HISTORY
OF LANGUAGES & ENGLISH ALPHABET
The
word ‘Alphabet’ has originated from the first two letters in Greek alphabet,
Alpha and Beta, which were borrowed from the Hebrew alphabets aleph and beth.
The letters of the English alphabet are borrowed from Latin or through one of
the Romance languages, which itself were borrowed from the Greek. Ancient Rome was called Latium
The
Greek adapted the alphabets of the Hebrew and the Arabs through Phoenicians
sometime between the eighth century and the twelfth century BC. The Phoenicians
learnt their script from the Semites, who borrowed the Egyptian hieroglyphic
form for writing their alphabet. The Semitic language has three major
categories:
a)
North East Semitic, such as Akkadian, which was spoken by the Hittites of
Babylonia.
b)
North West Semitic, such as Hebrew, which was spoken by the people of Syria and Israel
Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus
Christ, and Eblaite etc.
c)
Central and South Semitic, such as Arabic, South Arabian, and Ethiopian etc.
Hebrew
is a dialect of Canaanite branch of North West Semitic language. In sound, it
has characteristics of both Arabic and Aramaic. It is pronounced in various
ways. However, the Ashkenazic (central European) and the Sephardic
(Mediterranean ) systems are most prominent.
The main differences between the systems occur in the pronunciation of certain
vowels and in the accent of various words. Since Greek alphabet was borrowed
from the Semitic languages through the Phoenicians, there were two main forms
of the ancient Greek alphabet; the Eastern and the Western. The Eastern
alphabet with 24 letters is still used, but with a different pronunciation. It
is the ancestor of the Cyrillic alphabet, which is used in the Russian,
Bulgarian and Serbian languages. The Western alphabet spread to ancient Italy Italy from the Eastern Mediterranean region around 1000 BC, subsequently
gave rise to the Latin script with 23 alphabets, which is used in English
today. The letters j, u and w were added to the English alphabet from other
sources.
The
modern concept of language families introduced by some European linguists is a
myth because there is no scientific basis to accept this theory. In fact even a
cursory examination would prove the contrary. This theory has been advocated by
some on the ground that the words in certain languages have marked similarities
signifying a common origin. They point out, for example, to the words like “maataa”
or “maatrh” in Sanskrit, “meter” in Greek, “mater” in
Latin, “madre” in Spanish, “mutter” in German, “mat” in
Russian, “madä” in Digor, “mad” in Iron languages and “ma”
in northern Chinese on a level tone. Similarly, the word “hamsa” is
called chn
in Greek, “ghans” in Indo-European, “anser (hanser)” in Latin, “gans”
in German, “gös” in Anglo-Saxon, and goose in English. The word “brhsha”
or “brhshabha” in Sanskrit is known as “bulle” in Middle Dutch, “bul” or
“bol” in Dutch, “bole” or “boli” in Old Nordic, “bulle” in German, “bule” or “bulle”
in Middle English, and bull or bullock in modern English. The Sanskrit word “pada”
is called “pedis” in Latin, “podo’s” in Greek, “fotus” in
Gothic and foot in modern English. The Sanskrit word “pancha” is called “pancha”
in Zend, pegte in Greek, “quinque” in Latin, “penke”
in Lithuanian, “fif” in Gothic, “fünf” in German, “fif” in
Old English and “five” in English. Similarly, the word “ashta” in
Sanskrit is called “οκτω” in Greek, “octo” in Latin, “ahto”
in Old German, “ahte” in Middle German, “acht” in Modern German,
“asztuni” in Lithuanian, “ahtau” in Gothic, “eahta” in
Anglo-Saxon, and eight in English.
All
these appear to hint at a common origin of these languages. However, no
language other than Sanskrit could explain why the sound generated by such
words has the meaning attributed to them. Only Sanskrit can provide the reason
for the meaning attributed to the sound generated by the word “maataa”.
According to Sanskrit grammar books, when we pronounce the word “ma”,
our lips first close and then open. Thus, one of the meanings assigned to this
letter is that which regenerates after initial destruction. Since life is
believed to change the body on death and acquire a new body, the word “maa”
means one that receives something, which grows. The letter “ta” stands
for a strong and compact body as the tongue hammers the root of the tooth while
uttering this letter. The word “taa” thus stands for the extension of an
action in “ta”. Thus, the word “maataa” stands for the source of
a body that grows, i.e., the mother. No other language in the world could
explain the meaning of their words like this. Further, evolution of these
languages show that the pronunciation of the words changes with time. This is
never done in Sanskrit, where the pronunciation of the Vedas as it was in time
immemorial is continuing even today. Thus, only Sanskrit could be the mother of
all languages. Further, only the Indian languages are phonetic languages, i.e.,
they write as they pronounce. All other languages write something and pronounce
something else. Thus, they could not belong to the same group.
The
groupings of the language families also show the bias of European linguists.
The Indo-European family is supposed to consist of the languages spoken by the
people from North India to Western Europe, now extending up to Australia, New
Zealand, North, Central and South America. It is supposed to consist of the
following eight living branches:
1) Albanian.
2) Anatolic or Armenian, Ancient Phrygian, etc.
3) Baltic and Slavic, which includes Old
Prussian, Bulgarian, Czech, Latvian,
Lithuanian, Polish, Russian,
Serbo-Croatian, Slovak, Slovenian, and Ukrainian.
