sanskrit influence over english
TRANSCRIPT
Linguistic Interactions of East & Linguistic Interactions of East & West – The Case of Sanskrit and West – The Case of Sanskrit and
EnglishEnglish
Dr. J.S.R.A. PrasadDept. of Sanskrit Studies,University of Hyderabad
Mighty Sanskrit
The Sanscrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident;
so strong indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists; there is a similar reason, though not quite so forcible, for supposing that both the Gothic and the Celtic, though blended with a very different idiom, had the same origin with the Sanscrit; and the old Persian might be added to the same family – William Jones (1786).
What the western scholars say?
"At one time Sanskrit was the one language spoken all over the world." - The Great Sanskrit scholar Franz Bopp (1791-1867) wrote in his Edinborough Review (Volume 33, page 43)
"The Brahmans are the teachers of Pythagoras, the instructors of Greece, and through her the whole of Europe. figured that the earliest humans had to have been located on the banks of the Ganges. - French astronomer Bailly 1777
I am convinced that everything–astronomy, astrology, metempsychosis, etc.– comes to us from the banks of the Ganges. Voltair 1777
The French naturalist and traveler Pierre de Sonnerat (1782) believed that - all knowledge came from India, which he considered the cradle of the human race.
Schelling (1807), Friedrich von Schlegel (1808), Eichhoff (1845), Vans Kennedy (1828), Lord A. Curzon (1855)
Marcus Zuerius van Boxhorn (1612 – 1653) was the first scholar to explore the common link between many languages, including Sanskrit.
Are We Primitive?Edward Pokoke (1604-1691): The Greek language is a derivation
from Sanskrit, therefore Sanskrit speaking people, i.e Indians must have dwelt in Greece, and the dwelling must have preceded the settlement of those tribes which helped to produce the corruption of the old language; or in other words, the people who spoke that language - i.e., the Indians, must have been the primitive settlers, or at least, they must have colonized the country so early, and dwelt their so long, as to have effaced all dialectic traces of any other inhabitants...".
"The history and origin of ancient Greece were not clearly written down by the Greeks themselves, but ancient Indian writings such as the Puranas, the Mahabharata, and the Rajput genealogies may hold keys to solving some of these questions." - Mysteries of Ancient Greece, Coen Vonk (2005)
British scholar Thomas Maurice (1754 - 1824), editor of the seven volumes of Indian Antiquities, mentions in Volume IV that Nathaniel Halhead (1751-1830), the first European Sanskrit scholar, "seems to hint that it (Sanskrit) was the original language of the earth. All Western scholars who readily apply their mind to the problem will find themselves concurring with Halhead that Sanskrit is the oldest language and that it was spoken all over the world. Other world languages are shattered and twisted bits of Sanskrit."
(Halhead authored 'The Code of Gentoo Law'.)
"One of ancient India’s greatest achievements is her remarkable alphabet, commencing with the vowels and followed by the consonants, all classified very scientifically according to their mode of production, in sharp contrast to the haphazard and inadequate Roman alphabet, which has developed organically for three millennia. It was only on the discovery of Sanskrit by the West that a science of phonetics arose in Europe." - Prof. A.L. Basham, The Wonder That Was India (page 390).
History of Indology started with the following western scholars: Heinrich Roth (1620 – 1668) – Sanskrit Grammar (in Latin) Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg (1682 – 1719) – Religion and Tamil
Literature A.H. Francke (1707) – Antiques of Indian Tibet Frederic Von Schlegel (1722-1829) – On the Language and
Wisdom of India
Contd...
William Jones (1746-1794) – Abhijnana Sakuntalam, Hitopadesa, Rtusamhara
Charles Wilkins (1749 – 1836) – Grammar of the Sanskrita Language
Franz Bopp (1791-1867) – Comparative Grammar of Sanskrit, Zend (Avestan), Greek, Latin, Lithuanian, Old Slavonic, Gothic and German
Max Muller (1823 – 1900) – The Vedas, Sacred Books of the East etc.
Cultural Voyage through Translations
Sakuntalam (1789) Hitopadesa (1787) Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita (1785) Rtusamhara (1792) Manusmriti (1794)
PIEBy the 19th century,
linguists knew that all modern Indo-European languages descended from a single tongue. Called Proto-Indo-European, or PIE, it was spoken by a people who lived from roughly 4500 to 2500 B.C., and left no written texts. (http://www.archaeology.org)
Sanskrit and PIE
It is believed that Sanskrit is the oldest language in the PIE hierarchy. Though it has influenced Greek, Latin, Persian, Avestan, Germanic languages, up to a great extent, there was disagreement with regard to its common ancestor, other than Sanskrit.
