Is Sanskrit everyone’s language?

 ‘Generally,questions on Sanskrit are asked exactly the opposite way of how it should have been asked !’ says an eminent Sanskrit lover Krishnamoorty .V.S ! According to him,this question should have been something like,’Is not Sanskrit no one’s language?’.

Now,why is he saying so ?What are his reasons?

1. MYTH About origin of Sanskrit !

For any language to ORIGINATE,there must be a NATIVE SPEAKER COMMUNITY.The Indo-European family of languages have 449 member languages.Among these,Sanskrit is the ONLY language which has NO NATIVE SPEAKER community.Linguists raise the question,’How did Sanskrit originate without a native speaker community?’ As no satisfactory answer for this question is available,they conclude that Sanskrit is a made-up or constructed code and not a natural language.Sanskrrit has been made up by people whose mother-tongue is a non-Sanskrit language,like,say Tamil.

2.MYTH Sanskrit as a mother-tongue!

Hindu scriptures and traditions prohibited women from chanting Sanskrit( words or verses.

(vide 'Women are not allowed to study or chant the Vedas.' - the lowdown Women are not allowed to study or chant the Vedas. Orthodoxy still does not permit girls to receive Vedic initiation )

The Hindus

So,mothers being naturally women, were prohibited from chanting Sanskrit.Hence ,Sanskrit could not become a mother-tongue for the children.

Linguists point out that this is the main reason for the lack of a native speaker community for Sanskrit.

(Alvaro Hans's answer to What are the biggest linguistic myths in India? )

However,we cannot set aside the fact that according to Census 2001 figures,Sanskrit has been declared as mother-tongue by 14,000+ people in Mathur,Karnataka.

Quora Link

WHAT ARE THE LINGUISTIC MYTHS OF INDIA ?

TAMIL LANGUAGE WAS CREATED BY ONE short SAINT !

SANSKRIT IS A LANGUAGE WITHOUT SPEAKERS !

MOTHERS NOT ALLOWED TO SPEAK MOTHER-TONGUE !

WHAT ARE THE LINGUISTIC MYTHS OF INDIA ? 

This is an interesting question indeed.

Many linguists do feel that linguistics as a subject in India was evolved more as an effective tool of political governance than as a science.The ruling British achieved their objective to subdue the people of the land and rule over them with ease,through linguistics.This is,in fact ,true of the British rule throughout the world.

The main objective behind the linguistics teaching is not knowing various languages ,history etc. but would be to perpetuate myths that would project the rulers as linguistically superior to the subjects,hence fit to rule.Ruler’s language will be projected as a superior language ,thus supplementing their projected image of physical superiority.Superior in complexion,superior in culture and superior in language they speak.Thus the languages of the subjects ruled by the British were shown in poor light.

In this linguistic strategy ,the British made the powerful Indian intelligentsia,especially the Brahmins,their willing allies by linking their English with Sanskrit,the favourite talk of the Brahmins.

In the circumstances,linguistics as a subject has myriad of inconsistent myths floating around unquestioned.A group of IE scholars who researched into this subject in 2016 threw up some interesting myths so far unknown.

Here are few of their findings:

1. MYTH About origin of Sanskrit !

For any language to ORIGINATE,there must be a NATIVE SPEAKER COMMUNITY.The Indo-European family of languages have 449 member languages.Among these,Sanskrit is the ONLY language which has NO NATIVE SPEAKER community.Linguists raise the question,’How did Sanskrit originate without a native speaker community?’ As no satisfactory answer for this question is available,they conclude that Sanskrit is a made-up or constructed code and not a natural language.Sanskrrit has been made up by people whose mother-tongue is a non-Sanskrit language,like,say Tamil.

2.MYTH Sanskrit as a mother-tongue!

Hindu scriptures and traditions prohibited women from chanting Sanskrit( words or verses.

(vide 'Women are not allowed to study or chant the Vedas.' - the lowdown Women are not allowed to study or chant the Vedas. Orthodoxy still does not permit girls to receive Vedic initiation )

The Hindus

 

So,mothers being naturally women, were prohibited from chanting Sanskrit.Hence ,Sanskrit could not become a mother-tongue for the children.