4) Celtic, including Breton, Irish (Gaelic),
Scots Gaelic, and Welsh.
5) Germanic or Teutonic, which includes Dutch,
English, Norse, German and the
Scandinavian tongues such as Danish,
Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish.
6) Greek.
7) Indo-Iranian, which includes Afghan, Bengali,
Hindi, Pashto, Persian, & Urdu.
8) Romance or Latin-Romance, including Latin,
French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian and
Spanish.
Some
linguists consider another branch called Indo-Aryan, which included the
languages such as, Sanskrit, Pali, the modern Indian languages such as Hindi,
Bengali, Oriya, Gujarati, Punjabi, Sindhi, etc. and the Romany or Gypsy
languages. Others consider it to be part of the Indo-Iranian family.
As
has been pointed out earlier, most of the European languages originated from
Greek, which itself was borrowed from Bhaarata through the Arabs and the
Semites. Further, at the same time as the so-called Aryan invasion of Bhaarata,
the Achaeans were descending on Greece
The
other language families also show the same bias. The other families include:
a) Sino-Tibetan family including all dialects of
Chinese, Thai, Burmese and Tibetan, which languages consist of one-syllable
words. The otherwise identical words express different meanings by different
tones, i.e., by changes in the pitch of the voice.
b) Afro-Asian family including Arabic and
Hebrew, the Berber tongues of North, Near East
and North East Africa, and the Amharic of Ethiopia.
c)
Ural-Altaic family including Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian or Magyar, Turkish,
and the languages of Turkmenistan ,
Uzbekistan , Kazakhstan , Mongolia
and Siberia .
d) Japanese and Korean family.
e) Dravidian family, which includes Tamil,
Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Sinhalese.
f) Malayo-Polynesian family, which includes the
languages of the people of Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Hawaii,
New-Zealand, Madagascar, and most of the other islands of the Pacific and
Indian oceans.
g) Mon-Khmer or Austro-Asiatic family, which
consists of the languages spoken in Cambodia
(Kampuchea ), Assam , parts of Burma ,
and Vietnam
h) Black African family, which includes the
languages spoken south of Sahara and West of Sudan, Ethiopia ,
and Somalia
i) American Indian languages numbering over 1000
spoken by aborigines of North, Central and South America .
j) Unusual language family such as the
Melanesian pidgin English of the people of Solomon
Islands and Papua New Guinea
Without
going into the details of these languages and confining these discussions only
to Indian languages, it could be easily proved that the so-called language
family is not a scientific or linguistic or historic classification. In the
chapter, Origin of Tamil Language, I had conclusively shown that Tamil is a
sister language of Sanskrit. Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, other South Indian
languages and Sinhalese are derivatives of Sanskrit. Just listening to these
languages carefully would prove their Sanskrit base. Also earlier it has been
proved quoting ancient sources that Arya is not a race or people of any
geographic location, but an address like Sir, reserved for a cultured person.
Dravida is not a race, but there are five Dravidas based on their geographical
location south of the Vindhyas. The languages of all these places are of
Sanskrit origin. The Assamese language is a sister language of Bengali and
Oriya languages, which are of Sanskrit origin. Thus, the entire classification
is contrary to linguistic scrutiny and has been advocated by someone who was
ignorant of either Sanskrit or other Indian languages, but was writing solely
for the purpose of establishing European supremacy by camouflaging the actual
facts.
The
other justification for the Indo-European language family is that, they have
the same original structure, based on inflections. Inflection is a set of words
that show different functions or meanings in a sentence. Case is a feature of
nouns and pronouns that help show their relation to other parts of speech in a
sentence. The case of a noun is shown by the inflectional ending attached to
it. For example, boys, which is the common case plural form of boy is the
inflected form of boy (common case singular). The set of inflations of a noun
or pronoun is called declensions. The set of inflections of a verb is called
conjugation. The set of inflations of an adjective or adverb are called
comparison. Changes in the form of a verb can show changes in time, manner,
kind of action, and the person acting.
The
difference of Sanskrit and the European languages are most glaring here. While Sanskrit
has inflations based on a scientific system advocated by Panini and
exhaustively elaborated by Bharttrhhari in his monumental work “Vaakyapadiyam”,
the European languages are devoid of any system. In Sanskrit, there are seven
well-structured and precisely regulated declensions for seven cases for
singular number, dual number and plural number for each gender. The seven
declensions correspond to the nominative case, accusative case, instrumental
case, dative case, ablative case, genitive case and locative case. Besides,
there is also another case called the vocative case. However, since it is a
separate address, and has no direct relationship with the verb, it is not
treated as an absolute case. The declensions are done based on the words ending
with different vowels or consonants. Sanskrit also has a number of indeclinable
(avyaya), which have fixed meanings and used as such. Latin has six
cases, nominative, vocative, genitive, dative, accusative and ablative. Old
English had five cases. Modern English has only two cases, common and
possessive. Some European languages like Hungarian have 25 or more cases.
