﻿AND PRACRIT LANGUAGES. 201 



tongue which was ejraclually refined in various cli- 

 mates, and became *SV///.sfn7 in India; Fahlavi in Per- 

 sia, and Greek on the shores of the Mediterranean. 

 Like other very ancient languages, Sa?iscrit abounds 

 in inflections, which are, however, more anomalous in 

 this, tlian in the other languages here alluded to ; and 

 wliich are even more so in the obsolete dialect of the 

 Vtdas, than in the polished speech of the classick poets. 

 It has nearly shared the fate of all anticnt tongues, 

 and is now become almost a dead language ; but 

 there seems no good reason for doubting that it was 

 once universally spoken in India. Its name, and the 

 reputed difficulty of its grammar, have led many 

 persons to imagine that it has been relined by the 

 concerted eitorts of a few priests, who set themselves 

 about inventing a new language ; not like all other 

 tongues, hy tlie gradually improved practice of good 

 writers and polite speakers. The exquisitely refined 

 sv:>tem by wliich the o-rannnar of Sanacrit is tauii^ht. 

 has been mistaken for the refinement of the language 

 itself The rules have been supposed to be anterior 

 to the practice, but this supposition is gratuitous. 

 In Saiiscrit^ as in every other known tongue, gram- 

 marians have not invented etymology, but have only 

 contrived rules to teach what was already established 

 by approved jnactice. 



There is one peculiarity o^ Sanscrit compositions 

 which may also have suggested the opinion that it 

 could never be a spoken language. I allude to what 

 might be termed the euphonical orthography of 

 Sa/i6cnt. It consists in extending to syntax the 

 rules for the permutation of letters in etymology. 

 Similar rules for avoiding incompatible sounds in 

 compound terms exist in all languages; this is some- 

 times effected by a deviation from orthography in 

 tlie pronunciation ot" words, sometimes by altering 

 one or more letters to make the spelling correspond 

 with the pronunciation. These rules ha\e been more 



profoundly 