VocabularySanskrit - Latin
वहति� - Vehitवमति� - Vomitति�धिः - Nidus सर्प ः - Serpensदि��म् - Diesतिववा - Viduaयव�ः - Juvenis मध्यः - Mediusरसः - Ros
वीरः - Vir�न्�ः - Dentesसरः - Seriesअग्नि��ः - Ignisर्पति�ः - Potensमम रः - Murmer�ुमुलः - Tumultusर्पुत्रः - Puer
PIE Structures Like in Sanskrit, Greek
has dual number Numerals and pronouns
are similar to each other Similar verbal forms - 'To
be' Negative prefix – 'a' –
ajnanta → á-gnōstos 'unknown' in English
'अ' in Sanskrit always represents an 'é' in Greek.
Ex: janaH → génos- sapta → septem (also L.)→ heptá; - nabhas → néphos
Numerals
Sanskrit Greek Latin
एकःheĩs ūnus
द्वौdúō duo
त्रयःtreĩs trēs
चत्वारःtéssares quattuor
र्पञ्चpénte quīnque
Source: Comparative Indo-European Linguistics (p. 239)
षष्héks sex
सप्�heptá septem
अष्टoktō´ octō
�वennéa novem
�शdéka decem
Verbal Forms - Sanskrit&Greek
Sanskrit form Greek form
Root – 'अस' (to be)अस्ति�� - He is (3.1)असि� - You are (2.1)अस्ति�� - I am (1.1)स्मः- we are (1.3)स्थ – you are (2.3)सन्तिन्� - they are (3.3)
'es' – to beesti - He is (es-t)essi - You are (es)esmi - I am (s-um)
s-umus - we are (1.3)es-tis - you are (2.3)s-unt - they are (3.3)
VocabularySanskrit - Latin
वहति� Vehit
वमति� Vomit
ति�धिः Nidus
सर्प ः Serpens
दि��म् Dies
तिववा Vidua
यव�ः Juvenis
मध्यः Medius
रसः Ros
वीरः Vir
�न्�ः Dentes
सरः Series
अग्नि��ः Ignis
र्पति�ः Potens
मम रः Murmer
�ुमुलः Tumultus
रु्पत्रः Puer
Cognate Forms
Sanskrit Latin Greek English meaning
�ाम Nomen Onoma Name
माम् Me(-) Eme (') Me
तिर्प�ृ Pater Pater Father
त्रयः tres treῖs Three
र्परिर Per Peri Far
Contd...
Sanskrit Latin Greek English meaning
राजा rēx Vasiliás Regal
शक रा Saccharon skkharo sugar
�ल� (जटामांसी) Nardus Nrtho Indian spikenard
चन्��म् Sandalum Santhlyon/Santhleeon
Sandal
�ारङ्ग Orenge Orenge Orange
Contd...
Sanskrit Latin Greek English meaning
अन्�रीय Interim En to̱ metaxý Interim
गतिव (गौः) Bovi/Bovis vódi (in) Cow (7.1)
अस्थिस्थ Os Osteön Bone
�ीरम् Aqua Neró Water
आत्मा Anima Atme Soul
त्रासः Tremo Treo (-) Tremor
दु्यस् Deus theós Theoso-phy
Contd...
Sanskrit Latin Greek English meaning
उर्परिर Superhúper Above (adv.)
इ�ः intusentós
From here (adv.)
मूषस् mūs mūsMouse
दुम �स्dus-menás
Evil minded (compound)
Phonetic Changes
Jacob Grimms (1785-1863) drew attention to similarity of consonants between Sanskrit, Greek and Latin and certain Germanic languages, which is know as 'Grimm's Law.'
For instance, he showed that:- the 'p' in PIE become 'f' in the Germanic - 't' become 'th' – tres → three- short vowels becoming long vowels Ex: ae → ai
The ending of the instrumental plural in Sanskrit is – 'bhis.' In Greek we find this ending in the form – 'phi', cf. Sanskrit náu-bhis (�ौभि:ः), Gr. 'naũ-phi' = ‘with the ships.’
Although in principle it is not impossible that the -s was removed in Greek (it should have remained according to sound law), it is much more probable that the -s in Sanskrit was added.