The
classical Greek was highly inflated. A fully inflated classical Greek verb may
have more than 500 forms. None of these could be explained scientifically or
methodically. The conjugation in Sanskrit is based on ten groups of roots,
which are further conjugated into ten major divisions based on tense, mood,
etc. They are further conjugated into nine divisions, based on person and
numbers. Besides, there are causals (nijanta), which are used when
action is induced by a different agency. There are some nominative verbs (naama
dhaatu), where a noun is used as a verb by using some suffixes. From the
roots, different nouns, adjectives and indeclinable are formed with different
suffixes. There are seven types of primary suffixes (krhdanta), which
impose the meaning of the root on the nouns etc. formed by such suffixes. The
secondary suffixes (taddhita) change the meaning of the nouns etc.
However, all the above transformations are regulated as per the laws laid down
by Paanini, who followed his predecessors.
The
European languages, on the other hand, often use inflations in an arbitrary
manner. They do not have a scientifically well-structured grammar. While the
plural of fox is foxes, the plural of ox is not oxes. Similarly, the plural of
goose is geese, but the plural of moose is not meese. The plural of mouse is
mice, but the plural of house is not hice. The plural of man is men, but the
plural of pan is not pen. The plural of foot is feet, but the plural of root is
not reet nor boot, beet. The plural of tooth is teeth, but the plural of booth
is not beeth. The plural of that is those, but the plural of hat is not hose
nor cat, cose. Similar confusion is prevalent in the case of gender. Men is
masculine, whereas hen is feminine. The feminine form of men is women, but the
feminine form of boys is not woboys. The feminine form of gentleman is lady,
that of boy is girl, dog – bitch, horse - mare – all arbitrary. The feminine
form of he is she, but the feminine form of his or him is not shis nor shim.
The masculine form of lioness is lion and that of tigress, tiger. However,
happiness is the adjective form of happy and sadness is the adjective form of
sad. While writers write and cobblers cobble, fingers do not fing, grocers do
not groce or hammers do not ham. Only in a language like English, people can
recite at a play and play at a recital, ship cargo in truck and send cargo in
ship, noses run and feet smells, slim chance and fat chance mean the same thing
but wise man and wise guy mean opposite. Further, there are neither eggs in
eggplant nor hams in hamburger. There is neither pine nor apple in pineapple.
English muffins were not invented in England
Punctuation
and syntax had to be invented to remove the confusion in communication due to
the unscientific grammar of European languages. But slight mistake in
punctuation can bring in havoc. The sentence, “pandas eat bamboo shoots and
leave explains the dietary habits of the creature. But a comma after the word
“shoot” would change the meaning to imply after eating bamboo, the pandas fire
a gun and depart. The sentence, “the convict said the judge is mad” implies the
opinion of the convict about the mental health of the judge. But use of two
commas after “convict” and “judge” would imply the opposite meaning. Similarly,
the sentence, “woman without her man is nothing” can mean the opposite if two
commas are put after “woman” and “her”. A child described the execution of King
Charles I as follows: “Charles the First walked and talked half an hour after
his head was cut off”. Unless a full stop is put after the word, “talked”, the
sentence does not make any sense. The punctuation marks were invented from time
to time. An Italian, Aldus Manutivus (1450-1515 AD) is supposed to have
invented the question mark. Though the sequence of words changes if a statement
is turned in to a question, it was invented to clear the confusion. No such
aids are used in Sanskrit, which has inbuilt mechanisms to convey unambiguous
meanings. The European languages, after translation and then retranslation,
often express different meanings due to such inherent defects. But there is no
such confusion in Sanskrit.
As
has been explained, the West Asian languages write from right to left. The
Greek started initially by writing from right to left, before changing to the
modern system. Only Sanskrit used writing from left to right from the
beginning. This shows that Sanskrit could not have developed from West Asian
sources, but the European languages might have been developed after learning
from Sanskrit. In fact the change of the name of Latium
to Rome
Syntax
is a form of grammatical structure, which delineates the arrangement of words
in a particular order. The other form of grammatical structure is called
morphology, which uses a variation in the form of a word to show the function
of the word in a group. In most European languages, change in the order of the
word leads to a change in the meaning of the sentence. The Chinese use syntax
only. Modern English uses a blend of syntax and morphology. However, Latin, and
Anglo-Saxon or the Old English did not consider morphology as important, just
like Sanskrit. Since only Sanskrit provides a specific formula based on a
scientific classification and structure relating to the construction of words
in a particular manner, it must be the mother of the other languages or at
least would have borrowed its rules to the other languages.
Further,
the Roman script used by the European languages has the individual letter as
its basic unit, the Sanskrit based languages mostly have the basic unit in a
whole syllable consisting of generally one or two consonants and a vowel,
though rarely the consonants are used separately also. This proves the
distinctive characteristic of Sanskrit based languages. Further, the Greek
alphabet has 24 letters, Latin 23 letters, Arabic 28 letters, Phoenicians 22
letters, Etruscan 20 letters, Hebrew 22 letters, and German 29 letters. In
contrast, all Sanskrit based languages have 63 letters and Tamil has 37
letters. If we take into account the syllables, then Sanskrit based languages
have about 540 characters and Tamil has about 247 characters. Only Cypriots has
56 letters in its alphabet. However, by no stretch of imagination it could be
said that Sanskrit originated from Cypriot. Thus, while other languages have
comparable letters in their alphabet signifying a relationship, Sanskrit stands
alone in its uniqueness.
