo-European Languages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lq-mkL23oh8C&pg=PA51 |year=1983|publisher=Southern Illinois University Press|isbn=978-0-8093-1091-3|pages=51–52}}</ref><ref name=beckwith366>{{cite book|first=Christopher I. |last=Beckwith|title=Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5jG1eHe3y4EC |year=2009|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-13589-2|pages=363–368}}</ref>
 
In the [[pre-historic era]], Proto-Indo-Iranian split into [[Proto-Iranian]] and Proto-Indo-Aryan and the two languages evolved independently of each other.<ref name="Baldi1983p51">{{cite book|author=Philip Baldi|author-link=Philip Baldi|title=An Introduction to the Indo-European Languages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lq-mkL23oh8C&pg=PA51 |year=1983|publisher=Southern Illinois University Press|isbn=978-0-8093-1091-3|pages=51–52}}</ref><ref name=beckwith366>{{cite book|author=Christopher I. Beckwith|title=Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5jG1eHe3y4EC |year=2009|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-13589-2|pages=363–368}}</ref>


==History==
==History==
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{{further|Substratum in Vedic Sanskrit}}
{{further|Substratum in Vedic Sanskrit}}


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.<ref name="Baldi1983p51"/><ref>{{Cite book| last =Mallory | first =J.P. | author-link =J.P. Mallory | year =1989 | title =In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology, and Myth | place =London | publisher =Thames & Hudson | page=38f}}</ref>  
The separation of Proto-Indo-Iranian language into Proto-Iranian and [[Proto-Indo-Aryan language|Proto-Indo-Aryan]] is estimated, on linguistic grounds, to have occurred around or before 1800 BCE.<ref name="Baldi1983p51"/><ref>{{Cite book| last =Mallory | first =J.P. | author-link =J.P. Mallory | year =1989 | title =In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology, and Myth | place =London | publisher =Thames & Hudson | page=38f}}</ref>  
The date of composition of the oldest hymns of the [[Rigveda]] is vague at best, generally estimated to roughly 1500 BCE.<ref>{{cite book|author1=J. P. Mallory|author2=Douglas Q. Adams|title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzU3RIV2BWIC|year=1997|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-884964-98-5|page=306}}</ref> 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 [[Indus Valley Civilization#Collapse and Late Harappan|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]].<ref>Parpola, Asko (1999), "The formation of the Aryan branch of Indo-European", in Blench, Roger & Spriggs, Matthew, Archaeology and Language, vol. III: Artefacts, languages and texts, London and New York: Routledge.</ref>
The date of composition of the oldest hymns of the [[Rigveda]] is vague at best, generally estimated to roughly 1500 BCE.<ref>{{cite book|author1=J. P. Mallory|author2=Douglas Q. Adams|title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzU3RIV2BWIC|year=1997|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-884964-98-5|page=306}}</ref> 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 [[Indus Valley civilisation#Collapse and Late Harappan|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]].<ref>Parpola, Asko (1999), "The formation of the Aryan branch of Indo-European", in Blench, Roger & Spriggs, Matthew, Archaeology and Language, vol. III: Artefacts, languages and texts, London and New York: Routledge.</ref>


The early Vedic Sanskrit language was far less homogeneous compared to the language defined by Pāṇini, i.e., Classic Sanskrit. The language in the early [[Upanishads]] of Hinduism and the late Vedic literature approaches Classical Sanskrit.<ref name="Gombrich2006p24">{{cite book|author=Richard Gombrich|title=Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jZyJAgAAQBAJ |year=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-90352-8|pages=24–25}}</ref> The formalization of the late form of Vedic Sanskrit language into the [[Sanskrit|Classical Sanskrit]] form is credited to [[Pāṇini]]'s ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'', along with [[Patanjali]]'s ''Mahabhasya'' and Katyayana's commentary that preceded Patanjali's work.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Gérard Huet|author2=Amba Kulkarni|author3=Peter Scharf|title=Sanskrit Computational Linguistics: First and Second International Symposia Rocquencourt, France, October 29–31, 2007 Providence, RI, USA, May 15–17, 2008, Revised Selected Papers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t2f1hneiV08C |year=2009|publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-642-00154-3|pages=v–vi}}</ref><ref>Louis Renou & Jean Filliozat.  ''L'Inde Classique, manuel des etudes indiennes'', vol.II pp.86–90, [[École française d'Extrême-Orient]], 1953, reprinted 2000.  {{ISBN|2-85539-903-3}}.</ref>
The early Vedic Sanskrit language was far less homogeneous compared to the language described by [[Pāṇini]], that is, [[Sanskrit|Classical Sanskrit]]. The language in the early [[Upanishads]] of Hinduism and the late Vedic literature approaches Classical Sanskrit.<ref name="Gombrich2006p24">{{cite book|author=Richard Gombrich|title=Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jZyJAgAAQBAJ |year=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-90352-8|pages=24–25}}</ref> The formalization of the late form of Vedic Sanskrit language into the [[Sanskrit|Classical Sanskrit]] form is credited to [[Pāṇini]]'s ''[[Aṣṭādhyāyī]]'', along with [[Patanjali]]'s ''[[Mahabhashya|Mahabhasya]]'' and [[Katyayana]]'s commentary that preceded Patanjali's work.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Gérard Huet|author2=Amba Kulkarni|author3=Peter Scharf|title=Sanskrit Computational Linguistics: First and Second International Symposia Rocquencourt, France, October 29–31, 2007 Providence, RI, USA, May 15–17, 2008, Revised Selected Papers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t2f1hneiV08C |year=2009|publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-642-00154-3|pages=v–vi}}</ref><ref>Louis Renou & Jean Filliozat.  ''L'Inde Classique, manuel des etudes indiennes'', vol.II pp.86–90, [[École française d'Extrême-Orient]], 1953, reprinted 2000.  {{ISBN|2-85539-903-3}}.</ref>  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.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/indianepigraphy0000sirc/page/38/mode/2up?q=Sanskrit | title=Indian epigraphy | date=1965 | publisher=Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass }}</ref>


