WRITTEN BY LONDON SWAMINATHAN
Post No. 10,949
Date uploaded in London – – 7 MAY 2022
Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com
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Studying Avestan language is important because it has several similarities with Tamil. I have already shown some similarities like P=V changes and ban on ‘S’ etc. Here is what late Pandit Lachhmi Dhar Kalla says in his book THE HOME OF ARYAS (year 1930):-
The Pre Vedic stage of Aryan language is not represented by any of the known Aryan languages. Indeed, the Vedic and not the Pre Vedic Aryan language is the Indo European mother tongue, which can account for the growth of various Aryan languages within or without India.
The reconstruction of the Pre Vedic agglutinative Aryan language is the most fascinating type of study which is not yet taken up by philologists, but which deserves our careful attention as it may throw considerable light on the unknown past of the Indo European languages.
Thus the greater purity of the consonantal system of the Vedic language as compared with that of the Avestan creates a presumption in favour of the Vedic Aryans as quite nearer the original home- where they were less disturbed by the alien ethnic influences that destroy the purity of the consonants- than their brethren out in Iran .
Noe the deteriorated system of consonants in the Avesta and compare it with full and pure consonantal system of the Veda :–
1.The Avestan palatal series is incomplete- it possesses only c and j.
2.The Vedic cerebrals are wanting in the Avesta.
3.No aspirates in the Avestan language – their place being taken by the corresponding spirants.
4.The nasals are only in part identical.
5.’L’ is wanting
6.Just as the Prakrits, under influence of alien speech habits, have developed ‘e’ (as in ‘men’) and ‘o’ (as in ‘prop’) , so has the Avestan developed special vowel characteristics such as epenthesis, prothesis, anaptyxis, etc., some of these vowels having acquired place values in the European languages.
7.The Vedic pitch-accent is replaced in the Avesta by strong stress-accent which is shifted to penultimate as in hunuta for Vedic asunuta. Thus quality of vowels mutilated, note aasis for Vedic aaavh. Variation in accent in Avesta like the variation in consonants is a mark of its later date and origin as compared with the Vedic language.
8.Phonetic decay in the Avestan resembling the Prakrit formation is noticeable not only in a large number of words , such as Sanskrit ‘astha’ , Prakrit ‘se’, Avestan ‘he’; but also in grammatical structure, as among all cases which have ‘Bha’ endings. Later grammatical formations as Sanskrit ablative ‘aath’ for the Vedic ‘as’, take place in the Avesta.
Thus the primitive Vedic language serves as a model to the Avestan.
My comments
In point 1, Mr Kalla has listed c and j; but as far as I know ‘J’ is not found in any ancient language except Sanskrit. My research shows that the Migration of letter ‘J’ shows the route of Vedic Hindus around the world. J is found in very few words in ancient languages and that too pronounced like ‘Y’.
Any linguistic change shown by linguists around the word to prove their stupid hypothesis or theories can be exploded by examples from Tamil and Sanskrit.
Comparing non- contemporary languages and inventing or constructing imaginary proto languages are good jokes.
My friend Sathur Sekaran who came for BBC interview (by me) in Tamil Service 30 years ago wrote 140 books/booklets comparing all languages in the world with Tamil. He derived 140 languages from Tamil by reconstructing Proto Tamil.
My argument is that Sanskrit and Tamil gave birth to all ancient languages. Any old word can be traced back to Sanskrit or Tamil. If you make a table with Sanskrit, Tamil, Persian, Latin and Greek and Slav you can see the words branch out in Tamil way or Sanskrit way. I have already shown it in Number One and Number Eight as one example.
Last but not least internal changes in Tamil and Sanskrit must be taken into account. Without any outside influence, languages can change. Tamils around the world write the same word with different spellings and pronounce them differently. Above all, we don’t know how the ancient people pronounced them. Tamil in inscriptions and literature show this vast difference. Even now London Tamil temple boards have Thurkai for Durga. Even now Sri Lankan Tamils write Crickerr in Tamil and pronounce it Cricket. Even today my friend has an organisation called Vimbam for Sanskrit Bimba. Even now Sangam Literature is written as Cankam. Even now parochial Tamil political parties have Sanskrit words Dravida, Avai (sabha) etc. thinking that they are Tamil words!
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What Sanjana says about the Avestan language:-
Rastamji Edulji Dastoor Peshotan Sanjana says the following about the language of the Gathas in his book ‘Zarathustra and Zarathustrianism in the Avesta’, year 1906:
The dialect in which the Gathas, the Zarathustrian psalms are written, notably differs from the language of the rest of the Avesta and presents an intrinsic proof of earlier origin. The Gathic dialect differs in sound as well as in grammar from the other parts of the Avesta. In the former the final vowels are almost always lengthened; but not so in the latter. In the Gathas we find more full and complete grammatical forms; whereas in the Avesta of the latter times the language seems to be in its decline; and some corruptions and confusions are distinctly noticeable in it. The Gathas as we have as already remarked are composed in verses. There are in all seventeen sections comprising 238 strophes of three to five lines each.
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My comments
So even within Zend Avesta we see lot of differences in the language used. We see different Prakrits in India which developed into modern North Indian languages. In Tamil language we don’t see past, present, future tenses 2000 years ago. The language and grammar, the borrowed Brahmi script, everything changed. It is a natural process found in all the languages. Change is inevitable in all the fields. It may be due to natural development or other external influences.
Within a small area of Nagaland in India, New Guinea in the Pacific, Australian aborigines we see hundreds of languages ;none understands the other language speaker. Linguists are puzzled. Same dog’s barking is written and heard by different language speakers differently.
Beowulf of earlier English is difficult to understand by us. Tamil and Sanskrit are very old compared to English. If we could see that much changes in English we must be ready to see more in Indian languages.
‘A’ is pronounced differently in mate, mat, mall, machine, Harry potter, hair etc
We don’t know how they pronounced these words in old times. In short, we can challenge all theories put forth by the linguists .
–subham–
tags- Avesta, Avestan, Gatha, Language, books, my comments
Tamil and Vedas 