Linguists point out that this is the main reason for the lack of a native speaker community for Sanskrit.

3.MYTH Sanskrit is a CODE only!

Linguists specialising in language origination clarify that there cannot be any language THAT IS/WAS NEVER SPOKEN.If any thing is not spoken ,then it is termed as CODE and NOT LANGUAGE.

However,a language need not have a WRITING script as a must.

4 MYTH Indian sub-continent never had a language called Tamil !

Indian linguistics talk so much about lot of imaginary languages and scripts.Devanagari,Prakrit,Pali etc. are referred to quite often but the texts never refer to the existence of Tamil language in its historical linguistics.While Tamil was a pan-Indian language since or earlier to Indus Valley Civilization days circa 3300 B.C.,Indian linguistics do not refer to Tamil and its presence across India in its texts at all.If a search for the word Tamil is made in linguistic texts,the result turned out is likely to be dismal.

For example,a search for the word Tamil made in Sanskrit - Wikipedia turned out result as nil ! However,the very word Sanskrit itself is proved to be from Tamil vide Alvaro Hans's answer to Can you give a single evidence to support the fact that Tamil is an older language than Sanskrit?

For a list of proxy words used in linguistics to avoid the word Tamil,please refer to https://www.quora.com/Why-did-pr...

Indian linguistics also suppresses the major factor that every language has to have a native speakercommunity essentially.Here are a few languages of India without any kind of people linked to it:

Sanskrit,Prakrit,Pali,Devanagari etc. By repeated reference to these imaginary languages,readers are made to believe that such languages existed without people linked to it.

5.MYTH : Devanagari-A script without a language !

Sanskrit enthusiasts with the support of Govt. of India have perpetuated a myth that there is a script called Devanagari that is used by every Indian language including the great Tamil! Linguists confirm that NO SCRIPT CAN EVOLVE WITHOUT A SPOKEN LANGUAGE PRECEDING IT.That is SCRIPT evolves after a phase of SPOKEN LANGUAGE. They point out there was never a people or language called Devanagari at any point of time in Indian history.Then,how can a script originate on its own?they ask.

Some linguists feel that Devanagari script is nothing but Tamil script as great Tamil would not have or need not borrow a script from an unknown source called Devanagari.The significant resemblance between Tamil alphabets and Hindi alphabets prove this contention.Most of the Hindi letters are just altered Tamil letters only with a cap on.

6.MYTH: Many Indian Spoken languages originated from an unspoken script!

According to approved texts Sanskrit is the root of all north-Indian languages like Hindi,Gujarati,Marathi etc.Linguists are of the opinion that an unspoken code cannot be the source of any spoken language.Then,how can sterile Sanskrit be the mother of so many live spoken tongues?they ask.

7.MYTH:Sanskrit is not related to Indian neighbour Tamil but to far-off European languages!

Sanskrit in India is generally linked to the Aryans who are reputed to have entered India sometime in the B.C.era.It’s generally believed that the Aryans brought Sanskrit when they entered India.But history is that when they entered India,they did not bring with them any developed language.They seem to have spoken some crude language bordering the Vedic language.The language didn’t have any script or developed literature when they entered India. Later,the Vedas were composed in India and the name Sanskrit itself was assigned much later ,say by B.C. 450 or so by Panini,the grammarian.

Sanskrit,thus was born in India clearly.When a language is born in India,the influence of the then ruling/mass language of India,i.e.Tamil cannot be http://avoided.In the circumstances,the chances of far-off European languages influencing Sanskrit(or vice versa ) is ruled out.

Some may raise a doubt that if Sanskrit and IE languages are not connected,how do we explain the similar words between Sanskrit and some IE languages? Please read Alvaro Hans's answer to If Tamil is believed to be the oldest language, then why is English vocabulary largely derived from ancient Greek and not from Tamil? for an insight. Linguists point out that many Sanskrit words are rooted in Tamil diction.

8.MYTH: Sanskrit is the ONLY Deva Bhasha!

Alvaro Hans's answer to Why is Tamil not considered as 'Deva bhasha'?

‘Deva bhasha’ means ‘language of Gods’.

