TRACING VEDIC DIALECTS - People.fas.harvard.edu

§ 4.3.1. ṚGVEDA
The Ṛgvedic language stands apart from the following stages in many
respects, and is perhaps better characterised as the last stage of a long period
of Indo-Aryan poetry than as the b e g i n n i n g of Vedic literature. Many
words that occur in RV have cognates or direct correspondences in Avesta,
while these no longer appear in post-Ṛgvedic texts. Another point of interest
is the development of the so-called cerebrals, the retroflex sounds, which
abound in book 8 but are rare in books 3, 4, and 5. A chronology of the
various Ṛgvedic books has been attempted by W. Wüst and others; most
valuable, again, will be an evaluation of the linguistic data, such as the
frequency of the injunctive which disappears quickly in post-Ṛgvedic texts. 51
Other observations agree with a gradual linguistic change and the
appearance of innovations within the various books (see below, § 5.4 on -toḥ).
The appearance of the verb forms kuru, karoti for normal Ṛgvedic kṛṇu,
kṛṇoti, for example, is such an innovation. From the AV onwards, kṛṇoti,
kṛṇumaḥ is only found in older, RV Mantras, while the texts themselves use
karoti, kurmaḥ. Not insignificantly, the allegro forms kur-, kar- are used in
colloquial speech or by the wives of the gods, even in the RV itself. 52
§ 4.3.2. MANTRA LANGUAGE.
This level includes the Mantras (in verse) and the prose texts of the
Atharvaveda (PS,ŚS), the Ṛgvedakhilāni (RVKh), the SāmavedaSaṃhitā (=
RV, including some 75 new Mantras), and the Mantras of the Yajurveda
(both verse and prose). These texts constitute a separate type of Vedic,
largely unstudied and unrecognised as a distinct entity. These texts have
come down in part from the RV, but have been altered considerably during
§ 597b (subjunctive acc. to Renou); cf. also, author, WZKS 24, p. 22-26 and
Fel.Vol.Eggermont.
51 See in general, Wackernagel, Ai. Gr.I and Renou, introd. gen. with additions; -
K.Hoffmann's statistics, Injunktiv, which closely agree with the results of Wüst (who had
based himself on quite different data). According to both, the books of the Ṛgveda are
arranged in this way:
W.Wüst (see below,§5.4): 9 4| 3,5,7| 2,6| 8 10
K.Hoffmann, Inj., p. 36: 4-6-2-1-7-5-10-3-9-8.
Arnold, Vedic Metre, p.16 sqq. cf. p.48, has a somewhat differing estimate of the age of the
books; this is based, however, on a development (partly, supposed) of the Vedic metre only
(see p. 19 sqq.).
52 For the various forms of the verb kṛ, see K.Hoffmann, Aufs.575.
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