- Reflect on how knowing a language's history can help you learn the language. To what family does your language belong? What sounds, words, or structures exemplify periods of contact with other cultures?
I find the origins of Sanskrit very interesting. It derives from Indo-European, just like English and many other European languages. It has been compared to Latin and (Ancient) Greek because of its similar linguistic derivations and its ancient history. Here’s a language family chart that includes Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin:
Sanskrit is derived from the Indo-Iranian language family just as English is derived from Germanic. Many Indian and South Asian languages remain very similar to Sanskrit still in both vocabulary and structure. Hindi is the largest native language of India and it shares many similarities with Sanskrit. There are many words from Sanskrit which overlap in English sounds or meaning, which might reflect the Proto-Indo-European roots or other cultural contact. Some words are strikingly similar between English and Sanskrit, including “Jangala”-Jungle; “Manas”-Mind; “Manu”-Man; “Gau”-Cow; “Matr”-Mother; “Naas”-Nose. There are so many of these similarities, and it still feels really weird to recognize them in their modern English form when I’m trying to read a Sanskrit sentence.
Comments
I liked how you included a picture of the proto-european indian family. I also did not know that it is similar to latin and greek just because they sound so different form each other.