Following are the languages reportedly or believed to have been spoken by various major known Gods,among themselves or to ‘man’.

· Yahweh -God of Old Testament Bible-Hebrew Language

· Jesus Christ-Son of God-Aramaic Language

· Greek Gods-Zeus,Apollos,Eros,etc.-Greek Language

· Tamil Gods-Sivan,Murugan,Pillayar etc.-Tamil Language .Sivan and Murugan loved Tamil Language.Sivan was head of one Tamil Sangam,taking the name’Irayanar’ meaning’God

· ’Non-Tamil Indian Gods-Language spoken,not clear.Sanskrit?

So’Deva Basha’is ‘not language used by ‘man’ to speak/pray to God ’ as given to understand.The Gods listed above spoke ‘human languages’ only,which can be understood by ‘man’ as well.Tamil has also an ocean of ‘Bhakthi literature’ in praise of some Gods including Jesus Christ.The Tamil anthology’Thembavani’ is in praise of Joseph,the earthly father of Jesus Christ.

So,the fore-going points make it clear that Tamil should be considered as ‘Deva Basha’ along with other similar languages.

9. MYTH Sanskrit is a classical language !

A  classical language needs to be a LANGUAGE first of all to qualify for Classical Language status. It is now proved that Sanskrit IS NOT A LANGUAGE BUT A CODE ONLY.Linguists have raised a question ,’How can a CODE be declared as a Classical Language?

Thus,the myth of Indian linguistics that Sanskrit is the ONLY Deva Bhasha of India has been busted now.

There are many more ancillary myths floating around to supplement these major myths.However,since the internet is now open to every one,these myths have been busted and we know what is true now.

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Why are there 2 different language families in India? Indo Aryan and Dravidian?

When the British administrator Francis Day landed on the coast of Madras(now Chennai) in 1639,the British wouldn’t have imagined that Francis day was actually marking the beginning of the 400 year British history in India .Though Francis Day landed at the then Madras,Calcutta(now Kolkatta)eventually became the British capital for the East India Company then and later the Indian political capital.

The smart Brahmins of Tamil Nadu naturally were the brainy lot of India then and were natural choice for inducting into the British administration at Calcutta.There they got close to Sir William Jones , a puisne judge on the Supreme Court in Bengal It was strange that Jones was more interested in philology than his own subject ‘law’.He sat with the Indian Tamil Brahmins in his quest to know about the fascinating lot of the languages of India.He was also active in the Asiatic Society(1786)at Calcutta and knew lot of IE languages like Greek,Latin etc.

After a time of study ,Sir William Jones seem to have gained the following impression regarding the origin of Indian languages from various sources:

1. Sanskrit is the mother of all Indian languages.

2.Sanskrit is the base of Indian culture.

3. Sanskrit has common words with Greek/Latin etc.

Little did Jones realise then that his understanding of India was lot incomplete without getting to know about the aboriginal people and language of the land. Based on this limited understanding William Jones had about the Indian languages,he went on to propose the existence of a relationship among European and Indian languages especially with Sanskrit.Later this family of languages came to be known as Indo-European languages .

During the same time ,Francis W Ellis,Collector of down south Madras Presidency had developed interest in Tamil and Sanskrit languages.He found out that William Jones’ findings were sort of incomplete in that he had omitted to include Tamil,the major language of the Indian sub-continent which was at least 3000 years old .He recognised Tamil as an independent ,older language with 44 daughter languages.Tamil was also found to be spoken by the native aboriginal speakers unlike Sanskrit which was heard only in some chants in temples.It was Ellis who first used the word ‘Dravida’(sic) to call the Tamil family of languages.

There’s no record of William Jones ever attempting to know about the great Tamil group of languages either from Francis Ellis or on his own.However,William Jones’ discourses on IE hypothesis eventually reached the then knowledge capital of the world England followed by Germany and Europe leading the entire world to believe that Sanskrit is the mother of IE languages.All these happened during the late 1700s.

Recent findings on Sanskrit -IE -Tamil connection

Much water has flown since the IE classification was done by Jones 200+ years back on erroneous/incomplete grounds.All subjects in arts/science etc.underwent dramatic changes during this 2 centuries of knowledge explosion and development.Linguistics was no exemption to the trend.