The
Phoenicians developed their system of 22 alphabetical signs structurally
related to Hebrews and Egyptians. The Egyptians used a system of nearly seven
hundred signs that stood for full words or for syllables. For example, they
wrote “nefer” meaning “good” with a single sign or with three signs for
the sounds n, f. and r. It was formally a picture writing and structurally a
word and syllabic writing. In contrast, the Phoenicians writing consists of
partly pictographic forms and partly geometric or diagrammatic signs, which,
again, was borrowed from the Egyptians. However, they borrowed their twenty-two
letters of the Alphabet from Hebrew.
Only
Sanskrit has a scientifically developed script based on the pronunciation
pattern and meaning associated with it due to the effect of the various forces
that leads to such pronunciation pattern. However, its use in writing was
limited as the Vedas are the ultimate manifestation of sound (Naada Brahman).
Since sound could not be written, it was taught through the word of mouth.
Since the basic purpose of writing was education, which was imparted by the
word of mouth and in those societies writing was not essential for everyday transactions,
writing was restricted only to chroniclers, the businessman or the copywriters.
The
European linguists often confuse the development of language with the
development of writing. In reality, these are two different aspects. For
example, it is accepted by all that the Vedas are the oldest literature. It is
also accepted that it was initially taught through the word of mouth. What is
not widely known is that Sanskrit language came much after the Vedas to make a
blend of the highly structured Vedic language and the loosely constructed local
language for unambiguous communication. The language was developed to reform
the spoken language. Thus, it is called Samskrhta (not Sanskrit), which
literally means reformed. Also little known is the fact that the Vedic grammar
and the other rules of phonetics contained in the vast collection of Shikshaa
and Praatishaakhya literature were written based on the uses of words in
the Vedas in various forms. The Vedas were not written based on the rules of
grammar and the phonetics contained in those books.
A
brief analysis of the Iranian language, which was spoken in between the Arab
mainland and the Indian peninsula, would further demolish the modern linguistic
family classification. Of the ancient Iranian languages dating to the 6th
Century BC, only two, Avestan and Old Persian, are known from texts and
inscriptions. Old Iranian, which is closely related to Sanskrit, is known from
the Avesta the sacred book of the Zoroastrianism, and Old Persian cuneiform
inscriptions of the Achaemenid Kings. The middle Iranian stage stretching from
the 3rd Century BC to the 10th Century AD, was
characterized by a significant simplification of the verbal system and
reduction in noun inflection. Prominent among these languages are Parthian,
Pahlavi, and Sogdian etc. The Middle Persian was known in three forms,
inscriptional Middle Persian, Book Pahlavi, and Manichaean Middle Persian. It
was spoken mostly in the southwestern Iran Iran
The
modern Iranian languages are Persian, the Kurdish dialect, Pashto, the language
of Afghanistan, Tajik, the language of Tajikistan, and Ossetic, the Eastern
Iranian language spoken in the northern Caucasus by the Ossetes. The Ossetic
language has two major dialects, the eastern dialect called Iron and the
Western dialect called Digor. The subgroups of the Iranian languages are spoken
in Iran , Afghanistan , Tajikistan ,
and parts of Iraq , Turkey , Pakistan ,
and scattered areas of the Caucasus Mountains .
Iranian
languages have scarcely been influenced by unrelated languages, with the
notable exception of Ossetic, which has been influenced by the neighboring
Caucasian languages. Some dialects of Tajik have been very receptive to Uzbek
elements. However, the influence of Sanskrit on the Iranian languages are very
clear. The most prominent of these influences are in the series of retroflex
sounds.
Some
linguists try to distance Iranian language from Sanskrit by bringing in the
similarities with Greek. For example, they say that various fricative sounds
indicated in phonetic symbols such as x, f, q,
and later γ, β, [eth], and of the voiced sibilant sounds z and z
distinguish the Iranian phonological system from the Indo-Aryan system. On
closer examination it would be revealed that, even in Iran
Some
linguists point out two negative features to distinguish the Iranian languages
from the Indo-Aryan languages. They point out to the coalescence of aspirates
and unaspirated voice stops in Proto-Iranian languages. Thus, they say that in
the Iranian language, the Indo-European *b and *bh are maintained in contrast
to the Indo-Aryan b and bh, but they fell together in Iranian as b. Similarly,
the absence of the retroflex consonants from Iranian languages except as a
later importation from contiguous regions makes it different from the
Indo-Aryan languages. Further, change of an s sound to h in Iranian brought
about a difference in distribution rather than in structure because h,
according to them, is developed also in Indo-Aryan, but from Indo-Iranian *zh
and gh before front vowels (e.g., e and i). The above view only shows the
ignorance of the authors about the Sanskrit language. The books of Paanini and
other grammarians as well as the abundant Shikshaa and Praatishaakhya
literature clearly shows the theory of origin of the sound of each and every
letter based on the force internally applied and the point inside the mouth,
which direct the outgoing vibration to cause different sounds. Thus the
statement that the Indo-European *b and *bh are maintained in contrast to the
Indo-Aryan b and bh but they fell together in Iranian as b is not correct as in
Oriya, a Sanskrit based language, both b and bh fall together to make only b as
in Iranian. Similarly, in Assamese, a Sanskrit based language, s is pronounced
as h. Further, in Old Iranian, the stress lay on the next to the last syllable
if it was heavy (i.e., contained a long vowel or was closed by a consonant),
otherwise on the preceding syllable, just like the “laghu”, “guru”
system of Sanskrit language. With the loss of final unstressed vowels in the
development of many Iranian languages, the stress often came to be on the final
syllable, which is a characteristic of Modern Persian. But the theory regarding
such stress is contained in the book “Chhanda Shaastra” written by
Pingala Naaga, who dates back to several millenniums BC. Thus, the influence of
Sanskrit on the Iranian languages is unmistakable. The denial of this link and
construction of a link between the Iranian languages and the so-called
Indo-European languages is untenable.
