TRACING VEDIC DIALECTS - People.fas.harvard.edu

This result is interesting insofar as it tends to underline, on one hand, what
we already know; the family books of the RV (RV 2-8) are the oldest parts of
the text and usually show the same or similar particularities, while the large
books 1 and 10 are later additions. Book 9 is a special case because of its
character as 'song book' accompanying the Soma sacrifices.
In addition to these well-known characteristics, it is important to note that
books 3 and 8 take a special position. They seem to be later and are, in any
case, less archaic than the rest, frequently even innovative. In my opinion,
these books of the Viśvāmitra (RV 3) and the Kāṇvas (RV 8) are
contemporary with the immigration into Kurukṣetra of the Bharatas under
the Sudās family. Note especially RV 3. 53 (but cf. the Bhāradvāja
composition 6.47!) More investigations into this matter are necessary,
especially concerning the relative age of various hymns within the collections
of their respective families as surviving in the various RV books. 155
§6 TYPICAL ŚĀKHĀ DIFFERENCES
§6.0. The preceding sections have indicated, I hope, that some peculiarities of
dialect development can be traced throughout the Vedic period, right down
from the RV, which itself is, of course, a collection of hymns by various
authors and clans and reflects the traditions of many tribes across several
centuries. The above materials also tend to indicate that there were centres of
innovation, i.e. the areas occupied by the Taitirīyas (TS) and Vājasaneyins
(ŚB).
I will now turn to phonetic peculiarities of some major texts which have so
far largely been disregarded. They have, it is true, been noticed for more
than a hundred years and figure as such in the standard accounts of the
language. However, they have not been placed in their proper context and
perspective, as they were regarded to be phenomena limited to the text
transmisson of a particular Vedic school, or even to a particular text.
It is here, unfortunately, that the unsatisfactory state of Vedic text editions
comes fully to bear. Although the editions, mostly made in the second half of
155 This agrees with the opinion of S. Insler who noticed the special innovative role of the
Kāṇvas in RV (personal comm.).
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