The following latest findings by the linguists of the internet era serves to update our knowledge on IE languages with special reference to Sanskrit.

1)Theory of Language Origination

It was found out recently that for any language to originate,a PEOPLE i.e.a community of native speakers is a condition-precedent.Research showed that Sanskrit had no known community of native speakers ever.Even the priestly caste Brahmins who chant Sanskrit mantras did not speak Sanskrit in their homes or among themselves.Instead ,it was found out that the Brahmins of India speak their respective State languages only .They normally declare the respective State languages as their mother tongue.Hence,the IE linguists who studied the matter feel that Sanskrit cannot qualify as a language without an identifiable native speakers and an established spoken status.Accordingly ,Sanskrit is now identified as the only unspoken script among the 449 member languages of the IE family.

2) Difference between language and code

Linguists are of the view that a language needs to be essentially spoken but not essentially required to have a script.If it is not spoken then it turns to be a cryptic code. Moreover,while a language is open to all in the community ,a code is always restricted to a fixed group.Based on these grounds,Sanskrit is now tagged as a code only.

3) Core Diction Deduction Technique(CDDT)

CDDT is yet another recent technique aimed at finding out who the mother of a particular language is by matching the core diction of both the languages involved.For details regarding the application of CDDT,please read my answer to Did Sanskrit originate from Tamil? Link https://www.quora.com/Did-Sanskrit-originate-from-Tamil/answer/Alvaro-Hans

Conclusion

It’s true that as of now there are 2 different language groups in India,namely the Indo-European languages and the Dravidian languages.However modern IE linguists feel that the extant classification done in 1786 has turned redundant/anachronistic/archaic now in view of the recent findings listed above.They are of the view that a need for revisiting the family classification has arisen now and if found necessary both the families be merged based on the recent findings.

(Originally published in Quora,Oct 20,2018)

What is the way to confirm the ownership of a specific word which is claimed by 2 languages?

 

Shit !Is it English or French ?

Often 2 languages claim the ownership of the same word. In such cases,how do we confirm the ownership?

Chapter 9 of the recently released book ’Proto-Indo-European Language-Face Unveiled’ (Notion Press-2017) provides the rules:

Hans Rules For Etymology Confirmation

Often we come across a number of etymologies which prima facie appear questionable or unacceptable.They either appear baseless ,false or kind of imaginary guess work .Often,one feels that they are not quite convincing. Sometimes,we do come across competing claims as well. In such situations,how does one find out the right original root and its owner? Following are the rules formed, for confirmation of word origin and ownership

Rule 1: Eco-system for word origination a must.

Let us,first of all,understand how words originate in any language.What are the basic conditions precedent for a ‘word’ to originate in a ‘language’?

Any word in any language is a product of the eco-system of people,environment and need.

For example,if Tamil has 60 words for ‘Elephant,’it means:

l There were people called ‘Tamils’.

l They lived in a specific place.

l The place they lived had elephants.

l Tamils knew ‘elephants’ ,interacted with them and so gave different names to them.

Apply this to a people of say Denmark,where elephants did not live So,the Dutch language could not have ‘originated ‘a word for ’elephant’when,say,the Dutch never knew about ‘elephants’.

Tamil does not have a word for ‘dragon’as they never knew of ‘dragon’ either alive or in fantasy.So,if any language claims ownership of a particular word as its own, without a conducive supporting eco-system for the word to originate,then the claim needs to be doubted and questioned.

For example,Sanskrit claims every word as its own without the supporting eco-system for origination of words.For example,’rice’ is ’vrlhi’ in Sanskrit.

Now,the questions that arise are:

l When there are no ‘Sanskrit’ people,who cultivated ‘rice’?

l Which is the territory of ‘Sanskrit’ habitation?

l How can a word for ‘rice’ originate in a culture where ‘rice’ was not cultivated?

l Where was ‘rice’ cultivated,if cultivated, by people who coined this word?

When the the answer to the above questions are negative,how can a word for ‘rice’ originate in Sanskrit?

