of literature.[1] But leaving this on one side, the most probable hypothesis is, that the Aryans from the earliest times spoke many dialects, all closely akin, all having the same family likeness and tendencies common to all, perhaps in every case mutually intelligible, but still distinct and co-existent. One only of these dialects, however, became at an early period the vehicle of religious sentiment, and the hymns called the Vedas were transmitted orally for centuries, in all probability with the strictest accuracy. After a time the Brahmans consciously and intentionally set themselves to the task of constructing a sacred language, by preserving and reducing to rule the grammatical elements of this Vedic tongue. We cannot tell whether in carrying out this task they availed themselves of the stores of one dialect alone: probably they did not; but with that rare power of analysis for which they have ever been distinguished, they seized on the salient features of Aryan speech as contained in all the dialects, and moulded them into one harmonious whole; thus, for the first time in their history, giving to the Aryan tribes one common language, designed to be used as the instrument for expressing thoughts of such a nature as should be deemed worthy of preservation to all time.[2]
- ↑ It is strenuously denied by many that Sanskrit ever had any dialects, but it seems to me that their arguments refer only to the written language. In Vedic, or even pre-Vedic, times it is probable that dialects existed, though of course there is nothing that can be called proof of this supposition.
- ↑ I have explained my views more concisely in another place as follows: “It is a highly probable theory that the old Aryan, like all other languages, began to be modified in the mouths of the people as early as the Vedic period, and that the Brahmans at a subsequent date, in order to prevent the further degeneration of their language, polished, elaborated, and stiffened it into the classical Sanskrit. We cannot, however, suppose that they brought any new material into the language, but simply that they reduced to rule what was till then vague and irregular, that they extended to the whole of the language euphonic laws which had previously been only of partial application, and so forth; all the while, however, only working on already existing materials.”—From a paper on the Treatment of the Nexus, Journ. Royal Asiatic Society, vol. v., p. 151.
