The World’s Oldest Known Literary work - the Vedas – the root source of the Indian and Hindu Philosophy and Spirituality – are written in Sanskrit.
“The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and in the forms of grammar, than could not possibly have been produced by accident; so strong indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from some common source which, perhaps, no longer exists; there is a similar reason, though not quite so forcible, for supposing that both the Gothick and the Celtick, though blended with a very different idiom, had the same origin with the Sanskrit; and the old Persian might be added to the same family”
So said Sir William Jones – the English Philologist who for the first time in 1786 suggested in his book “The Sanscrit Language” that Greek and Latin were related to Sanskrit and perhaps even Gothic, Celtic and Persian languages were related to Sanskrit.
It was this work which later gave birth to the so called Proto-Indo-European theory which instead of looking into Sanskrit being the root language of all Indo-European languages, suggests that all Indo-European languages including Sanskrit came from another so far unheard of language called PIE or Proto-Indo-European language.
Well, the irony is that till today there is no literature in the world about the so called PIE. There is no inscription found anywhere in the world written in the so called PIE. Nobody knows how the PIE was. Nobody knows who spoke it or in which part of the world was it spoken. No known ancient culture in the world talks about such a language being the root of the language they spoke. Simply put there is NO PROOF about the existence of this language. Just look at its name. It was a name GIVEN to it. A language if spoken will definitely contain words referring to everything that the people who spoke it could identify, yet here is a language which doesnt even have a name referring to itself!
So then what is the basis of having introduced this language in the language tree in the first place - a language which will remain invisible forever? Might be a guess, Max Muller used to guess a lot like this about the vedas, which he then retreated later.
Be it Greek Latin English Hindi Lithuanian – Sanskrit is the mother of all Languages. Even Scholars like Voltaire, Immanuel Kant etc believed that Sanskrit was the root of all Indo-European languages.
“I am convinced that everything has come down to us from the banks of the Ganges” said Voltaire. He believed that the “Dynasty of Brahmins taught the rest of the world”.
“Mankind together with all science must have originated on the roof of the world ie the Himalayas” declared Immanuel Kant.
About PIE – No idea, they are all linguistic experts who created this language, Oops, I mean its existence – for the language itself is not known yet. I am not an expert to speak on PIE, might be those who speak about it are experts in this language
All I do is present below a list of English words which are derived from Latin/Greek/Persian which are in turn derived from Sanskrit. Indians will be quick enough to recognize these words in their own language since most Indian languages have also originated from Sanskrit and even the other languages have a great deal of Sanskrit influence on them.
And here goes the list of English words derived from Sanskrit.
NOTE: Just to make it clear the below list does not contain Sanskrit words that have been directly borrowed into English in recent times like Karma, Avatar, Mantra, Guru, Cheetah, Pundit, Juggernaut, Nirvana, Lakh etc but lists only those English words which were derived from Sanskrit as English evolved by borrowing words from Greek/Latin etc.
Mainstream English words with Sanskrit Roots
Prati Shat (meaning for every hundred i.e percent)per centum (L)percent
Root Sanskrit Word | Median Word in Latin(L) / Greek(G) / Arabic(A) | Derived English Word |
---|---|---|
Gau (meaning Cow) | Bous (G) | Cow |
Matr (meaning Mother) | Mater (L) | Mother |
Jan (meaning Generation) | Genea (G) | Gene |
Aksha (meaning Axis) | Axon (G) | Axis |
Navagatha (meaning Navigation) | Navigationem (L) | Navigation |