So,its clear that the etymology claimed in a particular language X gains more reliability, if supported by presence of an eco-system for word origination.

Rule 2:Presence of’ Root words’ and ‘cousin words’ in the language.

The presence of clear and acceptable ‘root word/formation’, in the language ,which claims ownership of the word ,proves its ownership.

Eg.Let us take the 2 words ‘Nation’(English) and’Nadu’ (Tamil) .Let us check out the original root.

The etymology of English Word ‘ nation ‘ claimed in Online Etymology Dictionary is as follows :

“c 1300, from Old French nacion "birth, rank; descendants, relatives; country, homeland" (12c.) and directly from Latin nationem (nominative natio) "birth, origin; breed, stock, kind, species; race of people, tribe," literally "that which has been born," from natus, past participle of nasci "be born" (Old Latin gnasci; see genus). Political sense has gradually predominated, but earliest English examples inclined toward the racial meaning "large group of people with common ancestry." Older sense preserved in application to North American Indian peoples (1640s). Nation-building first attested 1907 (implied in nation-builder).”

The etymon claimed dates around c .1300 only. French language itself evolved into the old French from Latin by around 9th century only. So, the question that arises is ‘Were there no ‘nations’ earlier ?The etymon French“ nacion‘ claimed is a stand–alone word with no other word to support the claim.Latin word’natio’ appears to be the older root from which ‘nacion’ should have descended.Still there are no other supporting words related to ‘natio’ in Latin.

Now let us consider a competing claim for this word ‘ nation’,which is from Tamil word ‘naadu ‘This word ‘naadu’means ‘country or people’ as against ‘ veedu meaning ‘ home.Plenty of supporting ‘cousin words ‘are available for the claim. ‘ Nattukaran is a ‘ citizen’. ‘Naatu Nai is a ‘country dog’. This word ‘Nadu’ appears to be derived from verb ‘nadu’ which means ‘ to plant’. ‘Naattu’ means to’ firmly plant’. Hence’ that(territory/people) which is ‘planted(established) firmly’ becomes ‘ naadu’( nation ).’Nada’ means’to walk’(v) .’Naadu’ =’that which is walked on’

Now,the origin of the root ‘natio’(Latin) is proved beyond doubt,to be from Tamil word ’Nadu’ by the:

1)Presence of clear basis for the root ‘Nadu’in Tamil

2)Stand-alone word in Latin with no cousin-words.

3)Presence of related’cousin words’ in Tamil .

Rule 3:Age of the word/root

The older the word is,better are its claim for the ownership,as explained in the fore-going example of ‘Nadu’ and’’Nation’

Rule4:Non-morpheme cognate words.

With respect to cognate words,if cognate words in two languages X and Y are morphemes, the conclusion of cognation stands beyond question. But in case the word could be broken down further in X language, the probability of that word belonging to X language is quite high.For example the word ‘Puj’ and ‘Pusai’ are considered cognate words in Sanskrit and Tamil.While in Sanskrit the word is a morpheme (vide page 641 of Sanskrit-English ,Dictionary-Monier Williams) in Tamil, the word ‘Pusai’ breaks down into “Poo+sei’.’Poo’ is ‘flower’ and ‘Sei’ is ‘to do’.The ritual ceremony done with flowers is thus called ‘http://Pusai’.In constrast ‘Puj’ in Sanskrit means ‘to honour;toworship’only.Hence it appears that an inference of cognation in such case stands to question. .Hence the etymology of Sanskrit word 'Puja' is from Tamil word 'Pusai' only.

The supporting ‘cousin words’ in Tamil are:

1)'Poosari'(Priest),

2)Pookary(flower seller),

3)Poopu(Puberty),

4)Poo malai (flower garland),

5)Poo chorithal(flower shower) etc.

It may be observed that Sanskrit does not have these supporting cousin words.

Rule5:Cultural Relevance.

We should understand that any language is, always an integral part of the culture ,of the people who speak it,as their native language. As such, the etymon or root claimed should relate to the culture of the people.For example,a’ maritime people’ would have lot of maritime related words in their language naturally.

Let us take the etymology of English word ‘ Catamaran ‘ for our illustration.