===Chronology===
===Chronology===
Five chronologically distinct strata can be identified within the Vedic language:{{sfn|Michael Witzel|1989|pp=115-127 (see pp. 26-30 in the archived-url)}}<ref name=witz24>{{cite book|author=Klaus G. Witz|title=The Supreme Wisdom of the Upaniṣads: An Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2jnPlEqwe_UC&pg=PA24|year=1998|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1573-5|page=24 with note 73}}</ref><ref>Burrow, pp. 43.</ref>
Five chronologically distinct strata can be identified within the Vedic language:{{sfn|Michael Witzel|1989|pp=115–127 (see pp. 26–30 in the archived-url)}}<ref name=witz24>{{cite book|author=Klaus G. Witz|title=The Supreme Wisdom of the Upaniṣads: An Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2jnPlEqwe_UC&pg=PA24|year=1998|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1573-5|page=24 with note 73}}</ref><ref>Burrow, pp. 43.</ref>


# Ṛg-vedic
# Ṛg-vedic
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# [[Sūtras]]
# [[Sūtras]]


The first three are commonly grouped together, as the Saṃhitās{{efn-ua|'compiled', 'put together'<ref>MWW, p. 1123.</ref>}} comprising the four Vedas:{{efn-ua|from ''vid-'', 'to know', cognate with Eng. 'wit'<ref>MWW, p.963.</ref>}} ṛk, 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.<ref name=jb12>J&B, pp. 1-2.</ref>
The first three are commonly grouped together, as the Saṃhitās{{efn-ua|'compiled', 'put together'<ref>MWW, p. 1123.</ref>}} comprising the four Vedas:{{efn-ua|from ''vid-'', 'to know', cognate with Eng. 'wit'<ref>MWW, p.963.</ref>}} 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.<ref name=jb12>J&B, pp. 1–2.</ref>


====Ṛg-vedic====  
====Ṛg-vedic====
Many words in the Vedic Sanskrit of the ''[[Rigveda|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 <!-- not the compilation of the 10 books, see Jamison --> ''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.{{sfn|Michael Witzel|1989|pp=115-127 (see pp. 26-30 in the archived-url)}}<ref name=witz24/>
Many words in the Vedic Sanskrit of the ''[[Rigveda|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 <!-- not the compilation of the 10 books, see Jamison --> ''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.{{sfn|Michael Witzel|1989|pp=115–127 (see pp. 26–30 in the archived-url)}}<ref name=witz24/>


====Mantra language====  
====Mantra language====
This period includes both the mantra and prose language of the ''[[Atharvaveda]]'' (Paippalada and Shaunakiya), the ''Ṛg·veda'' [[Khilani]], the ''[[Samaveda]]'' Saṃhitā, and the mantras of the [[Yajurveda]]. 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.{{sfn|Michael Witzel|1989|pp=115-127 (see pp. 26-30 in the archived-url)}}<ref name=witz24/>
This period includes both the mantra and prose language of the ''[[Atharvaveda]]'' (Paippalada and Shaunakiya), the ''Ṛg·veda'' [[Khilani]], the ''[[Samaveda]]'' Saṃhitā, and the mantras of the [[Yajurveda]]. 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.{{sfn|Michael Witzel|1989|pp=115–127 (see pp. 26–30 in the archived-url)}}<ref name=witz24/>


====Saṃhitā====  
====Saṃhitā====
An important linguistic change is the disappearance of the [[injunctive mood|injunctive]], subjunctive, optative, imperative (the [[aorist]]). New innovations in Vedic Sanskrit appear such as the development of periphrastic aorist forms. This must have occurred before the time of [[Pāṇini]] because Panini makes a list of those from the northwestern region of India who knew these older rules of Vedic Sanskrit.{{sfn|Michael Witzel|1989|pp=115-127 (see pp. 26-30 in the archived-url)}}<ref name=witz24/>
An important linguistic change is the disappearance of the [[injunctive mood|injunctive]], subjunctive, optative, imperative (the [[aorist]]). New innovations in Vedic Sanskrit appear such as the development of periphrastic aorist forms. This must have occurred before the time of [[Pāṇini]] because Panini makes a list of those from the northwestern region of India who knew these older rules of Vedic Sanskrit.{{sfn|Michael Witzel|1989|pp=115–127 (see pp. 26–30 in the archived-url)}}<ref name=witz24/>


====Brāhmaṇa prose====  
====Brāhmaṇa prose====
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. The ''Yajñagāthās'' texts provide a probable link between Vedic Sanskrit, Classical Sanskrit and languages of the Epics. Complex meters such as ''[[Anuṣṭubh]]'' and rules of [[Sanskrit 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.{{sfn|Michael Witzel|1989|pp=121-127 (see pp. 29-31 in the archived-url)}}<ref name=witz24/>
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. The ''Yajñagāthās'' texts provide a probable link between Vedic Sanskrit, Classical Sanskrit and languages of the Epics. Complex meters such as ''[[Anuṣṭubh]]'' and rules of [[Sanskrit 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.{{sfn|Michael Witzel|1989|pp=121–127 (see pp. 29–31 in the archived-url)}}<ref name=witz24/>


====Sūtra language====  
====Sūtra language====
This is the last stratum of Vedic literature, comprising the bulk of the [[Kalpa (Vedanga)#Śrauta Sutras|Śrautasūtras]] and [[Kalpa (Vedanga)|Gṛhyasūtras]] and some ''[[Upanishads|Upaniṣad]]''s such as the ''[[Katha Upanishad|Kaṭha Upaniṣad]]'' and ''[[Maitrayaniya Upanishad|Maitrāyaṇiya Upaniṣad]]''.<ref name=witz24/> These texts elucidate the state of the language which formed the basis of Pāṇini's codification into Classical Sanskrit.<ref>Burrow, pp44.</ref>
This is the last stratum of Vedic literature, comprising the bulk of the [[Kalpa (Vedanga)#Śrauta Sutras|Śrautasūtras]] and [[Kalpa (Vedanga)|Gṛhyasūtras]] and some ''[[Upanishads|Upaniṣad]]''s such as the ''[[Katha Upanishad|Kaṭha Upaniṣad]]'' and ''[[Maitrayaniya Upanishad|Maitrāyaṇiya Upaniṣad]]''.<ref name=witz24/> These texts elucidate the state of the language which formed the basis of Pāṇini's codification into Classical Sanskrit.<ref>Burrow, pp44.</ref>


