Vedic Sanskrit

Vedic Sanskrit is the archaic Indo-Aryan language of the Vedas and other early texts. Its hymns preserve some of the oldest attested Indo-Aryan speech.

Vedic accent: A system of pitch distinctions marking syllables in Vedic Sanskrit. Pitch accent is preserved in recitation and can distinguish grammatical forms.
Proto-Indo-Iranian language: The reconstructed ancestor of the Indo-Iranian languages, including Indo-Aryan and Iranian. Vedic Sanskrit descends from this earlier linguistic stage.
Classical Sanskrit: The standardized literary form of Sanskrit shaped by grammatical tradition, especially that of Pāṇini. It regularizes forms and usage that are older or more varied in Vedic texts.
Śrauta ritual: The public Vedic sacrificial rites prescribed in ritual texts called Śrauta Sūtras. Its formulas and procedures preserve specialized Vedic vocabulary and recitation.
Sanskrit grammar: The rules governing the forms and arrangement of words in Sanskrit. Its inflectional system explains how Vedic words mark case, number, tense, and voice.
Indo-Aryan languages: A branch of Indo-Iranian languages that includes Sanskrit and many languages of South Asia. Vedic Sanskrit is an early attested member of this language branch.
Epic Sanskrit: The Sanskrit used in major epic literature, including the Mahabharata and Ramayana. Its later literary conventions differ from the older language of Vedic hymns.
Vedic recitation: The rule-governed oral chanting of Vedic texts with attention to accent and sound. Recitation keeps linguistic details audible that manuscripts alone cannot convey.
Vedic meter: The metrical patterns used in Vedic poetry, based chiefly on syllable count and arrangement. Meter shapes the hymns’ language and helps identify their poetic forms.
Rigveda: The oldest collection of hymns in the Vedic tradition. Its hymns provide the largest and oldest body of Vedic Sanskrit.

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