Questions tagged [indo-aryan]
For questions concerning the Indo-Aryan languages like Sanskrit, Pali, Hindi-Urdu, Bengali, Singhalese, and Romani.
17
questions
6
votes
1answer
167 views
Why are there so many 'a' sounds in Sanskrit?
I noticed that in Sanskrit (as well as in many Indo-Aryan languages), the vowel /a/ appears much more frequently than any other vowel. Many words have only have /a/ as a vowel.
Is there any reason ...
23
votes
3answers
12k views
Is Sanskrit really the mother of all languages?
Hindus believe that "Sanskrit is the mother of all Languages".
It is a fact that Sanskrit has enriched most Indian Languages including the Dravidian Languages such as Telugu, as Latin enriched some ...
6
votes
1answer
412 views
Is there any similar verb negation in other Indo-European languages?
In the northern part of Iran, in Mazandaran, we negate like this (this is the only verb being used like this as far as I'm aware of):
bɜtʊ̈ndɜ: he/she can
bætʊ̈ndɜ: he/she can't
is there anything ...
3
votes
1answer
53 views
Is there an articulatory explanation to spontaneous nasalisation in New Indo-Aryan?
This question is regarding the phenomenon of spontaneous nasalisation (emergence of nasalisation out of nowhere) in New-Indo-Aryan as it evolved from Middle-Indo-Aryan. This is a well-documented ...
3
votes
1answer
86 views
Do we have ablaut in the Bengali verb system?
Do we have ablaut in the Bengali verb system?Is it why we have vowel alternation?
3
votes
1answer
126 views
Do Old Indian words with voiceless aspirated stops have cognates in other branches of Indogermanic?
Inspired by this answer by Arnaud Fournet I have this question: Do Old Indic (Vedic, Sankrit) words beginning with a voiceless aspirated stop (like ph, th, or kh) have cognates in other branches of ...
4
votes
1answer
583 views
What language was spoken in East Asia before Proto-Turkic?
From Wikipedia we have:
The Proto-Turkic language is the linguistic reconstruction of the
common ancestor of the Turkic languages that was spoken by the
Proto-Turks before their divergence ...
1
vote
1answer
182 views
In what ways did the Insular Indic languages morphologically diverge from Maharashthri Prakrit?
Maharashtri Prakrit is the antecedent southern zone language to all insular Indic languages. What are some characteristics, morphologically speaking, which differentiate these insular languages from ...
4
votes
1answer
181 views
What is the current understanding of the substrate(s) to the Indo-Aryan languages
The Indo-Aryan languages have acquired some vocabulary and other features that aren't present in the Iranian languages.
This is ascribed to substrate influence. What is the current understanding of ...
1
vote
3answers
1k views
Are ~simba (Bantu) and ~simha (Indic) related?
Does Swahili (and hence cognates of other Bantu languages) simba have any relation to सिंह (~singh or ~simha in Hindi and Sanskrit respectively according to Wiktionary, please correct me if I am wrong)...
1
vote
1answer
83 views
Evolution of perfective aspect from Sanskrit derivational suffix -ka in Modern Indo-Aryan languages
It is well attested that the Sanskrit derivational suffix -ka for adjectives together with the syntesized participle on nominals like krta-ka>done, evolved as the possessive case marker in modern Indo-...
1
vote
1answer
195 views
“Phonemic” distinctions induced by morphology
As a native speaker of Bengali (Calcutta dialect), I found it quite surprising that this
Wikipedia article on Bengali phonology asserts, "for most speakers /s/ and /ʃ/ are phonemically distinct." I ...
4
votes
2answers
520 views
Is Brugmann's Law controversial?
The Indo-European sound change known as Brugmann's Law states that PIE *o became ā in an open syllable in Indo-Iranian. The Wiki page calls the law "controversial" and says that "Brugmann's Law has ...
2
votes
2answers
329 views
Base language of Mitanni Texts
I was going through the sources for early indo-iranian and according to B. Fortson the first documented manifestation of this branch are the proper names in Mitanni Texts. Since the indo-iranian word ...
3
votes
4answers
1k views
Are Indian languages distinct or are they just different dialects?
I speak Malayalam, one of the Indian languages and also Hindi but there are always common words which I assume are original Sanskrit words? So are the languages truly distinct or can I say they are ...
4
votes
1answer
204 views
Loans in Indo-Aryan languages indicating possible migration routes
I am aware of only few Uralic loans into Indo-Aryan languages that show migrations from Eurasia to India, Iran etc. What are typical examples of loan words that are unquestionably a result of a ...
4
votes
2answers
621 views
Is syllable-timing in Indo-Aryan languages due to contact with Dravidian languages?
Most Indian languages are classified as syllable-timed. Some Dravidian languages, such as Tamil and Telugu, are mora-timed, which in recent research on speech rhythm has been called super-syllable-...