Sarpa (meaning Snake) | Serpentem (L) | Serpent |
Naas (means Nose) | Nasus (L) | Nose |
Anamika (means Anonymous) | Anonymos (G) | Anonymous |
Naama (means Name) | Nomen (L) | Name |
Manu (means First Human) | ?? | Man/Men/Human |
Ashta (meaning Eight) | Octo (L) | Eight |
Barbara (meaning Foreign) | Barbaria (L) | Barbarian |
Dhama (meaning House) | Domus (L) | Domicile |
Danta (meaning Teeth) | Dentis (L) | Dental |
Dwar (meaning Door) | Doru | Door |
Dasha (meaning Ten) | Deca (G) | Deca |
Madhyam (meaning Medium) | Medium (L) | Medium |
Kaal (meaning Time) | Kalendae (L) | Calendar |
Kri (meaning To Do) | Creatus (L) | Create |
Mishra (meaning Mix) | Mixtus (L) | Mix |
Ma (meaning Me/My) | Me (L) | Me |
Pithr (meaning Father) | Pater (L) | Father |
Bhrathr (meaning Brother) | Phrater (G) | Brother |
Loka (meaning Place) | Locus (L) | Locale |
Maha (meaning Great) | Magnus (L) | Mega |
Mala (meaning Dirt/Bad) | Malus (L) | Mal as in Malicious, Malnutrition, Malformed etc |
Makshikaa (meaning Bee) | Musca (L) (Meaning Fly) | Mosquito |
Mrta (meaning Dead) | Mortis (L) | Murder |
Na (meaning No) | Ne | No |
Nakta (meaning Night) | Nocturnalis (L) | Nocturnal |
Paad (meaning Foot) | Pedis (L) | Ped as in Pedestrial, Pedal etc |
Pancha (meaning Five) | Pente (G) | Penta, Five |
Parah (meaning Remote) | Pera (G) | Far |
Patha (meaning Path) | Pathes (G) | Path |
Raja / Raya (meaning King) | Regalis (L) | Royal |
Sama (meaning Similar) | Similis (L) | Similar |
Sapta (meaning Seven) | Septum (L) | Seven |
Sharkara (meaning Sugar) | Succarum | Sugar / Sucrose |
Smi (meaning Smile) | Smilen (L) | Smile |
SthaH (meaning Situated) | Stare (L) (meaning To Stand) | Stay |
Svaad (meaning Tasty) | Suavis (L) | Sweet |
Tha (meaning That) | Talis (L) | That |
Tva (meaning Thee) | Dih | Thee |
Vachas (meaning Speech) | Vocem (L) | Voice |
Vahaami (meaning Carry) | Vehere (meaning to Carry) (L) | Vehicle |
Vama / Vamati (meaning Vomit) | Vomere (L) | Vomit |
Vastr (meaning Cloth) | Vestire (L) | Vest |
Yauvana (meaning Youth) | Juvenilis (L) | Juvenile |
Narangi (meaning Orange) | Naranj | Orange |
Pippali (meaning Pepper) | Piperi (G) | Pepper |
Chandana (meaning Sandalwood) | Santalon (G) | Sandalwood |
Chandra (meaning Moon) | Candela (L) (meaning light / torch) | Candle |
Chatur (meaning Four) | Quartus (L) | Quarter |
Shunya (meaning Zero) | Cipher (A) | Zero |
a (prefix meaning “not” ex: gochara – agochara) | a (L)(G) (prefix meaning “not”) | a (prefix meaning “not” ex: theiest-atheist |
an (prefix meaning “not” ex: avashya – anavashya) | un (L)(G) (prefix meaning “not”) | un (prefix meaning “not” ex: do-undo |
Arjuna (meaning Charm of Silver) | Argentinum (L) | Argentinum – Scientific Name of Silver |
Nava (meaning New) | Novus (L) | Nova – New |
Kafa (meaning Mucus) | Coughen | Cough |
Mithya (meaning Lie) | Mythos (G) | Myth |
Thri (meaning Three) | Treis (G) | Three |
Mush (meaning Mouse) | Mus (L) | Mouse |
Maragadum (meaning Emerald) | Smaragdus (L) | Emerald |
Ghritam (meaning Ghee) | ?? | Ghee |
Srgalah (meaning Jackal) | Shagal (Persian) | Jackal |
Nila (meaning Dark Blue) | Nilak (Persian) | Lilac |
Srgalah | Shagal (Persian) | Jackal |
Man (Ma as in Malaysia) (meaning Mind) | Mens (L) | Mind |
Upalah (meaning Precious Stone) | Opalus (L) | Opal |
Vrihis (meaning Rice) | Oriza (L) | Rice |
Upalah (meaning Precious Stone) | Opalus (L) | Opal |
Barbar (meaning stammering) | Barbaros (G) | Barbarian |
Jaanu (meaning knee) | Genu (L) | Knee |
Sunu (meaning Son or Offspring) | Sunu (German) | Son |
Ghas (meaning eat) | Grasa (German) | Grass |
Samiti (meaning Committee) | committere (L) | Committee |
Sama (meaning Same) | Samaz (Proto Germanic) | Same |
Lubh (meaning Desire) | Lubo (Latin and Proto Germanic) | Love |
Agni (meaning Fire) | Ignis (L) | Ignite |
Hrt (meaning Heart) | Herto (Proto Germanic) | Heart |
Yaana (meaning journey, wagon) | Wagen (German) | Van, Wagon |
Nara (meaning Nerve) | Nervus (L) | Nerve, Nervous |
They (th pronounced as in thunder, meaning they) | Dei (Germanic) | They |
Prati | per (L) | per |
Prati Shat (meaning for every hundred, i.e percent) | per centum (L) | percent |