INDO-ARYAN AND SLAVIC AFFINITIES
Introduction
The most important of the linguistic families of India, Pakistan and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) is the
Indo-Aryan, of which the ancient and classical form is Sanskrit. The word samskrta-means 'perfected',
'polished' and is strictly applied to the language as regulated and established by the Indian
grammarians. In a wider sense Sanskrit is applied both to the earlier form called Vedic Sanskrit which
appears in the Vedic texts and to the later form stereotyped by the grammarians (Panini) called
Classical Sanskrit. From Sanskrit are descended Pali and the various dialects of Prakrit, which are
collectively styled 'Middle Indo-Aryan'. Out of the Middle Indo-Aryan, the various modern Indo-
Aryan languages of the Indian area have evolved: Bengali, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi etc.
Outside, Sanskrit is closely connected with the languages of the Iranian family of which the earliest
representatives are Avestan and Old Persian (Encyclopedia Americana).
The discovery of Sanskrit by European scholars towards the close of the 18th century was the
starting point of the scientific study of language. It was observed that in both vocabulary and grammar
Sanskrit was remarkably similar to the majority of the languages in Europe and particularly in
grammar, to the classical languages. The only theory that could explain these fundamental similarities
was that all the languages in question were derived from a common parent language (Encyclopedia
Americana).
Most scholars are cognizant of the similarities between Sanskrit and classical languages such as
Greek and Latin, but relatively few are aware that equal similarities still exist in modern, living Slavic
languages in particular Slovenian. Slovenian still preserves some grammatical forms that are no longer
present in other European or Indian languages.
Vedic and Classical Sanskrit
The language and literature of the Aryan invaders of India falls into two periods, the Vedic and
Sanskrit. Vedic is the English adjective formed from the noun veda, the native for the literature. The
word means "knowledge", (Slovenian "veda ") in the sense of sacred knowledge comparable to the
Bible. It is a religious literature, composed to meet the various needs of a complex religious system.
The four books of sacred writings are: Rig-Veda, Sama-Veda, Atharva-Veda and Yajur-Veda. The
oldest of these is Rig-Veda. The age estimates of Rig-Veda vary considerably between competent
scholars. They estimate the age anywhere from 3000 to 6000 years (Encyclopedia Americana).
The spoken dialect on which the language of the Rig-Veda is based lay to the northwest of the
area where the later classical language developed. The most important difference in the dialect
between Vedic and Classical Sanskrit lies in the treatment of Indo-European "r" and "l". In the Rig-
Veda, Indo-European "l" nearly always appears as "r", e.g. ruc 'light', (Slo. 'luè). In Classical Sanskrit,
on the other hand, "l" is frequently preserved, e.g. laghu 'light', (Slo. 'lahko'). Vedic, the earliest
literary language, was based on a dialect spoken in Punjab; the home of the Classical Sanskrit was the
ancient Madhyadesa or 'Middle Country', which corresponds roughly to the modern Uttar Pradesh.
Classical Sanskrit, which was eventually polished and fixed by Panini about 300 B.C., is essentially a
later form of the language that appears in the Vedas. The literary Sanskrit as the heir of the Vedic
religious tradition has remained down to the most recent times, the language of the traditional
Hinduism of India. The situation is similar to the position of Latin, which was the vehicle of the
classical and medieval culture of Europe and lived until recently in the writings and the liturgy of the
Catholic Church. With the aid of Panini's systematic grammar, an English judge in India Sir William
Jones announced in Calcutta-that Sanskrit, Greek and Latin "have sprung from some common source
which, perhaps, no longer exists." This was the seed from which sprang Indo-European comparative
grammar, the branch of linguistics that sets forth in all detail the relationship posited by Jones
(Emeneau M).
Linguistic Comparisons
Reindl (1999) gives an excellent short comparison between Sanskrit and Slovenian. Sanskrit and
Slovenian (and other Slavic languages) are related at the Indo-European level; that is, if you were to
think of the Slavic languages as being "sister" languages, Sanskrit would be a "cousin" language to
them.
Thus, there are certain similarities that can be observed in the areas of phonology, morphology,
syntax and lexicon because of their historical connection.
The phonological similarities are heightened by the fact that Slavic and Indic languages are both
part of the "satem" group of Indo-European languages; thus, they will often share an /s/, whereas other
languages will have a /k/, such as Germanic /h/. For example, Sanskrit satam 'hundred' and Slovenian
sto 'hundred', but Latin centum 'hundred' and German hundert 'hundred'.
Slavic is, very generally speaking, phonologically conservative in many ways, thus allowing us
to recognize cognates with Sanskrit because of its own archaic nature. For example, Sanskrit vranam
'wound' and Slovenian rana 'wound', Sanskrit maksha 'fly' and Slovenian muha 'fly', Sanskrit ish,
icchati 'to look for' and Slovenian iskati 'to look for'. (To Reindl's examples, it is possible to add many
others, such as Sanskrit mushka 'muscular person' and Slovenian moški 'manly', Sanskrit mush 'mouse'
and Slovenian miš 'mouse', Sanskrit i, eti 'to go' and Slovenian iti 'to go'.)