==Phonology==
==Phonology==
Vedic differs from Classical Sanskrit to an extent comparable to the difference between [[Homeric Greek]] and [[Classical Greek]]<!-- this is not just in phonology though!-->.
Vedic differs from Classical Sanskrit to an extent comparable to the difference between [[Homeric Greek]] and [[Classical Greek]]<!-- this is not just in [[phonology]] though!-->.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Chadwick |first1=H. Munro |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ds2oBKF_FrUC&pg=PA460 |title=The Growth of Literature |last2=Chadwick |first2=Nora K. |date=2010-10-31 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-01615-5 |pages=460 |language=en}}</ref>


The following differences may be observed in the phonology:
The following differences between Vedic and Classical Sanskrit may be observed in the phonology:


* Vedic had a [[voiceless bilabial fricative]] ({{IPAblink|ɸ}}, called ''upadhmānīya''{{efn-lr|उपध्मानीय}}) and a [[voiceless velar fricative]] ({{IPAblink|x}}, called ''jihvāmūlīya''{{efn-lr|जिह्वामूलीय}})—which used to occur as [[allophones]] of ''visarga'' ''ḥ'' appeared before voiceless [[labial consonant|labial]] and [[velar consonant]]s respectively. Both of them were lost in Classical Sanskrit to give way to the simple ''visarga''. ''Upadhmānīya'' occurs before ''{{IAST|p}}'' and ''{{IAST|ph}}'', ''jihvāmūlīya'' before ''{{IAST|k}}'' and ''{{IAST|kh}}''.<ref>Macdonnell, §43.</ref>
* Vedic had a [[voiced retroflex lateral approximant]] {{IPA|[ɭ]}}{{efn-lr|{{lang|sa|ळ}}}} as well as its breathy-voiced counterpart {{IPA|[ɭʱ]}},{{efn-lr|{{lang|sa|ळ्ह}}}} which are not found in classical Sanskrit; these were allophones of the corresponding plosives ''ḍ'' ({{IPA|/ɖ/}}) and ''ḍh'' ({{IPA|/ɖʱ/}}).{{Sfn|Macdonell|1916|p=16-17}}  
* Vedic had a [[retroflex lateral approximant]]  ([ɭ]){{efn-lr|{{lang|sa|ळ}}}} as well as its breathy-voiced counterpart ([ɭʱ]),{{efn-lr|{{lang|sa|ळ्ह}}}} which are not found in classical Sanskrit, with the corresponding plosives ''ḍ''(/ɖ/)and ''ḍh''(/ɖʱ/) instead;<ref>Macdonell, 1916, §15.2d.</ref> it was also metrically a cluster, suggesting [[Proto-Indo-Aryan]] pronunciations of *{{IPA|[ʐɖ]}} and *{{IPA|[ʐɖʱ]}} (see [[Mitanni-Aryan]]) before the loss of voiced sibilants, which occurred after the split of Proto-Indo-Iranian.<ref>Macdonnell, §15.</ref>
* The vowels ''e'' and ''o'' were realized in Vedic as [[diphthong]]s ''ai'' and ''au'', but they became [[monophthong]]s in later Sanskrit, such as ''{{IAST|daivá-}}'' > ''{{IAST|devá-}}''and ''{{IAST|áika-}}''>''{{IAST|ekā-}}''. However, the diphthongal quality still resurfaces in sandhi.{{Sfn|Macdonell|1916|p=4-5}}
<!-- this needs authoritative sources: The pronunciations of syllabic {{IPA|[r̩]}} ({{lang|sa|ऋ}}) and {{IPA|[l̩]}} ({{lang|sa|ऌ}}) and their long counterparts ṛ and ḷ no longer retained their pure pronunciations, but had started to be pronounced as short and long {{IPA|[ri]}} ({{lang|sa|रि}}) and {{IPA|[li]}} ({{lang|sa|ल्रि}}) during the decline of Sanskrit.{{Dubious|date=May 2020}}--><!--See [[Help_talk:IPA/Sanskrit#Pronunciation_of_Syllabic_r_in_sanskrit.]]--><!-- It partly varies by region like in southern India, including Maharashtra, people will pronounce ऋ as ru (रु)and ऌ as lru (ल्रु), this is pronounced according to Taittiriya Pratishakya of the Taittiriya Shakha or branch of the ''[[Yajurveda]]''. Virtually no region pronounces as would in vedic Sanskrit generally. Only while reciting Vedas is it normally heard. But if the Pratishakhya, i.e. the pronunciation manual,  mandates it otherwise, the latter is followed.-->
* The vowels ''ai''  and ''au'' were realized in Vedic as long [[diphthong]]s ''āi'' and ''āu, respectively'', but they became correspondingly short in Classical Sanskrit: ''{{IAST|dyā́us}}'' > ''{{IAST|dyáus}}''.{{Sfn|Macdonell|1916|p=4-5}}
* The vowels ''e'' and ''o'' were actually realized in Vedic as [[diphthong]]s ''ai'' and ''au'', but they became pure [[monophthong]]s in later Sanskrit, such as ''{{IAST|daivá-}}'' > ''{{IAST|devá-}}''and ''{{IAST|áika-}}''>''{{IAST|ekā-}}''. However, the diphthongal behaviour still resurfaces in sandhi.<ref name=Mac4b>Macdonnell, §4.b.</ref>
* The Prātiśākhyas claim that the "dental" consonants were articulated from the teeth ridge (''dantamūlīya'', [[alveolar consonant|alveolar]]), but they became [[dental consonant|dentals]] later, whereas most other authorities including Pāṇini designate them as dentals.<ref name=Deshpande138>Deshpande, p. 138.</ref>  
* The vowels ''ai''  and ''au'' were correspondingly realized in Vedic as long [[diphthong]]s ''āi'' and ''āu'', but they became correspondingly short in Classical Sanskrit: ''{{IAST|dyā́us}}'' > ''{{IAST|dyáus}}''.<ref name=Mac4b/>
* The Prātiśākhyas claim that the "dental" consonants were articulated from the root of the teeth (''dantamūlīya'', [[alveolar consonant|alveolar]]), but they became pure [[dental consonant|dentals]] later, whereas most other systems including Pāṇini designate them as dentals.<ref name=Deshpande138>Deshpande, p. 138.</ref>  
* The Prātiśākhyas are inconsistent about {{IPAblink|r}} but generally claim that it was also a ''dantamūlīya''. According to Pāṇini it is a [[retroflex consonant]].<ref>Whitney, §52.</ref><ref name=Deshpande138/>
* The Prātiśākhyas are inconsistent about {{IPAblink|r}} but generally claim that it was also a ''dantamūlīya''. According to Pāṇini it is a [[retroflex consonant]].<ref>Whitney, §52.</ref><ref name=Deshpande138/>
* The ''pluti'' ([[mora (linguistics)|trimoraic]]) vowels were on the verge of becoming [[phoneme|phonemicized]] during middle Vedic, but disappeared again.
* The ''pluti'' ([[mora (linguistics)|trimoraic]]) vowels were on the verge of becoming [[phoneme|phonemicized]] during middle Vedic, but disappeared again.
* Vedic often allowed two like vowels in certain cases to come together in [[hiatus (linguistics)|hiatus]] without merger during [[sandhi]], which has been reconstructed as the influence of an old [[laryngeal consonant|laryngeal]] still present in the Proto-Indo-Iranian stage of the language: [[Proto-Indo-European language|PIE]] {{lang|ine-x-proto|*h₂we'''h₁'''·nt-}} → ''va·ata-''.{{efn-ua|''vā́ta-'', wind}}<ref>Clackson, pp. 58-59.</ref>
* Vedic often allowed two like vowels in certain cases to come together in [[hiatus (linguistics)|hiatus]] without merger during [[sandhi]], which has been reconstructed as the influence of an old [[laryngeal consonant|laryngeal]] still present in the Proto-Indo-Iranian stage of the language: [[Proto-Indo-European language|PIE]] {{lang|ine-x-proto|*h₂we'''h₁'''·nt-}} → ''va·ata-''.{{efn-ua|''vā́ta-'', wind}}{{Sfn|Clackson|2007|p=58-59}}


