Proto-Indo-Aryan language
| Proto-Indo-Aryan | |
|---|---|
| PIA, Proto-Indic | |
| Reconstruction of | Proto-Indo-European
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| Part of a series on |
| Indo-European topics |
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Proto-Indo-Aryan (sometimes Proto-IndicSatem language.[3]
History
Proto-Indo-Aryan is meant to be the predecessor of Old Indo-Aryan (1500–300 BCE), which is directly
Classical Sanskrit, as well as by the Indo-Aryan superstrate in Mitanni. Indeed, Vedic Sanskrit is very close to Proto-Indo-Aryan.[4]
Some of the
Prakrits
display a few minor features derived from Proto-Indo-Aryan that had already disappeared in Vedic Sanskrit.
Today, numerous modern Indo-Aryan languages are extant.
Differences from Vedic
Despite the great archaicity of Vedic, the other Indo-Aryan languages preserve a small number of
conservative features lost in Vedic.[5]
One of these is the representation of Proto-Indo-European *l and *r. Vedic (as also most Iranic languages) merges both as /r/. Later, however, some instances of Indo-European /l/ again surface in
Classical Sanskrit, indicating that the contrast survived in an early Indo-Aryan dialect parallel to Vedic. (A dialect with only /l/ is additionally posited to underlie Magadhi Prakrit.)[6]
However, it is not clear that the contrast actually survived anywhere in Indo-Iranian, not even in Proto-Indo-Iranian, as /l/ is also found in place of original *r in Indo-Iranian languages.
The common consonant cluster kṣ /kʂ/ of Vedic and later Sanskrit has a particularly wide range of Proto-Indo-European (PIE) and Proto-Indo-Iranian (PII) sources, which partly remain distinct in later Indo-Aryan languages:[7]
- PIE *ks, *kʷs, *gs, *gʷs > PII *kš > Middle Indo-Aryan kh-, -kkh-
- PIE *dʰgʷʰ, *gʰs, *gʷʰs > PII *gʱžʱ > Middle Indo-Aryan gh-, -ggh-
- PIE *tḱ; *ǵs, *ḱs > PII *tć, *ćš > Middle Indo-Aryan ch-, -cch-
- PIE *dʰǵʰ, *ǵʰs > PII *ȷ́ʱžʱ > Middle Indo-Aryan jh-, -jh-
Notes
- ISBN 978-0-521-79488-6. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
References
- ISBN 9781135797119. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ^ "ARYANS – Encyclopedia Iranica". Encyclopedia Iranica. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
- ^ Wheeler, L. Kip. "The Indo-European Family of Languages". Dr. Wheeler's Website. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ^ see e.g. Radhakrishnan & Moore 1957, p. 3; Witzel, Michael, "Vedas and Upaniṣads", in: Flood 2003, p. 68; MacDonell 2004, pp. 29–39; Sanskrit literature (2003) in Philip's Encyclopedia. Accessed 2007-08-09
- ^ Masica, Colin P. (1991). The Indo-Aryan Languages. p. 156.
- ^ Masica, Colin P. (1991). The Indo-Aryan Languages. p. 97.
- ISBN 4-87297-894-3.
Works cited
- Flood, Gavin, ed. (2003). The Blackwell companion to Hinduism. Oxford: Blackwell Publ. ISBN 1-4051-3251-5.
- MacDonell, Arthur Anthony (2004). A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-2000-5.
- ISBN 978-0-691-01958-1.
Further reading
- Morgenstierne, Georg. "Early Iranic Influence upon Indo-Aryan." Acta Iranica, I. série, Commemoration Cyrus. Vol. I. Hommage universel (1974): 271–279.