Is Vedic Sanskrit a dead or a near dead language?

[Aupmanyav]

@Aupmanyav , would you have an opinion about Sikhism that you might want to share? Word has it that they are monotheists.

Oh sure, they are not monotheists, they are monists. They have their roots in Hinduism. I greatly respect Sri Guru Nanak Sahib Ji. What he was saying in Punjabi is no different from what the Upanishads taught. And he was an 'advaitist' - 'Ek Onkar'.

http://www.religiousforums.com/threads/non-duality-in-sikhism.157639/

 

[LuisDantas]

Thanks!

 

[Aupmanyav]

"A good deal of the language is still obscure and many hymns as a consequence seem unintelligible."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigveda#Rishis

I do not subscribe to this view. I understand the whole of RigVeda clearly.

 

[paarsurrey]

I do not subscribe to this view. I understand the whole of RigVeda clearly.

But not many people. Right? Please

"Sanskrit has been termed as "Language of the Gods". Its versatility and power have even been extolled by the modern scholars of linguistics. Sri Panini helped to codify the classical form of Sanskrit. Prior to him, the Vedas were composed in an older form of Sanskrit (Vedic Sanskrit) which is different from classical Sanskrit. Vedic Sanskrit is also more difficult to decipher than classical Sanskrit. The modern scholars of languages are trying to understand the origin of Sanskrit; there are still many gaps in their current knowledge base. Have our Hindu Acharyas and/or scriptures spoken about the origin of this mysterious "Language of the Gods"? Was Sanskrit an "eternal language" which our ancient Rishis "discovered" during their deep meditational states of consciousness?"
http://hinduism.stackexchange.com/q...erious-origin-of-the-divine-sanskrit-language
When a language has to be deciphered to understand, it is already dead. Right? Please

Regards

 

[Aupmanyav]

'Hinduism Stackexchange'. When a language has to be deciphered to understand, it is already dead.

That is the view of that site and not my view. Vedic Sanskrit is clearly understood and we know from where it has arisen and what path it has traveled to reach to Modern (Panini's) Sanskrit. Many researchers and many university departments have worked on it. See:

https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/lex/master (Proto-Indo-European)
https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/lex/master/0001 (Indo-European)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_root
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_languages

 

[Aupmanyav]

"Proto-Indo-European is the linguistic reconstruction of the common ancestor of the Indo-European languages. There are about 445 living Indo-European (IE) languages. The following IE languages are listed in descending order by native speakers, with all having at least 80 million: Spanish, English, Portuguese, Bengali, Hindi, Russian, Punjabi, German, and French.

Since there is no written record of this language, it has been reconstructed using historical linguistics. It is thought that Proto-Indo-European (PIE) may have been spoken as a single language (before divergence began) around 3500 BC, though estimates vary by more than a thousand years. The original speakers may have originated in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of Eastern Europe, north of the Black Sea. As Proto-Indo-European speakers became isolated from each other through migration, the language spoken by those groups diverged."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_language

"The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects. There are about 445 living Indo-European languages, according to the estimate by Ethnologue, with over two-thirds (313) of them belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch. The most widely spoken Indo-European languages by native speakers are Spanish, English, Hindi, Portuguese, Bengali, Russian, and Punjabi, each with over 100 million speakers. Today, 46% of the human population speaks an Indo-European language, by far the most of any language family."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_languages

 

[paarsurrey]

"Proto-Indo-European is the linguistic reconstruction of the common ancestor of the Indo-European languages. There are about 445 living Indo-European (IE) languages. The following IE languages are listed in descending order by native speakers, with all having at least 80 million: Spanish, English, Portuguese, Bengali, Hindi, Russian, Punjabi, German, and French.
Since there is no written record of this language, it has been reconstructed using historical linguistics. It is thought that Proto-Indo-European (PIE) may have been spoken as a single language (before divergence began) around 3500 BC, though estimates vary by more than a thousand years. The original speakers may have originated in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of Eastern Europe, north of the Black Sea. As Proto-Indo-European speakers became isolated from each other through migration, the language spoken by those groups diverged."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_language
"The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects. There are about 445 living Indo-European languages, according to the estimate by Ethnologue, with over two-thirds (313) of them belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch. The most widely spoken Indo-European languages by native speakers are Spanish, English, Hindi, Portuguese, Bengali, Russian, and Punjabi, each with over 100 million speakers. Today, 46% of the human population speaks an Indo-European language, by far the most of any language family."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_languages