===Accent===
===Accent===
{{More citations needed section|date=April 2021}}
{{main|Vedic accent}}
{{main|Vedic accent}}
Vedic had a [[pitch accent]]<ref>Burrow, §3.24.</ref> which could even change the meaning of the words, and was still in use in Pāṇini's time, as we can infer by his use of devices to indicate its position. At some latter time, this was replaced by a stress accent limited to the second to fourth syllables from the end.{{efn|Today, the pitch accent can be heard only in the traditional Vedic chantings.}}
Early Vedic had a [[Tone_(linguistics)|tonal system]] inherited from the [[Proto-Indo-European accent]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jamison |first1=S. |last2=Beguš |first2=G. |last3=Beguš |first3=G. |date=2016 |title=The Phonetics of the Independent Svarita in Vedic |journal=Proceedings of the 26th Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference |pages=1–12|s2cid=17589517 }}</ref> 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]]''.


Since a small number of words in the late pronunciation of Vedic carry the so-called "independent ''[[svarita]]''" on a short vowel, one can argue that ''late'' Vedic was ''marginally'' a [[Tone (linguistics)|tonal language]]. Note however that in the metrically-restored versions of the ''[[Rig Veda]] ''almost all of the syllables carrying an [[independent svarita|independent ''svarita'']] must revert to a sequence of two syllables, the first of which carries an ''[[udatta|udātta]]'' and the second a so-called dependent ''[[svarita]]''. Early Vedic was thus definitely not a tonal language like [[Chinese language|Chinese]] but a pitch accent language like [[Japanese language|Japanese]], which was inherited from the [[Proto-Indo-European accent]].
This tonal system persisted for some time after the Vedic period. Early Sanskrit grammarian [[Pāṇini]] marked the position of the accent,{{efn|Today, the pitch accent can be heard only in the traditional Vedic chantings.}} 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chakrabarti |first=Samiran Chandra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lVjkAAAAMAAJ |title=Some Aspects of Vedic Studies |date=1996 |publisher=School of Vedic Studies, Rabindra Bharati University |isbn=978-81-86938-04-1 |pages=16 |language=en}}</ref>
 
Pitch accent was not restricted to Vedic: early Sanskrit grammarian [[Pāṇini]] gives both accent rules for the spoken language of his (post-Vedic) time as well as the differences of Vedic accent. We have, however, no extant post-Vedic text with accents.


=== Pluti ===
=== Pluti ===
{| class="wikitable floatright"
{| class="floatright"
|+ Pluta
|+ Pluta
|-
|-
| {{IAST|a3}} ({{Script|Deva|अ३}}) || {{IAST|ā3}} ({{Script|Deva|आ३}})
| {{IAST|ā3}} ({{Script|Deva|आ३}})
|-
|-
| {{IAST|i3}} ({{Script|Deva|इ३}}) || {{IAST|ī}} ({{Script|Deva|ई३}})
| {{IAST|ī3}} ({{Script|Deva|ई३}})
|-
|-
| {{IAST|u3}} ({{Script|Deva|उ३}}) || {{IAST|ū}} ({{Script|Deva|ऊ३}})
| {{IAST|ū3}} ({{Script|Deva|ऊ३}})
|-
|-
| {{IAST|a3i (e3)}} ({{Script|Deva|ए३}}) || {{grey|{{IAST|ā3i}} ({{Script|Deva|ऐ३}})}}
| ai3 (ए३)
|-
|-
| {{IAST|a3u (o3)}} ({{Script|Deva|ओ३}}) || {{grey|{{IAST|ā3u}} ({{Script|Deva|औ३}})}}
|āi4 (ऐ४)
|-
|-
| {{grey|{{IAST|ṛ3}} ({{Script|Deva|ऋ३}})}} || {{grey|{{IAST|ṛ&#x304;}} ({{Script|Deva|ॠ३}})}}
|ā3i (आ३इ)
|-
|-
| {{grey|{{IAST|ḷ3}} ({{Script|Deva|ऌ३}})}} || {{grey|{{IAST|ḷ&#x304;}} ({{Script|Deva|ॡ३}})}}
| au3 (ओ३)
|-
|āu4 (औ४)
|-
|ā3u (आ३उ)
|-
| {{grey|{{IAST|ṛ&#x304;3}} ({{Script|Deva|ॠ३}})}}
|-
| {{grey|{{IAST|ḷ&#x304;3}} ({{Script|Deva|ॡ३}})}}
|}
|}
{{Redirect|Pluti|other uses of "pluta"|Pluta (disambiguation){{!}}Pluta}}
{{Redirect|Pluti|other uses of "pluta"|Pluta (disambiguation){{!}}Pluta}}


