Old Indian
Old Indian is the collective name for Vedic and Sanskrit , the oldest Indo-Aryan languages. Vedic is the language of the Vedas , the oldest form of which can be found in the Rig Veda . Sanskrit, the language of classical Indian literature , was later created from a younger form of Old Indian (with some Middle Indian elements) . Often (especially in English-language literature) the term Sanskrit is used synonymously with Old Indian or Vedic.
Closest related to Old Indian are Old Persian and Avestan . As one of the oldest attested Indo-European languages , ancient Indian (especially Vedic) is one of the most important sources for historical-comparative Indo-European linguistics and the reconstruction of the original Indo-European language .
A distinction is made between the Middle Indian languages ( Prakrit ) and the New Indian languages from Old Indian .
Individual proof
- ↑ Klaus Mylius (ed.): History of ancient Indian literature . Revised and supplemented 2nd edition. Harrassowitz Verlag , Wiesbaden 2003, ISBN 3-447-04772-0 , p. 7 ( Online , Google Books [accessed December 17, 2014]).