Social:Proto-Indo-Aryan language
| Proto-Indo-Aryan | |
|---|---|
| PIA, Proto-Indic | |
| Reconstruction of | Indo-Aryan languages |
Reconstructed ancestors | Proto-Indo-European
|
Proto-Indo-Aryan (sometimes Proto-Indic[note 1]) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Indo-Aryan languages.[1] It is intended to reconstruct the language of the Proto-Indo-Aryans, who had migrated into the Indian subcontinent. Being descended from Proto-Indo-Iranian (which in turn is descended from Proto-Indo-European),[2] it has the characteristics of a Satem language.[3]
History
Proto-Indo-Aryan is meant to be the predecessor of Old Indo-Aryan (1500–300 BCE), which is directly attested as Vedic and 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
- ↑ In modern and colloquial context, the term "Indic" refers more generally to the languages of the Indian subcontinent, thus also including non-Aryan languages like Dravidian and Munda. See e.g. Reynolds, Mike; Verma, Mahendra (2007). "Indic languages". in Britain, David. Language in the British Isles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 293–307. ISBN 978-0-521-79488-6. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/language-in-the-british-isles/indic-languages/8343FABC094E91986DBD68A492FFEA1B. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
References
- ↑ Cardona, George; Jain, Dhanesh (26 July 2007). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. ISBN 9781135797119. https://books.google.com/books?id=OtCPAgAAQBAJ&q=proto+indo+aryan+language&pg=PA36. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ↑ "ARYANS – Encyclopedia Iranica". http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/aryans. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
- ↑ Wheeler, L. Kip.. "The Indo-European Family of Languages". https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/IE_Main2_Satem.html. 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.
- ↑ Kobayashi, Masato (2004). Historical Phonology of Old Indo-Aryan Consonants. Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa Monograph Series. 42. pp. 60–65. ISBN 4-87297-894-3.
Works cited
- The Blackwell companion to Hinduism. Oxford: Blackwell Publ. 2003. ISBN 1-4051-3251-5.
- MacDonell, Arthur Anthony (2004). A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-2000-5.
- Radhakrishnan, S.; Moore, C. A. (1957). A Source Book in Indian Philosophy. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-01958-1. https://archive.org/details/sourcebookinindi00radh.
Further reading
- Morgenstierne, Georg. "Early Iranic Influence upon Indo-Aryan." Acta Iranica, I. série, Commemoration Cyrus. Vol. I. Hommage universel (1974): 271–279.
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