TRACING VEDIC DIALECTS - People.fas.harvard.edu

pop. P r ā k ṛ t d i a l e c t s
speech
Varṇu Panjab: Kurukṣetra: Pañcala: Eastern: he 'lavo =
dial. Bhava= nyubja, kuśā (=darbha) "Asurya" speech, Śarva
Rudra auśānasa = Rudra
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non- N: K i r ā t a lg.s (early Tib.-Burm.?)
I.A. W: IRANIAN:
lg.s Kamboja SW: Kīkaṭa,Niṣāda SE: M u ṇ ḍ a
~Y.Avestan (cf.Nahalī (Puṇḍra,Kaliṅga...)
substrates!)
W: DRAVIDIAN: S: D r a v i d i a n lg.s
~Brahui (Andhra, etc.)
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The exact source(s) of "Classical Sanskrit" remain(s) open. It can be
suspected that it is based on the Bardic language, akin to that of the
Yajñagāthās, with influences from the Colloquial/Educated Skt. of late Vedic,
resulting in something like the language of Patañjali, ca. 150 B.C. To
approach a solution, the Gāthā language, the Epic, and the educated speech of
Patañjali would have to be compared thoroughly.
Against this background sketched so far, we can now begin to observe and
register some of the divergencies in the Middle Vedic texts. I largely refrain
from dealing with the Ṛgvedic evidence as this text is clearly much older and
also geographically limited to the Panjab and its immediate surroundings. A
Mantra text like the AV knows of the N. Indian plains of the doab/ U.P.;
Mantra language in general still have as their centre the area "where the
rivers flow westwards and eastwards," i.e., the Kuru country on the Beas,
Sarasvatī and the Yamunā (see Fel. Vol. Eggermont).
The following investigation first deals with a few typical divergencies found
in the various texts which tend to establish a dialect pattern (§ 5-6); then more
cases typically distinguishing one text or school from another are adduced (§
6-7), and this is enlarged upon by the study of some individual words, and by
additional materials taken from syntax and style. Finally, the relationship of
Vedic dialects with the early Prākṛts is investigated (§9).
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