'''''Pluti''''', or ''prolation'', is the term for the phenomenon of protracted or [[overlong vowel]]s in [[Sanskrit]]; the overlong or ''prolated'' vowels are themselves called '''''pluta'''''.{{sfnp|Kobayashi|2006|p=13}} Pluta vowels are usually noted with a numeral "3" ({{Script|Deva|३}}) indicating a length of three [[mora (linguistics)|morae]] ({{transl|sa|trimātra}}).{{sfnp|Whitney|1950|pp=27-28}}{{sfnp|Scharf|Hymann|2011|p=154}}
'''''Pluti''''', or ''prolation'', is the term for the phenomenon of protracted or [[overlong vowel]]s in [[Sanskrit]]; the overlong or ''prolated'' vowels are themselves called '''''pluta'''''.{{sfnp|Kobayashi|2006|p=13}} Pluta vowels are usually noted with a numeral "3" ({{Script|Deva|३}}) indicating a length of three [[mora (linguistics)|morae]] ({{Transliteration|sa|trimātra}}).{{sfnp|Whitney|1950|pp=27–28}}{{sfnp|Scharf|Hymann|2011|p=154}}


A diphthong is prolated by prolongation of its first vowel.{{sfnp|Whitney|1950|pp=27-28}} [[Pāṇini]]an 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 {{transl|da|hrasva}} (short, 1 mora), {{transl|sa|dīrgha}} (long, 2 morae) and {{transl|sa|pluta}} (prolated, 3+ morae).{{sfnp|Whitney|1950|pp=27-28}}{{sfnp|Scharf|Hymann|2011|p=72}}
A diphthong is prolated by prolongation of its first vowel.{{sfnp|Whitney|1950|pp=27–28}} [[Pāṇini]]an 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 {{Transliteration|sa|hrasva}} (short, 1 mora), {{Transliteration|sa|dīrgha}} (long, 2 morae) and {{Transliteration|sa|pluta}} (prolated, 3+ morae).{{sfnp|Whitney|1950|pp=27–28}}{{sfnp|Scharf|Hymann|2011|p=72}}


[[File:O3m AryaSamaj.PNG|thumb|upright=0.9|The syllable ''[[Om|Aum]]'' ({{Script|Deva|ओ३म्}}) rendered with ''pluta'']]
[[File:O3m AryaSamaj Red.svg|thumb|upright=0.9|The syllable ''[[Om|Aum]]'' ({{Script|Deva|ओ३म्}}) 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.{{sfnp|Kobayashi|2006|p=13}}{{sfnp|Whitney|1950|pp=27-28}} For example:{{sfnp|Whitney|1950|pp=27-28}}
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.{{sfnp|Kobayashi|2006|p=13}}{{sfnp|Whitney|1950|pp=27–28}} For example:{{sfnp|Whitney|1950|pp=27–28}}
* {{IAST|adháḥ svid āsî3d upári svid āsī3t}}
* {{IAST|adháḥ svid āsî3d upári svid āsī3t}}
: "Was it above? Was it below?"
: "Was it above? Was it below?"
Line 120: Line 122:
: Atharvaveda 9.6.18
: Atharvaveda 9.6.18


The {{transl|sa|pluti}} 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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strunk |first1=Klaus |title=Typische Merkmale von Fragesätzen und die altindische "Pluti" |date=1983 |location=München |isbn=3769615271}}</ref>
The {{Transliteration|sa|pluti}} 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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strunk |first1=Klaus |title=Typische Merkmale von Fragesätzen und die altindische "Pluti" |publisher=Verlag der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Kommission bei der C.H. Beck'schen Verlagsbuchhandlung |date=1983 |location=München |isbn=3769615271}}</ref>


==Grammar==
==Grammar==
Line 129: Line 131:


==See also==
==See also==
*[[Classical Sanskrit]]
*[[Sanskrit epigraphy]]
*[[Vedic Sanskrit grammar]]
*[[Vedic Sanskrit grammar]]
*[[Vedic metre]]
*[[Vedic metre]]
*[[Vedic period]]
*[[Vedic period]]
*''[[A Vedic Word Concordance]]''
*''[[A Vedic Word Concordance]]''
*[[Avestan]], a closely related sister language.
*[[Avestan]], a closely related language
*[[Rudrakshajabala Upanishad]]


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
Line 153: Line 158:


