The Volume under review comprises twelve papers authored by as many scholars that were initially ... more The Volume under review comprises twelve papers authored by as many scholars that were initially presented at the 12th World Sanskrit Conference (Linguistics section) held at Helsinki Finland in July, 2003. The papers included in the Volume relate to several themes from historical phonology, morpho-syntax, etymology of OIA, to Iranian loan words and computer processing of Sanskrit. The Volume opens with "The development of PIE *sć into Sanskrit/(c)ch/" authored by Masato Kobayashi wherein the earlier positions on the issue are revisited and with ample data from PIE, PIIr, OIA and MIA, the author concludes that the PIIr *ć is considered to have been a palatal affricate, hence the *sć cluster involved three obstruent phases in two consonant slots (*st∫). Consequently, by the general rule of simplification, the clusterinitial consonant *s was lost leaving behind t∫, spread to two consonant slots. In pre-Vedic phonology "the feature [aspirated] was redundantly specified for all sibilants, as the sandhi -tś->cch reflects. Finally, [t∫] was phonemicized as an aspirate/(c) ch/and filled in the empty place of an aspirated voiceless palatal plosive in the consonant inventory of OIA." Hans Henrich Hock in "Reflexivization in the Rig-Veda (and beyond)" presents more evidence from Rig-Veda to demonstrate that "the reflexive possessive is complementary to middle voice verb inflection, marking the one constituent that cannot be expressed on the verb, namely the nominal genitive relation; and that the full reflexive (RV tanū′) is indeed a very recent innovation, whose development can still be traced in the Rig-Veda". The complementarity of the reflexive possessive and middle voice is based upon the arguments that "nominal genitive relation is fundamentally different from that of the case relations of verbal complements" and the adnominal genitive relation is not subcategorized on the verb". Rejecting Lehmann"s (1974) observation that PIE had no reflexive pronouns at all, (it marked reflexivization on the verb, as middle voice), simply meaning "own", Hock demonstrates that sva-does behave as a reflexive in several instances in Rig-Veda and that in the RV, (Book 10) there are some instances of the use of tanū′ as a clear reflexive, with verb in the active voice, which is an innovation and the first attestation of the later Vedic and Classical pattern in which a reflexive pronoun, nominal in origin (RV tanū′, later ātmán) has been reinterpreted as the major marker of reflexivization.
In Kashmiri consonants except palatals and approximants undergo palatalization in the word initia... more In Kashmiri consonants except palatals and approximants undergo palatalization in the word initial, medial and final positions. The palatal consonants undergo palatalization in word final position and the number of such examples is quite low. Palatal approximant is not palatalized. The process presents contrastive pairs between palatalized and non-palatalized consonants 1 . Palatalization, therefore, plays a productive role in the morphological and morphophonological processes in Kashmiri and this article makes an attempt to understand it.
There is an increasing awareness/agreement that a bottom-up approach to the study of TAM categori... more There is an increasing awareness/agreement that a bottom-up approach to the study of TAM categories may be preferred. The present write-up lists modals employed in Kashmiri. Modals, strong or weak, tend to merge with the future tense. Kashmiri employs morphemes suffixed to the verb form to reflect tense-pr., pst., fut. and aspect-perf., imperf. The modality is expressed by such like core modals as paz-un 'should', hekun 'can/could/probablity', tagun 'can/ability', and several semi-modals (verb forms) like vaatun 'reach', p y on 'fall', aasun 'to be' and the negative particle maa 'not'. The MODALS reflect obligation, necessity, possibility, probability, and speculation whereas the auxiliary aasun 'to be' in its present and past tense forms reflects speaker's definite knowledge that something is real or true as the case may be.
The earliest written records available on the sub-continent come to us from Sanskrit; in fact RgV... more The earliest written records available on the sub-continent come to us from Sanskrit; in fact RgVeda is regarded as the earliest knowledge-text available to mankind. The Indo-Aryan languages, the descendents of Sanskrit, are spoken across South Asia from Afghanistan to Sri Lanka along side scores of languages of at least three other major language families. A great deal of convergence has taken place among these languages from different stocks over the last over three millennia and they continue to co-exist while maintaining their independent genetic affiliations.
Here is an attempt to demonstrate that Grierson"s word in the "Linguistic Survey of India" is not... more Here is an attempt to demonstrate that Grierson"s word in the "Linguistic Survey of India" is not sacrosanct. This is more so with regard to his sub-classification of Indo-Aryan languages. The labels like Behari, Pahari, Dardic etc. coined or employed by him need to be given a second look and modified in accordance with the ground situation/reality. It applies strongly to the label Dardic as while presenting a chronological overview of Grierson"s opinion with regard to "Dardic" remarks that "Even less should Grierson"s tentative classification be taken as the last word on the "Dardic" question." (pp. 460-462). The present paper argues that there is a strong case favouring abandoning the label Dardic altogether.
The essay attempts to explore diminutive and augmentative formation in Indo-Aryan with data from ... more The essay attempts to explore diminutive and augmentative formation in Indo-Aryan with data from Kashmiri and Hindi. Word-Formation in Indo-Aryan languages involves affixation, compounding, among other processes. Affixation and Compounding generate Diminutives and Augmentatives as well. An attempt will be made in this essay to explore patterns of Affixation and compounding that bring into being diminutives and augmentatives in Kashmiri and Hindi.
India is a tableau of languages, cultures, faiths, even so-called races and one comes across stri... more India is a tableau of languages, cultures, faiths, even so-called races and one comes across striking richness of sound-systems in Indic languages. The present essay attempts to demonstrate that despite multiplicity and diversity of languages across various regions in the country, there is a strong element of commonality in the employment of phonological segments across Indic. There is rich material available on the ground for young researchers desirous of pursuing phonological investigations across Indic. The field is open to exploring segmental phonology, morpho-phonology, tonology, 'tone-Sandhi', stress assignment patterns, and other aspects of phonology.
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Papers by Raj Bhat