| Group |
Indic (with Hindi,
Marathi etc.), Old Indic (with Vedic
and Sanskrit) |
| Geography |
It was the oldest historically witnessed form of the Indo-Aryan language.
Indic tribes came to these lands, in the Indus Valley, around 1700 BC,
replacing and conquering the ancient civilization of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
which existed here before. Indo-Aryans used a language very similar to
Iranian and not far from Proto-Indo-European.
Nowadays it is evident that India was not the only way for Aryan migrations,
as some traces of their existence are discovered in the Black Sea region
(Black Sea Aryan), and in the Middle East (the
so-called Mitanni Aryan language). |
| History |
Vedic is represented by earlier mantras, or verses, which consist of
four Vedas, one of the most famous Indo-European epics of ancient times.
The most ancient is Rgveda, the language of which is rather archaic and
purely Indo-European, practically without borrowed elements. By the time
the Vedas were redorded, the language had already become extinct: but its
structure is believed to preserve features of the 2nd millennium BC. |
| Phonetics |
in phonetics the turn of d, dh into l, lh
between vowels; |
| Morphology |
in morphology: very large number of exceptions in the language, archaisms.
The verb uses the subjunctive and injunctive moods (memorative - the special
mood with the meaning of mentioning the action), the pluperfect which are
absent in Sanskrit. In Vedas particles and
conjunctions play an important role, and the word order is totally free. |
| Lexicon |
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| Writing |
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| Close Contacts |
As Vedic is the closest to the Iranian languages, the language is quite
similar to Avestan, and some parallel
forms and combinations are amazing. |
| Sample |
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| Picture |
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| More info |
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