== Bibliography ==
== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book |last1=Brereton |first1=Joel |last2=Jamison |first2=Stephanie |title=The Rigveda, A Guide |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford |isbn=9780190633363}}
* {{cite book |last1=Burrow |first1=T. |title=The Sanskrit language |date=2001 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |location=Delhi |isbn=9788120817678 |edition=1st Indian}}
* {{cite book |last1=Burrow |first1=T. |title=The Sanskrit language |date=2001 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |location=Delhi |isbn=9788120817678 |edition=1st Indian}}
* {{cite book |last1=Clackson |first1=James |title=Indo-European Linguistics |date=2007 |publisher=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-65313-8}}
* {{cite book |last1=Clackson |first1=James |title=Indo-European Linguistics |date=2007 |publisher=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-65313-8}}
* {{cite book|last1=Delbrück|first1=Berthold|author-link1=Berthold Delbrück|last2=Windisch|first2=Ernst Wilhelm Oskar|title=Syntaktische Forschungen: III. Die Altindische Wortfolge aus dem Çatapathabrâhmaṇa, Dargestellt von B. Delbrück|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DoaWr78cxKQC|year=1878|isbn=978-0-543-94034-6|language=de}}
* {{cite book |last1=Deshpande |first1=Madhav M. |title=Sanskrit and Prakrit |year=1993 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=81-208-1136-4 |edition=1st}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Kobayashi |first1=Masato |title={{IAST|Pāṇini}}'s Phonological Rules and Vedic: {{IAST|Aṣṭādhyāyī}} 8.2* |journal=Journal of Indological Studies |volume=18 |year=2006
* {{cite journal |last1=Kobayashi |first1=Masato |title={{IAST|Pāṇini}}'s Phonological Rules and Vedic: {{IAST|Aṣṭādhyāyī}} 8.2* |journal=Journal of Indological Studies |volume=18 |year=2006
  |url=http://gengo.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/masatok/Kobayashi_Ast8_2.pdf}}
  |url=http://gengo.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/masatok/Kobayashi_Ast8_2.pdf}}
* {{cite book |last=Lindner |first=Bruno |title=Altindische Nominalbildung: Nach den Saṃhitâs |url=https://archive.org/details/altindischenomi00lindgoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/altindischenomi00lindgoog/page/n8 1] |year=1878 |publisher=Costenoble |language=de}}
* {{cite book|last=Macdonell|first=Arthur Anthony|author-link=Arthur Anthony Macdonell|title=Vedic Grammar|year=1910 |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924023050325}}
* {{cite book|last=Macdonell|first=Arthur Anthony|author-link=Arthur Anthony Macdonell|title=A Vedic Grammar for Students|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YKI3TQvbsDcC|year=1916|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-1052-5}}
* {{cite book|last=Macdonell|first=Arthur Anthony|author-link=Arthur Anthony Macdonell|title=A Vedic Grammar for Students|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YKI3TQvbsDcC|year=1916|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-1052-5}}
* {{citation|author=Michael Witzel|author-link=Michael Witzel |url=http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/dialects.pdf |title=Tracing the Vedic dialects, in Dialectes dans les litteratures Indo-Aryennes |editor=Colette Caillat |editor-link=Colette Caillat |location=Paris |publisher=de Boccard |year=1989 |language=fr}}
* {{citation|author=Michael Witzel|author-link=Michael Witzel |url=https://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/dialects.pdf |title=Tracing the Vedic dialects, in Dialectes dans les litteratures Indo-Aryennes |editor=Colette Caillat |editor-link=Colette Caillat |location=Paris |publisher=de Boccard |year=1989 |language=fr}}
* {{cite book |last1=Reich |first1=David |title=Who we are and how we got here: ancient DNA and the new science of the human past |date=2019 |location=New York |publisher=First Vintage Books |isbn=978-1-101-87346-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=Reich |first1=David |title=Who we are and how we got here: ancient DNA and the new science of the human past |date=2019 |location=New York |publisher=First Vintage Books |isbn=978-1-101-87346-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Renou |first=Louis |title=Grammaire de la langue védique |series=Les Langues du Monde |year=1952 |location=Lyon |publisher=IAC |url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.2174 |language=fr}}
* {{cite book |last1=Scharf |first1=Peter M. |last2=Hymann |first2=Malcolm D. |title=Linguistic Issues in Encoding Sanskrit |date=2011 |location=Providence |publisher=The Sanskrit Library |isbn=9788120835399 |edition=1st |url=https://sanskritlibrary.org/Sanskrit/pub/lies_sl.pdf}}
* {{cite book |last1=Scharf |first1=Peter M. |last2=Hymann |first2=Malcolm D. |title=Linguistic Issues in Encoding Sanskrit |date=2011 |location=Providence |publisher=The Sanskrit Library |isbn=9788120835399 |edition=1st |url=https://sanskritlibrary.org/Sanskrit/pub/lies_sl.pdf}}
* {{cite book |last1=Whitney |first1=William Dwight |title=Sanskrit Grammar: Including both the Classical Language, and the older Dialects, of Veda and Brahmana |date=1950 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Sanskrit_Grammar_(Whitney)}}
* {{cite book |last1=Whitney |first1=William Dwight |title=Sanskrit Grammar: Including both the Classical Language, and the older Dialects, of Veda and Brahmana |date=1950 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Sanskrit_Grammar_(Whitney)}}
== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last1=Brereton |first1=Joel |last2=Jamison |first2=Stephanie |title=The Rigveda, A Guide |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford |isbn=9780190633363}}
* {{cite book|last1=Delbrück|first1=Berthold|author-link1=Berthold Delbrück|last2=Windisch|first2=Ernst Wilhelm Oskar|title=Syntaktische Forschungen: III. Die Altindische Wortfolge aus dem Çatapathabrâhmaṇa, Dargestellt von B. Delbrück|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DoaWr78cxKQC|year=1878|publisher=Adegi Graphics LLC |isbn=978-0-543-94034-6|language=de}}
* {{cite book |last1=Deshpande |first1=Madhav M. |title=Sanskrit and Prakrit |year=1993 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=81-208-1136-4 |edition=1st}}
* {{cite book |last=Lindner |first=Bruno |title=Altindische Nominalbildung: Nach den Saṃhitâs |url=https://archive.org/details/altindischenomi00lindgoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/altindischenomi00lindgoog/page/n8 1] |year=1878 |publisher=Costenoble |language=de}}
* {{cite book|last=Macdonell|first=Arthur Anthony|author-link=Arthur Anthony Macdonell|title=Vedic Grammar|year=1910 |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924023050325}}
* {{cite book |last=Renou |first=Louis |title=Grammaire de la langue védique |series=Les Langues du Monde |year=1952 |location=Lyon |publisher=IAC |url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.2174 |language=fr}}


==External links==
==External links==
{{external links|date=January 2022}}
* [https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1CD0.pdf Unicode signs for Vedic Sanskrit]
* [https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1CD0.pdf Unicode signs for Vedic Sanskrit]
*[http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/indexe.htm?/texte/texte2.htm#ved index of Vedic texts] (TITUS)
*[https://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/indexe.htm?/texte/texte2.htm#ved index of Vedic texts] (TITUS)
* [https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/vedol Ancient Sanskrit Online] by Karen Thomson and Jonathan Slocum, free online lessons at the [https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/lrc Linguistics Research Center] at the [[University of Texas at Austin]]
* [https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/vedol Ancient Sanskrit Online] by Karen Thomson and Jonathan Slocum, free online lessons at the [https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/lrc Linguistics Research Center] at the [[University of Texas at Austin]]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jNMmTOaykA Introduction to Vedic chanting]. Swami Tadatmananda (Arsha Bodha Center)
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jNMmTOaykA Introduction to Vedic chanting]. Swami Tadatmananda (Arsha Bodha Center)
* [https://spw.uni-goettingen.de/projects/aig/lng-ved.html glottothèque - Ancient Indo-European Grammar online], an online collection of introductory videos to Ancient Indo-European languages produced by the University of Göttingen
* [https://spw.uni-goettingen.de/projects/aig/lng-ved.html glottothèque – Ancient Indo-European Grammar online], an online collection of introductory videos to Ancient Indo-European languages produced by the University of Göttingen