Contd...
That would have occurred on the basis of the nominative and accusative endings -as and the dative -bhyas. The -as is thus seen as characteristic of the plural.
(Robert SP Beekes, Comparative Indo-Europen Linguistics – An Introduction, p. 77)
Declension Forms
case suffix Skt. Dec. Greek Latin
nom. ē´r तिर्प�ा patē´r pater
voc. er तिर्प�ः páter pater
acc. ér-m तिर्प�रं patéra patrem
dat. r-éi तिर्पत्रा patrí patrī
gen. r-ós तिर्प�ुः patrós patris
loc. ér-i तिर्प�रिर patre
Cases – Old English
In old English (1066) there used to be five cases: Nom., Acc., Inst., Dat. and Gen., like in
Germanic languages. Dual forms were maintained in personal
pronouns. Genders were attributed for all nouns.
Three genders agreed, but arbitrary fixation of genders.
Contd...
Ex: 'Girl' in Anglo Saxon was in neuter gender. Woman (Wifmann) was in masculine and child (cild) was in neuter.
(English language and literary criticism, A.S. Kharbe, p. 23)
Syntax SVO-OSV-VSO:
'The man killed the lion.''म�ुष्यः (1.1) सिसंहं (2.1) अह��् (v.3.1)।''सिसंहं (2.1) म�ुष्यः (1.1) अह��् (v.3.1)।''अह��् (v.3.1) म�ुष्यः (1.1) सिसंहं (2.1) ।''म�ुष्यः (1.1) अह��् (v.3.1) सिसंहं (2.1) ।''सिसंहं (2.1) अह��् (v.3.1) म�ुष्यः (1.1) ।''अह��् (v.3.1) सिसंहं (2.1) म�ुष्यः (1.1) ।'
Synatactic Structure in OE
'my name is' (ME) - 'min nama is,' 'nama min is...' (OE) all are same in meaning like in the inflectional process in Sanskrit. This trend was in vogue which happened until 1150 AD.
But lateral English, due to the old influence, shares still some similarities with Sanskrit syntax.
For instance: the “'s” as genitive. This is a book of my brother's → इ�ं �� भा�ुः
र्पुस्�कम् अस्तिस्� ।With possessive pronouns: 'He's a friend of Mine' → सः �दीयं धिमत्रम् अस्तिस्� । 'It is no business of theirs' → इ�ं � �दीयं काय@ व� �े
।
Contd...
Also, middle English got rid of the arbitrary gender system. Thereafter, the French influence was so high that about 10,000 words were introduced in to Old English changing its structure to be known as Middle English.
case positions – nom, acc, inst. Dat., abl., gen., loc. vis-a-vis propositions
Sanskrit and Latin have no articles as in PIE.Homer used no articles in archaic Greek.
NomenclatureThe Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus (1707-
1778) is regarded as the father of taxonomy, as he developed a system known as Linnaean classification for categorization of organisms and binomial nomenclature for naming organisms.
William Jones had improved the Linneous nomenclature.
The following plant names are derived from Sanskrit.
Plant Taxonomy
Carissa L. < Kṛṣṇa (phala) Datura L. < Dhattūra Piper Longum L. < Pippalī
Saccharum officinarum L. <Śarkarā ←ikṣu Santalum album L.
< CandanamVitex negundo L.
Nirguṇḍī
Contd...
Putranjiva RoxburhiiPutrajīva
Saraca asocaAśoka
Salmalia IndicaŚālmalī
Madhuca longifoliaMadhuka
Saccharum Munja L.Muñjā
Metaphor Use of metaphor in literature – East & West“the roofs of Paris” vis-à-vis “gangAyAM
ghoshaH (village in the river)” The 'prakaraNam' vis-à-vis 'context' in
Ogden&Richards (The Meaning of Meaning) Ex: 'I am not feeling well.'
Comparative Aesthatics “...the next greatest philosophical poem to the
Divine Comedy within my experience.” T. S. Eliot on Bhagavadgita (Dante, Selected Essays 1917-1932, New York, 1932, p. 219)
References From Philology to English studies – Language
and Culture in the Nineteenth Century English Language and Literary Criticism, A.S.
Kharbe (2009)* I.A. Richards and Indian Theory of Rasa http://vediccafe.blogspot.in/2014/01/hindu-ance
stors-of-greeks.html http://www.stephen-knapp.com/sanskrit_its_im
portance_to_language.htm
THANK YOU!!