TRACING VEDIC DIALECTS - People.fas.harvard.edu

At the other end of the spectrum, the dialect features found in the
Ṛgveda still await a detailed study (which is under preparation by
S.Insler). As a next step, these features could be compared to those of the
Middle/Late Vedic period, as described to some extent in this paper.
Also, the three forms of Vedic, namely Ṛgvedic, Middle Vedic, and Late
Vedic in their various dialects, could then again be compared to the
archaic features of Middle Indo-Aryan.
Finally, it will be interesting to compare the features of Ṛgvedic with
those of Old Avestan and Old Persian, and those of Middle Vedic
(Mantra language, YV Saṃhitā prose) with those of Young Avestan, as
has been briefly indicated above, § 10.3. Such a study could, in all
probability, teach us much about the early movements of the various
Iranian and Indo-Aryan tribes, about their temporary settlement in close
proximity to each other in the prehistoric period, and about their final
immigration into Iran and India in several successive waves. 360
* Part of the materials included in this paper were first presented at the
Sixth World Sanskrit Conference at Philadelphia, Oct. 1984, and in
enlarged form, at this conference. Subsequently, more materials have
been added; others, excluded from this paper, will shortly be published
as a first installment in a planned series of articles, Notes on Vedic
Dialects, (see §10.2). - For abbreviations of the names of Vedic texts see
below, §4.2.5., and for special abbr. see ann. 72.
360 Needless to say, I invite colleagues to join forces in this long term endeavour to find out
more about the exact state of dialect features in Vedic and to exchange materials,
preferably in electronic form.
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