===Phonology===
===Phonology===
* [http://www.evertype.com/standards/iso10646/pdf/vedic/Vedic_accents_doc.pdf Vedic Accents]
* [https://www.evertype.com/standards/iso10646/pdf/vedic/Vedic_accents_doc.pdf Vedic Accents]
* [http://www.kortlandt.nl/publications/art188e.pdf Frederik Kortlandt "Accent and ablaut in the Vedic verbs"]
* [https://www.kortlandt.nl/publications/art188e.pdf Frederik Kortlandt "Accent and ablaut in the Vedic verbs"]
* [http://www.unc.edu/~melfraz/ling/frazier-UCLA-handout.pdf Melissa Frazier "Accent in Proto-Indo-European Athematic Nouns and Its Development in Vedic" (obsolete link)] [https://web.archive.org/web/20070101225942/https://www.unc.edu/~melfraz/ling/frazier-UCLA-handout.pdf Internet Archive copy]
* [http://www.unc.edu/~melfraz/ling/frazier-UCLA-handout.pdf Melissa Frazier "Accent in Proto-Indo-European Athematic Nouns and Its Development in Vedic" (obsolete link)] [https://web.archive.org/web/20070101225942/https://www.unc.edu/~melfraz/ling/frazier-UCLA-handout.pdf Internet Archive copy]
* [http://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Textual-Studies/Prosody-Articles/Macdonell-Vedic.pdf Arthur Anthony Macdonell "A Vedic Grammar for Students: Appendix II: Vedic Metre"]
* [https://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Textual-Studies/Prosody-Articles/Macdonell-Vedic.pdf Arthur Anthony Macdonell "A Vedic Grammar for Students: Appendix II: Vedic Metre"]


===Other===
===Other===
Line 199: Line 205:
[[Category:Linguistic history of India]]
[[Category:Linguistic history of India]]
[[Category:2nd-millennium BC establishments]]
[[Category:2nd-millennium BC establishments]]
[[Category:Formal languages used for Indian scriptures]]
[[Category:Indo-Iranian languages]]
[[Category:Indo-European languages]]

Latest revision as of 04:30, 20 March 2026


Not to be confused with the Vedda language.
Vedic Sanskrit
Native toSouth Asia
RegionNorthwestern Indian subcontinent
Erac. 1500 – 600 BCE
Early forms
Language codes
ISO 639-3vsn
Glottologvedi1234
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Vedic Sanskrit, also simply referred as the Vedic language, is the earliest attested form of the Sanskrit and Prakrit languages: members of the Indo-Aryan subgroup of the Indo-European language family. It is attested in the Vedas and related literature[1] compiled over the period of the mid-2nd to mid-1st millennium BCE.[2] It is orally preserved, predating the local 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 reconstructing Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Indo-Iranian history.[5][6]

History[edit | edit source]

Prehistoric derivation[edit | edit source]

Further information: Substratum in Vedic Sanskrit

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.[5][7] The date of composition of the oldest hymns of the Rigveda is vague at best, generally estimated to roughly 1500 BCE.[8] 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.[9]

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.[10] 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.[11][12] 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.[13]

Chronology[edit | edit source]

Five chronologically distinct strata can be identified within the Vedic language:[14][15][16]

  1. Ṛg-vedic
  2. Mantra
  3. Saṃhitā prose
  4. Brāhmaṇa prose
  5. Sūtras

The first three are commonly grouped together, as the Saṃhitās[upper-alpha 1] comprising the four Vedas:[upper-alpha 2] 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]

Ṛg-vedic[edit | edit source]

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.[14][15]

Mantra language[edit | edit source]

This period includes both the mantra and prose language of the Atharvaveda (Paippalada and Shaunakiya), the Ṛg·veda Khilani, the Samaveda Saṃhitā, and the mantras of the Yajurveda. 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]

Saṃhitā[edit | edit source]

An important linguistic change is the disappearance of the injunctive, subjunctive, optative, imperative (the aorist). New innovations in Vedic Sanskrit appear such as the development of periphrastic aorist forms. This must have occurred before the time of Pāṇini because Panini makes a list of those from the northwestern region of India who knew these older rules of Vedic Sanskrit.[14][15]

Brāhmaṇa prose[edit | edit source]

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. The Yajñagāthās texts provide a probable link between Vedic Sanskrit, Classical Sanskrit and languages of the Epics. Complex meters such as Anuṣṭubh and rules of Sanskrit 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]

Sūtra language[edit | edit source]

This is the last stratum of Vedic literature, comprising the bulk of the Śrautasūtras and Gṛhyasūtras and some Upaniṣads such as the Kaṭha Upaniṣad and Maitrāyaṇiya Upaniṣad.[15] These texts elucidate the state of the language which formed the basis of Pāṇini's codification into Classical Sanskrit.[21]

Phonology[edit | edit source]

Vedic differs from Classical Sanskrit to an extent comparable to the difference between Homeric Greek and Classical Greek.[22]

The following differences between Vedic and Classical Sanskrit may be observed in the phonology:

  • Vedic had a voiced retroflex lateral approximant [ɭ]Template:Efn-lr as well as its breathy-voiced counterpart [ɭʱ],Template:Efn-lr which are not found in classical Sanskrit; these were allophones of the corresponding plosives ḍ (/ɖ/) and ḍh (/ɖʱ/).[23]
  • The vowels e and o were realized in Vedic as diphthongs ai and au, but they became monophthongs in later Sanskrit, such as daivá- > devá-and áika->ekā-. However, the diphthongal quality still resurfaces in sandhi.[24]
  • The vowels ai and au were realized in Vedic as long diphthongs āi and āu, respectively, but they became correspondingly short in Classical Sanskrit: dyā́us > dyáus.[24]
  • 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.[25]
  • The Prātiśākhyas are inconsistent about [r] but generally claim that it was also a dantamūlīya. According to Pāṇini it is a retroflex consonant.[26][25]
  • The pluti (trimoraic) vowels were on the verge of becoming phonemicized during middle Vedic, but disappeared again.
  • Vedic often allowed two like vowels in certain cases to come together in hiatus without merger during sandhi, which has been reconstructed as the influence of an old laryngeal still present in the Proto-Indo-Iranian stage of the language: PIE *h₂weh₁·nt- → va·ata-.[upper-alpha 3][27]