Before
introduction of the Arabic element, most loan words were used to be from other
Iranian languages. Old Persian borrowed extensively from Median. Sogdian and
Khotanese borrowed extensively from Sanskrit and Prakrit. Northwest Indian
languages such as Lahnda and Sindhi influence the vocabulary of the modern
Iranian languages to a considerable extent. Also the influence of Dardic
language is considerable on modern Iranian languages. Baluchi was borrowed from
Brahui, which is a branch of Brahmi. People of Monjan, a very remote valley
located in Northern Afghanistan and separated
by a mountain pass from the Sanglechi speaking region, speak Yidgha-Munji, a
distorted form of Siddha-Muni. It is also spoken in the valley of the Lutkho River
and in the nearby city of Chitral , a region now
in Pakistan India
Because
of the wrong notion of juxtaposing the development of language with the
development of script, the European linguists believe that the Sumerian word
picture of 3500 BC is the earliest recorded proof of writing. This is supposed
to have followed by the Egyptian hieroglyphics of 3000BC. The Chinese script is
believed to have started around 1500 BC and the Greek script around 1400 BC.
The Latin script is believed to have originated around 500 BC. According to
these linguists, migrant people from Northwest used Sanskrit in North Bhaarata sometime before 1000 BC. Subsequently Prakrit
and Pali developed from Sanskrit around 250 BC. The later forms of Prakrit
are supposed to have given rise to Apabhramsha, which is supposed to
have given rise to the regional languages. This can be proved wrong based on
documentary evidence.
The
historicity of the above views can be challenged easily based on co-lateral
history, diachronic linguistics and linguistic typology. Firstly, the above
timetable shows that the language traveled from East to West except for
Bhaarata. There is no reason to assume that it traveled from Central
Asia to East. The recorded history shows that knowledge,
particularly in the field of astronomy and mathematics has traveled from
Bhaarata to China through
the Buddhist monks and to Europe through the
Arabs. The number system was developed in Bhaarata and traveled to all over the
world. Then why should it be assumed that language, which is a vehicle of
knowledge traveled in the opposite direction? It is more probable that the language
traveled from East to West continuously, i.e., like the other branches of
knowledge, language traveled from Bhaarata through the Arabs to the West. Both
Buddha and Mahavir were born before 500 BC. Mahavir is the twenty-fourth in a
long lineage of Saints in Jainism. His predecessor, Paarshwanaatha (872-772 BC)
was thought to be a mythological figure in spite of Jain tradition and
historical evidence to the contrary. Subsequent scholars like Dr. Heinrich
Zimmer and others have accepted the historicity of Paarshwanaatha. Further
studies would reveal the historicity of the previous 22 Tirthankaras. The books
of Buddhism and Jainism are mostly in Prakrit and Pali. Their languages could not have developed
several centuries after their birth?
Initially,
there were two types of language called Vaidic and Loukik or popular language
by Mahaabhaashya of Patanjali. The Vaidic language was called Divyaa or
Chhandas and its grammar was written by examining the style of the Vedas. This
is evident from Taittiriya Samhitaa and Taittiriya Praatishaaksha. There was no
grammar for the Loukik or popular languages. Bharata in his Naatya Shaastram
says, initially, a grammar was created for the Loukik or popular language by
suitably modifying and simplifying the Vaidic language. Bharata calls it
Viparyasta Samskaara. Since it was the first written grammar, it was called
Prakrit. Many languages invluding Pali came from this. Starting from Ravan,
many Rishis have written grammar of Praakrit. Vararuchi’s Prakrita Prakaashah was
the last authoritative book on it. This was written just before Panini wrote
Ashtadhyaayi. When other languages developed with local variations, another
reformation was done. Bharata calls it Viparyasta Samskaara. Because of this,
the language was called Sanskrit. Tamil was a sister language of Sanskrit. We
have written about its history separately.
The
theory of Aryan invasion has been proved to be a hoax. Had there been
large-scale invasion, there would have been large-scale destruction. But the
diggings in the ancient sites have not provided any evidence to support this
fact. In fact it gives evidence of desertion due to some reason as the entire
cities were found intact. The fact that the river Saraswati, on whose banks the
settlements grew up, changed course and disappeared proves that there was
large-scale migration due to shortage of water and not due to invading Aryans.
Further,
the Central Asian people are supposed to have come to Bhaarata on horseback
during 2000-1000 BC. The Vedas and the Braahmanas are supposed to have been
written in between 1500-800 BC. That means, the Aryans must have started
writing the Vedas within a few hundred years of their initial invasion and
continued to write while the process of invasion and settlement was still going
on. They completed writing these scriptures almost simultaneous with their last
victory. Is it possible that those marauding invaders on horseback, who were
cattle breeders in their homeland, could have written all those highly
structured language books in Sanskrit espousing the highest human values and a
science to be marveled at! If it is so, why is it that they did not write even
one comparable book in their original homeland? Further, this would imply that
Sanskrit was the language of the pre-Aryan Bhaarata as the language of the
invaders was either Hebrew or Arabic or one of the dialects of these languages.
