Recent comments in /f/history

Donna_Freaking_Noble t1_j0sxskh wrote

Reply to comment by TurkeyDinner547 in Ancient Grammatical Puzzle That Has Baffled Scientists for 2,500 Years Solved by Cambridge University Student by Superb_Boss289

I think you'd have to know a lot more about Sanskrit to be able to understand more detail about the rules. I have a linguistics background and I can only kind of conceptually grasp what's going on with the rules after reading about it here and in other news sources. They're reporting on it as well as they can for non-expert, non-Indic language speakers.

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AliMcGraw t1_j0sxbfl wrote

Reply to comment by zorokash in Ancient Grammatical Puzzle That Has Baffled Scientists for 2,500 Years Solved by Cambridge University Student by Superb_Boss289

You are incorrect. People are still writing literature in Latin, updating the language with modern terms, producing newspapers and newscasts in Latin, and so on.

It's still a dead language, but it's in wide and lively use, and well outside the walls of the Vatican.

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zorokash t1_j0svlq0 wrote

Reply to comment by LightIsWater in Ancient Grammatical Puzzle That Has Baffled Scientists for 2,500 Years Solved by Cambridge University Student by Superb_Boss289

You are missing one big difference.. Latin today is used solely for two purposes, as a liturgical language on religion, and scholarly study of the language.

Sanskrit has more than just those. There is literature like prose poetry and plays written, recited and enacted for crowds. There are philosophical discussions happening. There was recently a south Indian commercial movie released , made entirely in Sanskrit, for general public to watch and enjoy.

For these reasons. Sanskrit is not in same boat as Latin. People keep trying to push it in that, but it isn't.

Also, how a language changes along with time is entirely dependent on culture and the specific language construction itself.

Sanskrit was largely focused on oral traditions and was extensively worked out to prevent changes in language sounds. Paninis works shows how those time lasting standards and mechanisms were made and enacted. Due to its peculiar circumstances, it should not be judged on same standard as other language with little to no sound standards like in latin or Hebrew etc.

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pastebluepaste t1_j0sv8ez wrote

Reply to Greek Hinduism - any surviving legacy? by Isabella1293

On a side note, I’ve used very old natural hot spring baths in the Indian Himalayas which look 100% original Ancient Greek, carvings etc. In valleys where most of the locals are fair skinned & blue eyed (rapidly changing due to modern influx of others & the kidnapping of daughters) They had their own family of gods slightly different to the more southern Hindus, and some being more important, less ‘retired’ than they are outside the valleys (Agni, Surya, Indra & Brahma)

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LightIsWater t1_j0stb44 wrote

Reply to comment by zorokash in Ancient Grammatical Puzzle That Has Baffled Scientists for 2,500 Years Solved by Cambridge University Student by Superb_Boss289

One measuring stick I can think of is that the “primary” (spoken every day by everyday folks) mode of communication can generate slang, while a language like Latin does not have those organic conditions in which to evolve at the typical rate of language change, which is how I’ll try to distinguish between Latin and English: one still has way more potential for change unless people suddenly start speaking Latin in stadiums and clubs. As for Sanskrit, I don’t know if I can determine its potential for change — sounds like there are people who still use it as their primary mode.

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