SHANSCRIT. 
94 
pendicular height; and they increase as the river becomes 
narrower, insomuch that at the pool of Limerick they are 
from 12 to 20 feet high. The current of the tide varies con¬ 
siderably in different parts of the stream, running at the rate 
of from two to five miles an hour. It is not, however, per¬ 
ceptible far above the city, owing to several cataracts. 
There are many fine bays on the Clare side, which afford 
safe anchorage and good shelter for shipping. The principal 
are Kilbahan, Carigahault, Clonderlaw and Labisheda, be¬ 
sides the commodious harbour of Poolanishary, near Kil- 
rush, and Tarbert bay on the Kerry side. The navigation 
between the Upper and Lower Shannon was formerly im¬ 
peded by the noted cataract near Castleconnel, called the 
Salmon Leap; but of late years canals have been drawn 
round this rock, as well as others called the Falls. An im¬ 
portant communication has been likewise opened between 
the Shannon and Dublin, by means of the Grand Canal, 
which forms its junction above Banagher. The Shannon 
nearly insulates Connaught with the county of Clare; and 
if a canal of about four miles in length were cut from Lough 
Clare to the river Bonnet, which falls into Sligo Bay, the 
insular boundary would be complete, and the Shannon ren¬ 
dered navigable from sea to sea. The bridges over this 
river are chiefly at the forementioned towns, but there are 
none below Limerick. In this city there are three, one of 
which, called Thomond bridge, contains 14 arches; and 
about 10 miles higher is O’BrianV bridge, which has 19 
arches. The fisheries on the Shannon are numerous and 
productive, particularly for salmon, which is of the finest 
flavour. Pikes are also numerous, and rise to the weight of 
501bs. each; trout, bream, eel, gillaroos, &c., are large and 
abundant; and perch are plentiful. 
SHANNON, a small river of Upper Canada, which falls 
into the bay of Quinti, in Lake Ontario. 
SHANSCRIT, Sanscrjt, Samscrifr, Saniscretam, or 
Hanscrit language , is the original language of the Hindoos 
or Gentoos. 
The grand source of Indian literature, the parent of almost 
every dialect, from the Persian gulf to the China seas, says 
the learned Halhed, in the Preface to his Grammar of the 
Bengal Language, is the Shanscrit; a language of the most 
venerable and unfathomable antiquity, which, although at 
present shut up in the libraries of Bramins, and appropriated 
solely to the records of their religion, appears to have been 
current over most part of the oriental world; and traces of 
its original extent may still be discovered in almost every 
district of Asia. It is astonishing to find the similitude of 
Shanscrit words with those of Persian and Arabic, and even 
of Latin and Greek ; and those not in technical and meta¬ 
phorical terms, which the fluctuation of refined arts and 
improved manners might have occasionally introduced; but 
in the main ground-work of language, in monosyllables, in 
the names of numbers, and -in the appellations of such things 
as would be first discriminated in the immediate dawn of 
civilization. The coins of Assam, Napaul, Cashmire, and 
many other kingdoms, are all stamped with Shanscrit letters, 
and mostly contain allusions to the old Shanscrit mythology : 
the same conformity is also observable in the impressions of 
seals from Bootan and Thibet. Besides, the arrangement of 
the Shanscrit alphabet is very different from that of any other 
quarter of the world. This extraordinary mode of combi¬ 
nation still exists in the greatest part of the East, from the 
Indus to Pergu, in dialects now apparently unconnected, 
and in characters completely dissimilar ; and affords a for¬ 
cible argument that they are all derived from the same source. 
Moreover, the names of persons and places, of titles and dig¬ 
nities, which are open to general notice, and which are found 
even to the furthest limits of Asia, present manifest traces of 
the Shanscrit. 
Shanscrita is the passive particle of a compound verb, 
formed by prefixing the preposition sam to the crude verb 
cri, and by interposing the letter s, when this compound is 
used in the sense of embellishment. Its literal meaning then 
is “ adornedand when applied to a language, it signifies 
“ polished.” Pracrita is a similar derivative from the same 
crude verb, witli pra prefixed: the most common accept 
tation of this word is “ outcast, or man of the lowest class:” 
as applied to a language, it signifies “ vulgar.” Apabhransa 
is derived from bhras, to fall down: it signifies a word, or 
dialect, which falls off from correct etymology. Gramma¬ 
rians use the Sanscrita as signifying “ duly iormed or regu¬ 
larly inflected;” and Apabhransa for false grammar. 
The languages of India are all comprehended in these 
three classes. The first contains Shanscrit, a most polished 
tongue, which was gradually refined until it became fixed in 
the classic writings of many elegant poets, most of whom 
are supposed to have flourished in the century preceding the 
Christian era. It is cultivated by learned Hindoos through¬ 
out India, as the language of science and of literature, and 
as the repository of their law, civil and religious. It evi¬ 
dently draws its origin (and some steps of its progress-may 
even now be traced) from a primeval tongue, which was 
gradually refined in various climates, and became Shanscrit 
in India; Pahlavi in Persia; and Greek on the shores of the 
Mediterranean. Like other very ancient languages, Shan¬ 
scrit abounds in inflexions, which are, however, more ano¬ 
malous in this, than in the other languages here alluded to; 
and which are even more so in the obsolete dialect of the 
Vedas, than in the polished speech of the classic poets. It 
has nearly shared the fate of other tongues, and is now be¬ 
come 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 refined 
by the concerted efforts of a few priests, who set themselves 
about inventing a new language; not like all other tongues, 
by the gradually improved practice of good writers and 
polite speakers. The exquisitely refined system by which 
the grammar of Shanscrit is taught, 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 Shanscrit, as in every oilier known tongue, 
grammarians have not invented etymology, but have only 
contrived rules to teach what was already established by 
approved practice. 
There is one-peculiarity of Shanscrit compositions which 
may also have suggested the opinion, that it could never be a 
spoken language. Mr. Colebrooke alludes to what might be 
termed the euphonical orthography of Shanscrit. 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 sometimes 
effected by a deviation from orthography in the pronuncia¬ 
tion of words, sometimes by altering one or more letters to 
make the spelling correspond with the pronunciation. These 
rules have been more profoundly investigated by Hindoo 
grammarians than by those of any other nation, and they- 
have completed a system of orthography, which may be 
justly termed euphonical. They require all compound terms 
to be reduced to this standard, and Shanscrit authors, it may 
be observed, delight in compounds of inordinate length; 
the whole sentence too, or even whole periods, may, at 
the pleasure of the author, be combined like the elements 
of a single word, and good writers generally do so. In 
common speech this could never have been practised. None 
but well-known compounds would be used by any speaker 
who wished to bp understood, and each word would be dis¬ 
tinctly articulated, independently of the terms which pre¬ 
cede and follow it. Such indeed is the present practice 
Of those who still speak the Shanscrit language; and they 
deliver themselves with such fluency as is sufficient to 
prove, that Shanscrit'■ may have been spoken in former 
times with as much facility as the contemporary dialects 
of the Greek language, or the more modem dialects of the 
Arabic tongue. 
The father of Shanscrit grammar, who first composed those 
grammatical institutes in which this language is formed, or 
by which words are correctly formed or inflected, was Panini, 
who lived in so remote an age, that he ranks among those 
ancient sages, whose fabulous history occupies a conspicuous 
place 