No book in Sanskrit has been written by any West Asian, whereas many Sanskrit
books have been translated into these languages by many scholars. Thus, if
pre-Aryan Indian spoke Sanskrit, they must be credited with the writing of the
Vedas and Braahmanas. This credit can in no way go to the West Asian invaders.
In
case it is argued that the so-called Aryans were continuing to evolve their
language and the evolution became complete only in Bhaarata, then Bhaarata is
something to be revered. Because, according to these linguists the gap between
the earliest Sumerian writing and the development of Sanskrit is only 2500
years. The human evolution has been estimated to be tens of thousands of years,
if not more. Then it has to be assumed that the Central Asians developed in
Bhaarata to great heights within a short span of less than a thousand years,
which they could not do in tens of thousands of years in their own original
homeland. If Bhaarata could transform them to such an extent, then the whole
world should bow before the great country that is Bhaarata!
Further,
if the eastward Central Asian migration to Bhaarata did take place, the
migrants should have moved towards China
A
few examples to prove the above point can be cited here. Panchatantra is a
Sanskrit work, which has been translated in more than 50 languages. The total
numbers of translations in different languages are more than 250. The first
translation from Sanskrit of this book appears to have been done during the
reign of Khusro Ansher Khan (531 AD to 579 AD) of Persia Thailand
and Laos
The
Westward flow of knowledge from India Ark
Soorya
Siddhaanta
is a book of mathematics and astronomy. Its calculations of astronomical events
are accurate even today. Though some minor discrepancy is seen in the results
based on Soorya Siddhaanta and modern calculations, this can be easily
reconciled. The results differ as some concepts of this book and that in modern
astronomy differ. For example, the concept of zodiac is not the same as the
concept of Raashi chakra. The later is a much more scientific concept,
which has been upheld by recent findings in the galaxy. The same is true for
difference in meaning attributed to a planet or a star and graha. These
are two different concepts based on different classifications. Once the
mathematical validity of Soorya Siddhaanta is accepted, its concepts are
to be accepted unless there is contrary evidence to disprove it. There are some
differences on the stellar evolutionary cycles and theories described in Soorya
Siddhaanta and modern astronomy. Here again, the Soorya Siddhaanta
is correct as the HR-diagram, the basis on which the modern theories on stellar
evolution is based, is prepared on misleading premises. The HR diagram is based
on computations using log tables. We know that the log tables give only an
approximate result. We also know that a small difference in initial conditions
would lead to major differences as it evolves. The distances used in Astronomy
are the biggest number used in any branch of science. Thus, the results derived
using a log table in astronomical calculations would give misleading results.
Secondly, the history of modern astronomy is only about 500 years, too small
for astronomical observation purposes. More research in astronomy would prove
the superiority of Soorya Siddhaanta over modern methods. For further
details, please refer to my book, “Vedic Physics”. The Puraanas, which
are the source of the episode of Manu, describe the same theory of stellar
evolution as Soorya Siddhaanta. Thus, there is no reason to disbelieve
that it refers to an ancient astrological or cosmological event, though in allegory.
Sumerian
tablets depict an elaborate pantheon of deities such as the Enlil with the
Biblical tablets, the Virgin Mother and Dumuzi, associated with death and
resurrection etc. They also depict Istar, who is comparable to Durgaa and Enki,
who is comparable to Vishnu. The Arabs, who took over Sumeria and by
intermarriage with the ladies of Sumeria converted it to an Arab state, had
links with both Bhaarata and Europe . They
spread these themes to the Greeks. The deeply ingrained psychology of that ancient
civilization is expressed through the behavior of the Muslims visiting
different Durgahs and seeking blessings of the Saints, even though the Koran
propagates the glory of one God only. All these points to the flow of influence
and culture from East to West and not in the reverse direction.
The
Achaeans took the knowledge of Sanskrit to Greece Greece
The
reality is that the Aryan invasion is a myth. Sanskrit developed in Bhaarata
from the Vedic language. Even Ravana, who is a Dravid, wrote all his great
works only in Sanskrit. Kaatyaayana, one of the two greatest commentators of
the work of Panini, was a Dravid. One of the branches of Sanskrit called Apabhramsha
gave rise to North Indian languages. The Egyptians, through the Arabs, borrowed
their script from the Paishachi script of North
Bhaarata , which is the source of the Kashmiri language and which
was written from right to left. Since Greeks learnt their scripts from West
Asian sources, initially their script was written from right to left.
Subsequently the Greeks started writing one line from right to left and the
next line from left to right in a form called boustrophedon, which means
turning like oxen in ploughing. Later, as the interaction of Greeks with India
The
so called Indo-European family of languages are a myth as can be proved from a
cursory look at the origin of the language and grammatical patterns of Sanskrit
and other members of the Indo-European family. For example, according to the European
theory of linguistics, language developed slowly from sounds such as grunts,
barks, and hoots made by pre-human creatures. This simple system of vocal
communication became more coordinated and became language as the human brain
and speech organs developed. This theory is based on the theory of evolution of
intelligence, which has not been proved. In fact, there are proofs to the
contrary. Even the theory of Evolution has not been proved scientifically. It
is still a hypothesis.