Vedic Sanskrit is not even mentioned in one's post. It is a dead language though efforts being made to resuscitate it. Please
Regards

 

[Aupmanyav]

"The largest in terms of native speakers are Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu, about 250 million), Bengali (about 200 million),Punjabi (about 100 million), Marathi (about 70 million), Gujarati and Rajasthani (about 50 million each), Bhojpuri (about 40 million), Odia (about 30 million), Sindhi (about 25 million), Saraiki (20 million) and Nepali, Sinhala and Assamese (about 15 million each), with a total number of native speakers of more than 900 million (probably by now, it is 1 billion)."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Aryan_languages

All derived from Sanskrit, which is their sacred/liturgical language. To understand Sanskrit and Vedas is enough. No body is trying to make Vedic Sanskrit the language of communication*.

- Of course, in five villages in India, Sanskrit is the common language of daily use. In a Karnataka village, even Muslims converse in Sanskrit. There are 15 universities in India devoted to Sanskrit studies. There are thousands of Veda schools where Vedas and Sanskrit are taught.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sanskrit_universities_in_India

 

[paarsurrey]

"The largest in terms of native speakers are Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu, about 250 million), Bengali (about 200 million),Punjabi (about 100 million), Marathi (about 70 million), Gujarati and Rajasthani (about 50 million each), Bhojpuri (about 40 million), Odia (about 30 million), Sindhi (about 25 million), Saraiki (20 million) and Nepali, Sinhala and Assamese (about 15 million each), with a total number of native speakers of more than 900 million (probably by now, it is 1 billion)."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Aryan_languages
View attachment 14417
All derived from Sanskrit, which is their sacred/liturgical language. To understand Sanskrit and Vedas is enough. No body is trying to make Vedic Sanskrit the language of communication*.
- Of course, in five villages in India, Sanskrit is the common language of daily use. In a Karnataka village, even Muslims converse in Sanskrit. There are 15 universities in India devoted to Sanskrit studies. There are thousands of Veda schools where Vedas and Sanskrit are taught.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sanskrit_universities_in_India

In spite of the one billion people speaking in languages derived from Sanskrit, these all put a nail on the coffin of Vedic Sanskrit a dead language which is to be deciphered by the scholars to understand its meaning. Please
Regards

 

[Unification]

Is Vedic Sanskrit a dead or a near dead language?

Thread open to all human beings of a religion or no religion.
Regards

Not so. Even when not perceived, "meanings" of words in Sanskrit language have become words in alternate languages. . To Hindi, to Hebrew, to Greek, to English, to you name it... languages that are here to this present day that present being's use. A branch of great expansion.

 

[Aupmanyav]

That brings to my mind a word 'mr(i)t' (dead). This is 'Mrityu' in Sanskritic languages and 'Maut' or 'Malak al-Maut' (Quran) in Hebrew and Arabic. Words spanning Indo-European languages and Semitic languages are few, and it is one of them.

 

[paarsurrey]

Not so. Even when not perceived, "meanings" of words in Sanskrit language have become words in alternate languages. . To Hindi, to Hebrew, to Greek, to English, to you name it... languages that are here to this present day that present being's use. A branch of great expansion.

That doesn't prove that Vedic Sanskrit is a living language.When people prefer to speak and communicate in "alternate languages. . To Hindi, to Hebrew, to Greek, to English", that proves that they find convenient to communicate in them and prefer the living languages to a dead language. Right? Please
Regards

 

[Unification]

That doesn't prove that Vedic Sanskrit is a living language.When people prefer to speak and communicate in "alternate languages. . To Hindi, to Hebrew, to Greek, to English", that proves that they find convenient to communicate in them and prefer the living languages to a dead language. Right? Please
Regards

People are free to communicate however they want in whatever they want and call it whatever they want. Are you referring to "spoken" language? Understand depth. How is that you can write "Vedic Sanskrit" in the English language yet call it dead and be here talking of it?