Accent[edit | edit source]

Main article: Vedic accent

Early Vedic had a tonal system inherited from the Proto-Indo-European accent,[28] 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,[lower-alpha 1] 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.[29]

Pluti[edit | edit source]

Pluta
ā3 (आ३)
ī3 (ई३)
ū3 (ऊ३)
ai3 (ए३)
āi4 (ऐ४)
ā3i (आ३इ)
au3 (ओ३)
āu4 (औ४)
ā3u (आ३उ)
ṝ3 (ॠ३)
ḹ3 (ॡ३)
"Pluti" redirects here. For other uses of "pluta", see Pluta.

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.[30] Pluta vowels are usually noted with a numeral "3" (३) indicating a length of three morae (trimātra).[31][32]

A diphthong is prolated by prolongation of its first vowel.[31] 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 hrasva (short, 1 mora), dīrgha (long, 2 morae) and pluta (prolated, 3+ morae).[31][33]

The syllable Aum (ओ३म्) 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.[30][31] For example:[31]

  • adháḥ svid āsî3d upári svid āsī3t
"Was it above? Was it below?"
Rigveda 10.129.5d
  • idáṃ bhûyā3 idâ3miti
"Is this larger? Or this?"
Atharvaveda 9.6.18

The pluti 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.[34]

Grammar[edit | edit source]

Main article: Vedic Sanskrit grammar

Literature[edit | edit source]

Main article: Sanskrit literature § Vedic literature

See also[edit | edit source]

Notes[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Today, the pitch accent can be heard only in the traditional Vedic chantings.

Glossary[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 'compiled', 'put together'[17]
  2. ↑ from vid-, 'to know', cognate with Eng. 'wit'[18]
  3. ↑ vā́ta-, wind


Brahmic notes[edit | edit source]

Brahmic transliteration

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Burrow 2001, p. 43.
  2. ↑ Witzel, Michael (2006). "Early Loanwords in Western Central Asia: Indicators of Substrate Populations, Migrations, and Trade Relations". In Mair, Victor H. (ed.). Contact And Exchange in the Ancient World. University of Hawaii Press. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-8248-2884-4.
  3. ↑ Macdonell 1916, p. 2.
  4. ↑ Reich 2019, p. 122.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Baldi, Philip (1983). An Introduction to the Indo-European Languages. Southern Illinois University Press. pp. 51–52. ISBN 978-0-8093-1091-3.
  6. ↑ Beckwith, Christopher I. (2009). Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present. Princeton University Press. pp. 363–368. ISBN 978-0-691-13589-2.
  7. ↑ Mallory, J.P. (1989). In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology, and Myth. London: Thames & Hudson. p. 38f.
  8. ↑ J. P. Mallory; Douglas Q. Adams (1997). Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Taylor & Francis. p. 306. ISBN 978-1-884964-98-5.
  9. ↑ Parpola, Asko (1999), "The formation of the Aryan branch of Indo-European", in Blench, Roger & Spriggs, Matthew, Archaeology and Language, vol. III: Artefacts, languages and texts, London and New York: Routledge.
  10. ↑ Richard Gombrich (2006). Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo. Routledge. pp. 24–25. ISBN 978-1-134-90352-8.
  11. ↑ Gérard Huet; Amba Kulkarni; Peter Scharf (2009). Sanskrit Computational Linguistics: First and Second International Symposia Rocquencourt, France, October 29–31, 2007 Providence, RI, USA, May 15–17, 2008, Revised Selected Papers. Springer. pp. v–vi. ISBN 978-3-642-00154-3.
  12. ↑ Louis Renou & Jean Filliozat. L'Inde Classique, manuel des etudes indiennes, vol.II pp.86–90, École française d'Extrême-Orient, 1953, reprinted 2000. ISBN 2-85539-903-3.
  13. ↑ "Indian epigraphy". Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass. 1965.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Michael Witzel 1989, pp. 115–127 (see pp. 26–30 in the archived-url).
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 Klaus G. Witz (1998). The Supreme Wisdom of the Upaniṣads: An Introduction. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 24 with note 73. ISBN 978-81-208-1573-5.
  16. ↑ Burrow, pp. 43.
  17. ↑ MWW, p. 1123.
  18. ↑ MWW, p.963.
  19. ↑ J&B, pp. 1–2.
  20. ↑ Michael Witzel 1989, pp. 121–127 (see pp. 29–31 in the archived-url).
  21. ↑ Burrow, pp44.
  22. ↑ Chadwick, H. Munro; Chadwick, Nora K. (2010-10-31). The Growth of Literature. Cambridge University Press. p. 460. ISBN 978-1-108-01615-5.
  23. ↑ Macdonell 1916, p. 16-17.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Macdonell 1916, p. 4-5.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Deshpande, p. 138.
  26. ↑ Whitney, §52.
  27. ↑ Clackson 2007, p. 58-59.
  28. ↑ Jamison, S.; Beguš, G.; Beguš, G. (2016). "The Phonetics of the Independent Svarita in Vedic". Proceedings of the 26th Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference: 1–12. S2CID 17589517.
  29. ↑ Chakrabarti, Samiran Chandra (1996). Some Aspects of Vedic Studies. School of Vedic Studies, Rabindra Bharati University. p. 16. ISBN 978-81-86938-04-1.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Kobayashi (2006), p. 13.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 31.4 Whitney (1950), pp. 27–28.
  32. ↑ Scharf & Hymann (2011), p. 154.
  33. ↑ Scharf & Hymann (2011), p. 72.
  34. ↑ Strunk, Klaus (1983). Typische Merkmale von Fragesätzen und die altindische "Pluti". München: Verlag der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Kommission bei der C.H. Beck'schen Verlagsbuchhandlung. ISBN 3769615271.

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