The Language of the Rigveda: A Course in Ten Lessons (The Earliest Indo-European Poetry)

Description

This course on Rigvedic Sanskrit, a dialect that is “clearly not the direct ancestor of Classical Sanskrit” (Emeneau), provides a complete introduction to the language of the poems, and is designed to encourage renewed and independent study of this important anthology. Each lesson contains a fully-glossed passage, followed by grammar sections giving examples from throughout the poems. No prior knowledge of later Sanskrit is necessary.

“The Sanskrit of the Rig-Veda four thousand years ago was as perfect an instrument for what its users wanted to say as its modern descendant, Hindi, or as English.”

(Randolph Quirk on ‘Primitiveness’ in language)