The etymology provided is as under:

“Kattumaram’ -Tamil(tied logs) > English ‘Catamaran’

early 17th century: from Tamil ‘kaṭṭumaram’, literally ‘tied wood’.”

This etymology can be safely considered as true because it is amply supported by the presence of ‘Kattumaram’ in Tamil Nadu.Suppose some one claims that it is from Japanese ‘Katsu’ which means ‘fried pork ‘ and the claim that people eat ‘katsu’ in a boat shaped like ‘catamaran’,hence the etymology! Obviously,the claim is not tenable! And you know which claim is likely to be right !

If the above 5 rules called ‘Hans Rules For Etymology Confirmation’ are complied with,one can be certain of the claim ,especially in a competition.

(originally published in Quora on 23 Sep 2018)

Why are the Tamil calendar years (60 years) named in Sanskrit language. What is the history for those names?

Tamils had an astonishing astronomical knowledge and all months and years were named in Tamil only.Following are the Tamil names for years which were later appropriated by Sanskrit as a part of cultural assimilation.Current year is called 'Venmugam' in Tamil which is 'Thunmukhi' in Sanskrit.

ஆண்டுப் பெயர்கள் தமிழில்--English
1 நற்றோன்றல் - பிரபவ --Natrondal
2 உயர்தோன்றல் - விபவ--Uyarthondral
3 வெள்ளொளி - சுக்கில--Velloli
4 பேருவகை - பிரமோதூத--Peruvagai
5 மக்கட்செல்வம் - பிரசோற்பத்தி--Makkatselvam
6 அயல்முனி - ஆங்கிரச--Ayalmuni
7 திருமுகம் - ஸ்ரீமுக---Thirumugam
8 தோற்றம் - பவ--Thottram
9 இளமை - யுவ
10 மாழை - தாது
11 ஈச்சுரம் - ஈஸ்வர
12 கூலவளம் - வெகுதான்ய
13 முன்மை - பிரமோதி
14 நேர்நிரல் - விக்ரம
15 விளைபயன் - விஜ_
16 ஓவியக்கதிர் - சித்ரபானு
17 நற்கதிர் - சுபானு
18 தாங்கெழில் - தாரண
19 நிலவரையன் - பார்த்திப
20 விரிமாண்பு - விய
21 முற்றறிவு - சர்வசித்
22 முழுநிறைவு - சர்வதாரி
23 தீர்பகை - விரோதி
24 வளமாற்றம் - விக்ருதி
25 செய்நேர்த்தி - கர
26 நற்குழவி - நந்தன
27 உயர்வாகை - விசய
28 வாகை - சய
29 காதன்மை - மன்மத
30 வெம்முகம் - துன்முகி
31 பொற்றடை - ஏவிளம்பி
32 அட்டி - விளம்பி
33 எழில்மாறல் - விகாரி
34 வீறியெழல் - சார்வரி
35 கீழறை - பிலவ
36 நற்செய்கை - சுபகிருது
37 மங்கலம் - சோபகிருது
38 பகைக்கேடு - குரோதி
39 உலகநிறைவு - விசிவாவசு
40 அருட்டோற்றம் - பராபவ
41 நச்சுப்புழை - பிலவங்க
42 பிணைவிரகு - கீலக
43 அழகு - சௌமிய
44 பொதுநிலை - சாதாரண
45 இகல்வீறு - விரோதிகிருது
46 கழிவிரக்கம் - பரிதாபி
47 நற்றலைமை - பிரமாதீச
48 பெருமகிழ்ச்சி - ஆனந்த
49 பெருமறம் - இராட்சச
50 தாமரை - நள
51 பொன்மை - பிங்கள
52 கருமைவீச்சு - காளயுத்தி
53 முன்னியமுடிதல் - சித்தார்த்தி
54 அழலி - ரௌத்ரி
55 கொடுமதி - துன்மதி
56 பேரிகை - துந்துபி
57 ஒடுங்கி - ருத்ரோத்காரி
58 செம்மை - ரக்தாட்சி
59 எதிரேற்றம் - குரோதன
60 வளங்கலன் - அட்சய

(To be updated)

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