Sanskrit is an ancient Indian language with roots in vernacular dialects. It is important to Hindus and used in religious texts. It influenced many Indian languages and continues to be studied by historians and religious officiants. It is written in various scripts, including Devanagari.
Sanskrit is one of the oldest known Indian languages, with examples of Vedic Sanskrit dating back to about 1500 BC and possibly earlier times as well which are difficult to determine because the language was spoken and sung long before it was written. Indic languages, also known as Indo-Aryan languages, are a large and diverse branch of the Indo-European language family, and Sanskrit is one of the most famous and culturally important languages.
The word “Sanskrit” is translated in many different ways, such as “complete”, “perfect” or “put together”. The origins of this language appear to lie in vernacular dialects which were organized and codified, first into Vedic Sanskrit and then into a more modern form around 500 BC. For Hindus, Sanskrit is extremely important because the Vedas and other Hindu religious texts are this language, and some Buddhist religious texts are also in Sanskrit.
This language is the classical language of ancient India. It was used by all refined and cultured members of society and continues to be used today in religious liturgy and some types of elevated discourse, much like Classical Arabic in the Middle East. Several Indian languages including Bengali and Hindi are descended from Sanskrit, and although the language is not widely spoken in India today, there have been some movements to revive spoken forms and the influences of this language can be seen on many levels of Indian culture and throughout Southeast Asia.
Different writing systems are used for Sanskrit, one of the most common being Devanagari, in part because it was popularized in the West. In addition to Devanagari, a number of Southeast Asian scripts and the Roman alphabet are used to write in this language. The use of many different scripts reflects the different writing systems used in the region, with residents of various areas using the scripts they are most familiar with and comfortable with.
Archaeologists working in Southeast Asia and India may study this language so they can gain a deeper understanding of the cultures they study. The language is also studied by historians, religious officiants and students of religion. Like other classical languages such as Greek and Latin, knowledge of Sanskrit can be essential for those who want to read historical texts in the original language and for those who want to study language, culture and religion. Numerous colleges and universities around the world offer training courses in this language to interested students.
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