On
the contrary, Indian linguists accept the gradual evolution of species in a
natural sequential manner from the simplest to the complicated life forms due
to increasing combinations of different materials that constitute the body. Man
being the most evolved of all species came last. Just as the hydrogen atoms
combine to form helium atoms and so on but stop at iron, similarly, the
evolution of life form stopped at man as it is the most balanced of all
species. While food, sleep, fear and reproduction are common to man and other
life forms, language based on intelligence is the only difference that
separates human beings from animals. Language is not a mere collection of
sounds in a proper sequence, but has a scientific base on which the meaning
assigned to it is built. Panini starts his book on grammar with “a” in Sanskrit
as it is the only sound which is generated when the vocal chords are in their
natural position and the air heated up with the desire to communicate rises up
and comes out through the vocal chords without touching any other part inside
the mouth. In the case of other letters, the vocal chords are
contracted/strained and the resultant air changes direction to touch various
body parts inside the mouth including the nose. He has shown how the other
letters are a modification of the letter “a” in Sanskrit. Thus, he has proved
the pivotal position of this letter. The mouth opens up with the lips in a
circular fashion while uttering the letter “a” in Sanskrit. Thus, the script of
“a” in Sanskrit as well as in all Indian languages has a circle with a staff as
symbolic of the letter. Similarly, since the circle is endless, the letter
symbolizes infinite, endlessness etc. Since every letter is derived from it,
there is nothing before it. Hence, wherever any word is preceded by this
letter, it conveys the negation of that word or the opposite meaning. He goes
on to describe the construction of each and every word and sentences in
Sanskrit based on the same scientific logic. Such scientific language can be
conveyed only by human beings. Thus the European linguists, either knowingly or
unknowingly ignored Sanskrit grammar to expose their ignorance.
The
similar hypocrisy or ignorant boast also runs in the classification of other
language families. For example, it is universally accepted that the Greeks
accepted the Semitic script through the Phoenicians. Then, there would have
been more interaction between the two languages. The Hebrew and the Yiddish
languages would have influenced the Greek language, as its influence over European
languages is still perceptible. The Biblical poem “The Song of Deborah”
(Judg.5) is a song in Hebrew language dating back to the twelfth Century BC.
The accounts of such travelers as Eldad the Danite and Benjamin of Tudela speak
much about the influence of the Hebrews. The Yosippon and other anonymous works
combine Jewish history with thrilling legends. Talmud, a collection of Jewish
oral laws with the interpretation of the scholars and Piyyutim, Jewish prayers
composed for religious services have its indelible imprint on European and
Christian culture. Then how is it that Arabic and Hebrew has been classified as
belonging to Afro-Asian family and not Indo-European family? Only to separate
it so that the theory of European supremacy could be manipulated?
Stark
ignorance is the cause for the classification of Malayo-Polynesian family and
Japanese and Korean family. The former developed as a mixture of South Indian
and Chinese languages as people from these areas settled in those countries,
first for trade and commerce and subsequently for permanent settlement. The
so-called Japanese and Korean family of languages is a derivative Chinese and
not a separate Family. Possibly it was classified as a family not due to
linguistic reasons, but due to the international importance of Japan
The
history of the origin of the present English alphabet is presented below:
A- This is the third most used letter in
English alphabet. The first letter of the North West
branch of Semites, who lived in Syria
and Palestine
B- This is the 20th most used
letter in English alphabet. It was the second letter of Hebrew speaking
Semites, who called it בּ-beth,
meaning house. The Greeks borrowed the letter from the Phoenicians and called
it b - Beta.
C- This is the 13th most used
letter in English alphabet. The third letter of the Hebrew speaking Semites was
called גּ-gimel meaning a throwing stick. The Greeks borrowed it
and called g - gamma. The
Romans changed the boomerang shape of the letter to the capital C form and used
to indicate two words, g and k with it. Finally they made it two words by
adding a stroke to C to make it G.
D- This is the 10th most used
letter in English alphabet. The fourth letter of the Hebrew speaking Semites
was called דּ-daleth, meaning door. The Greeks
and Romans used it as d - delta, which
became d.
E- This is the most used letter in English
alphabet. The fifth letter of the Hebrew speaking Semites was called הּ-he, which was written with the Egyptian picture symbol
of a man rejoicing beginning a shout of hallelujah (Praise Ye the Lord!) The
Greeks named it e - epsilon and
gave the sound of e. The Romans gave the E its present form.
F- This is the 15th most used
letter in English alphabet. Some hold the view that it came from the sixth
letter meaning hook of the Hebrew speaking Semites called וּ-vav,
and the 27th letter of the Central and South branch of Semites
speaking Arabic called و -waw. However,
it is more likely that it has come from the 20th letter of the
Arabic script ف fa. The ancient
Greeks called it digamma to sound as w in present English. The Romans made it
the present f.
G- This is the 16th most used
letter in English alphabet. One view of its origin has been explained while
explaining the origin of C. However, it is more likely that it has come from
the 19th letter of the Central and South branch of Semites speaking
Arabic غ – ghain. The Romans gave it the
present form.
H- This is the 9th most used letter
in English alphabet. The Hebrew speaking Semites named their eighth letter ח-cheth by adopting a picture symbol for a twisted hank of
rope to represent the letter. The Greeks borrowed it and called h - eta by giving the sound of long
e. The Romans gave it the present capital form and sound of H.
