Viswanathan K's Thoughts

Earlier, in Wanderers, Kings and Merchants , we saw Peggy Mohan use the words “Dravidian substratum”. What exactly is a substratum? Literally, it means the underlying layer. In the context of Indian languages, it refers to the “unconscious” layer of the language that seeps in when the ruled classes tried to learn the language of the ruler/conqueror (Aryans, Mughals etc).   In that context, Peggy Mohan wonders how the Dravidian language substratum sounds seeped into Sanskrit? To recap, she is referring to retroflexion sounds ( ट , ठ , ड , ढ , ण , ष ). After all, she says: “The substratum does not ‘leak up’ to infiltrate a privileged group that is proud of its language, and not overly eager to reach out to locals it regards as inferior.” Remember the British? “The British lived amidst ट , ठ , ड , ढ , ण , ष during their time in India, but simply did not hear (or absorb) those sounds.” If the language of the rulers isn’t seeking to absorb anything new from the languages of...

In her book, Wanderers, Kings and Merchants , Peggy Mohan talks of another feature of Sanskrit that is absent from the Indo-European languages - aspiration . That refers to the sound of the following letters – ख , घ , छ , झ , ठ , ढ , थ , ध , फ and भ . As Peggy Mohan amusingly puts it, these are sounds that require the vocal cords from being close together to suddenly move away from each other, a feat “difficult for anyone not used to such acrobatics to manage”. Dravidian languages too lack these sounds.   Strangely, while Hindi has these aspirated sounds, other languages of the North West (like Punjabi, Sindhi, Balochi, and Pashto) don’t! This suggests, says Mohan, that even the North Western languages have a Dravidian substratum – and Sanskrit is the exception when it comes to the aspirated sounds.   Such sounds that are unique to a language, writes Mohan, can help track population movements. How? By seeing if they start to “absorb” new sounds, structure and grammar;...

In her book on Indian languages, Wanderers, Kings and Merchants , Peggy Mohan writes: “(Languages) did not sprout in continuity like new branches from the same tree from where they started, but were like different trees that happened to be neighbours stretching their branches, touching each other and sharing structure.”   Take Sanskrit. It seems to have taken an entire sound system from other languages, feels Madhav Deshpande from Michigan University. (Note the difference – he isn’t talking of individual words ; he is referring to sounds ). How did he come to that conclusion? To understand that, we first need to understand “dental” sounds and “retroflexion” sounds. If you’re like me, you probably have no idea what that meant! But worry not.   Dental sounds are made by the tongue touching the upper teeth (that means त , थ , द , ध , न , and श) . Whereas retroflexion sounds are made by the tongue curled upwards ( ट , ठ , ड , ढ , ण , ष ).   Sanskrit started o...