In the realm of morphology, Slovenian preserves the dual number (as does Sorbian, a Slavic
language spoken in eastern Germany). The verbal endings in the present tense are strikingly similar
between Slovenian and Sanskrit
Introduction
The most important of the linguistic families of India, Pakistan and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) is the
Indo-Aryan, of which the ancient and classical form is Sanskrit. The word samskrta-means 'perfected',
'polished' and is strictly applied to the language as regulated and established by the Indian
grammarians. In a wider sense Sanskrit is applied both to the earlier form called Vedic Sanskrit which
appears in the Vedic texts and to the later form stereotyped by the grammarians (Panini) called
Classical Sanskrit. From Sanskrit are descended Pali and the various dialects of Prakrit, which are
collectively styled 'Middle Indo-Aryan'. Out of the Middle Indo-Aryan, the various modern Indo-
Aryan languages of the Indian area have evolved: Bengali, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi etc.
Outside, Sanskrit is closely connected with the languages of the Iranian family of which the earliest
representatives are Avestan and Old Persian (Encyclopedia Americana).
The discovery of Sanskrit by European scholars towards the close of the 18th century was the
starting point of the scientific study of language. It was observed that in both vocabulary and grammar
Sanskrit was remarkably similar to the majority of the languages in Europe and particularly in
grammar, to the classical languages. The only theory that could explain these fundamental similarities
was that all the languages in question were derived from a common parent language (Encyclopedia
Americana).
Most scholars are cognizant of the similarities between Sanskrit and classical languages such as
Greek and Latin, but relatively few are aware that equal similarities still exist in modern, living Slavic
languages in particular Slovenian. Slovenian still preserves some grammatical forms that are no longer
present in other European or Indian languages.
Vedic and Classical Sanskrit
The language and literature of the Aryan invaders of India falls into two periods, the Vedic and
Sanskrit. Vedic is the English adjective formed from the noun veda, the native for the literature. The
word means "knowledge", (Slovenian "veda ") in the sense of sacred knowledge comparable to the
Bible. It is a religious literature, composed to meet the various needs of a complex religious system.
The four books of sacred writings are: Rig-Veda, Sama-Veda, Atharva-Veda and Yajur-Veda. The
oldest of these is Rig-Veda. The age estimates of Rig-Veda vary considerably between competent
scholars. They estimate the age anywhere from 3000 to 6000 years (Encyclopedia Americana).
The spoken dialect on which the language of the Rig-Veda is based lay to the northwest of the
area where the later classical language developed. The most important difference in the dialect
between Vedic and Classical Sanskrit lies in the treatment of Indo-European "r" and "l". In the Rig-
Veda, Indo-European "l" nearly always appears as "r", e.g. ruc 'light', (Slo. 'luè). In Classical Sanskrit,
on the other hand, "l" is frequently preserved, e.g. laghu 'light', (Slo. 'lahko'). Vedic, the earliest
literary language, was based on a dialect spoken in Punjab; the home of the Classical Sanskrit was the
ancient Madhyadesa or 'Middle Country', which corresponds roughly to the modern Uttar Pradesh.
Classical Sanskrit, which was eventually polished and fixed by Panini about 300 B.C., is essentially a
later form of the language that appears in the Vedas. The literary Sanskrit as the heir of the Vedic
religious tradition has remained down to the most recent times, the language of the traditional
Hinduism of India. The situation is similar to the position of Latin, which was the vehicle of the
classical and medieval culture of Europe and lived until recently in the writings and the liturgy of the
Catholic Church. With the aid of Panini's systematic grammar, an English judge in India Sir William
Jones announced in Calcutta-that Sanskrit, Greek and Latin "have sprung from some common source
which, perhaps, no longer exists." This was the seed from which sprang Indo-European comparative
grammar, the branch of linguistics that sets forth in all detail the relationship posited by Jones
(Emeneau M).
Linguistic Comparisons
Reindl (1999) gives an excellent short comparison between Sanskrit and Slovenian. Sanskrit and
Slovenian (and other Slavic languages) are related at the Indo-European level; that is, if you were to
think of the Slavic languages as being "sister" languages, Sanskrit would be a "cousin" language to
them.
Thus, there are certain similarities that can be observed in the areas of phonology, morphology,
syntax and lexicon because of their historical connection.
The phonological similarities are heightened by the fact that Slavic and Indic languages are both
part of the "satem" group of Indo-European languages; thus, they will often share an /s/, whereas other
languages will have a /k/, such as Germanic /h/. For example, Sanskrit satam 'hundred' and Slovenian
sto 'hundred', but Latin centum 'hundred' and German hundert 'hundred'.
Slavic is, very generally speaking, phonologically conservative in many ways, thus allowing us
to recognize cognates with Sanskrit because of its own archaic nature. For example, Sanskrit vranam
'wound' and Slovenian rana 'wound', Sanskrit maksha 'fly' and Slovenian muha 'fly', Sanskrit ish,
icchati 'to look for' and Slovenian iskati 'to look for'. (To Reindl's examples, it is possible to add many
others, such as Sanskrit mushka 'muscular person' and Slovenian moški 'manly', Sanskrit mush 'mouse'
and Slovenian miš 'mouse', Sanskrit i, eti 'to go' and Slovenian iti 'to go'.)
In the realm of morphology, Slovenian preserves the dual number (as does Sorbian, a Slavic
language spoken in eastern Germany). The verbal endings in the present tense are strikingly similar
between Slovenian and Sanskrit
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