Sanskrit

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sanskrit
sasktam
The word sasktam written in Devanagari.
Pronunciati
[smskrtm]
on
Region

Era

Revival

Greater India
ca. 2nd millennium BCE600 BCE
(Vedic Sanskrit), after which it
gave rise to the Middle IndoAryan languages.
Continues as a liturgical
language (Classical Sanskrit).
Attempts at revitalization.
14,346 self-reported speakers
(2001 census)[1]
Indo-European

Language
family

Indo-Iranian

Indo-Aryan
Sanskrit

Vedic Sanskrit
Early forms

Writing
system

Sanskrit

No native script. Written in

various Brahmic scripts.[2]
Official status

Official
India
language i

n
Language codes
ISO 639-1

sa

ISO 639-2

san

ISO 639-3

san

Glottolog

sans1269[3]

Sanskrit (/snskrt/; Sanskrit: sasktam [smskrtm] or saskta, originally saskt vk, "refined
speech") is the primary sacred language of Hinduism, a philosophical language in Buddhism, Hinduism,
Sikhism and Jainism, and a literary language that was in use as a lingua franca in Greater India. It is a
standardised dialect of Old Indo-Aryan, originating as Vedic Sanskrit and tracing its linguistic ancestry back to
Proto-Indo-Iranian and Proto-Indo-European.[4] Today it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India[5]
and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand.[6] As one of the oldest Indo-European languages for
which substantial written documentation exists, Sanskrit holds a prominent position in Indo-European studies.[7]
The body of Sanskrit literature encompasses a rich tradition of poetry and drama as well as scientific, technical,
philosophical and religious texts.[8][9] Sanskrit continues to be widely used as a ceremonial language in Hindu
religious rituals and Buddhist practice in the form of hymns and chants. Spoken Sanskrit has been revived in
some villages with traditional institutions, and there are attempts to enhance its popularisation.