I- This is the 7th most used letter
in English alphabet. The tenth letter of the Hebrew speaking Semites and the
Phoenicians was called י -yod
representing hand. The Greeks called it ι-iota. This became the English i.
J- This is the 24th most used
letter in English alphabet. There are two versions of the origin of this
letter. According to one version, the tenth letter of the Hebrew speaking
Semites was י -yod. The Greeks borrowed the word
and passed on to Romans. In the late middle ages, when two or more י -yods were written together, scribes often added a long
tail to the last one. Later the tail was used to indicate an initial l.
During the seventeenth century, an i at the beginning of a word was written
with a tail. The present j developed from these forms. However, the above
version is not correct. The letter originated from the fifth letter of the
Arabic script ج – jim.
K- This is the 22nd most used
letter in English language. The letter of the Hebrew speaking Semites for palm
of the hand was called כ or ך (at the end of the word) kaph. The ancient Greeks called
it k - Kappa and gave
it the present form. The Romans borrowed it from the Greeks.
L- This is the 11th most used
letter in English language. The Hebrew speaking Semites word for goad or
crooked staff was called ל - lamed.
The ancient Greeks took it and called it λ - lambda. Later the Romans gave it
the present form.
M- This is the 14th most used letter
in English alphabet. The 13th letter of the Hebrew speaking Semites
was ם (at the end of the word) or מ mem, meaning water.
The Greeks called it m - Mu. The
Romans gave it the present form.
N- This is the 5th most used letter
in English alphabet. The 14th letter of the Hebrew speaking Semites
was called ן (at the end of the word) or נ - nun meaning fish. The Greeks took the letter from
Phoenicians and called it ν - nu. The Romans gave it the present form.
O-
This is the 4th most used
letter in English alphabet. The sixteenth letter of the Semites for eye was
called ע - ayin. The Phoenicians borrowed the stylized eye from
the Semites. The Greeks borrowed it from Phoenicians and called it ο - micron.
The Romans borrowed it from the Greeks.
P- This is the 18th most used
letter in English alphabet. The letter ף
(at the end of the word) or פ
pe in the alphabet
of the Hebrew speaking Semites meant mouth. The Greeks borrowed it and called p - pi. The Romans changed it to the
present form.
Q- This is the 25th most used
letter in English alphabet. The nineteenth letter ק
-qoph in the alphabet of the Hebrew speaking Semites meaning ape or
monkey and the 21st letter of the Arabic script ق - qaf were borrowed by the Greeks, who called it κ Kappa. The
Romans gave it the present shape and introduced the usage of u after q.
R- This is the 6th most used letter
in English alphabet. The twentieth letter ר
- resh in the alphabet of the Hebrew speaking Semites meaning head was
borrowed by the Greeks, who called it r
- rho. The Romans gave it the present form.
S- This is the 8th most used letter
in English alphabet. The twenty-first letter ש
-‘shin’ in the alphabet of the Hebrew speaking Semites meaning tooth was
borrowed by the Phoenicians, who gave it a regular shape. The Greeks turned it
on its side to bring in the present shape.
T- This is the 2nd most used letter
in English alphabet. The last letter ת
-‘tav’ in the alphabet of the Hebrew speaking Semites meaning mark was
borrowed by the Greeks through Phoenicians. They changed the cross-shaped mark
by moving the cross bar to the top of the vertical stroke and called it τ - tau.
The Romans borrowed it from
U- This is the 12th most used
letter in English alphabet. Some hold the view that the Hebrew speaking Semites
letter waw is the source of the letters F, U, V, W and Y. The Greeks
gave it a Y-shape. The Romans dropped the bottom stroke and wrote it as V. They
used it for the vowel sound U and consonant sound V. During tenth century, U
and V were used to be written in the middle and the beginning respectively.
During Renaissance, it became customary to use U as a vowel and V as a
consonant.
V- This is the 21st most used
letter in English alphabet. One view on the origin of this letter has been
explained above and is the same as for U. However, there are contrary views, as
these changes were not accepted for several hundred years. It is more likely
that it came from the sixth letter of the Hebrew speaking Semites called וּ-vav meaning hook or the 27th letter of the
Arabic alphabet و –waw.
W
- This is the 19th most used
letter in English alphabet. The origin of this letter is explained as the same
as for V. One view is that during the eleventh century, the French scribes
doubled the V as VV, in order to write the Anglo-Saxon letter ‘wen’ as
they did not have an alphabet for it. The VV was also written in a rounded form
UU. This came to be known as ‘double U’ and was written as W in English.
X- This is the 23rd most used
letter in English alphabet. The Hebrew speaking Semites letter ‘samekh’
was borrowed by the Phoenicians, who used a symbol signifying a support. The
Greeks borrowed this letter and used it to sound like kh or ks.
The Romans gave it the present form.
Y- This is the 17th most used
letter in English alphabet. The origin of this letter is the same as U. The
Greeks called it υ - upsilon.
Z- This is the 26th most used
letter in English alphabet. The seventh letter ז
- zayin in the Hebrew speaking Semites alphabet and the seventeenth
letter of the Arabic alphabet ظ – za were
written like an arrow-like symbol. The Greeks borrowed it to make their sixth
letter ζ - zeta and gave it the present capital form. The Romans used z
only and moved it to the end of the alphabet. It became to be pronounced as zed
in English and zee in American English.
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