V. Speech Community

A. Speech Community:

1. Identity Group (Mother tongue speakers) and their bi/multilingualism:

Identity Group refers to that group of Individuals who share some common features in their language and society. Society consists of different ethnic group consisting of different religions and castes. Brahmins speaking Sanskrit as a mother tongue / second language constitute one identity group for Sanskrit. Identity is recognized on the basis of the religion or region. If the identity is on the basis of religion or region, then it is called Religious identity. If it is on the basis of the region, then it will be called Regional identity! Language also plays an important role in the identity group. For example, speakers of Mysore Kannada form one identity group whereas speakers of Dharwad Kannada form another identity group.

Sanskrit is spoken primarily as the second language by many speakers. Once, Sanskrit was identified as the language of Brahmins who were called 'Shistas' (i.e. Educated). Now, due to the modern education and Sanskrit being taught to all communities, Sanskrit is not only the language spoken by Brahmins but also spoken by many other communities. It is no more a language of only Brahmins. Westerners have studied Sanskrit. Many western scholars speak Sanskrit as second language.

In India, there are some (very few) traditional families who speak Sanskrit as their mother tongue. Dr.H.S.Ananthanarayana in his paper on "Sanskrit and Indian Heritage" published in the book entitled "Linguistic Heritage of India and Asia" says that (P. 24) Sanskrit was a spoken language and the vast literature in this language is a solid testimony to this fact. It was not limited to any particular area, but was spoken throughout the length and breadth of the country. Regional pecularities observed by Pāṇini and others confirm this thesis. It was spoken not only by the Brāhmins but was equally used and understood by other social classes. If the word samskrta is taken in the meaning 'polished', 'purified', 'correct speech', it may then be thought of as the speech of the educated class of the Aryan society. Others must have spoken substandard form and may have even mastered it so as to use it on occasions. The fact that Sanskrit and prakrits were used side by side suggests that they were mutually intelligible and the people were bilinguals. Within their class, the members may have used their own speech as a mark of identity and Sanskrit whenever it involved members of the upper class.

India has always been a nation of many languages. This multilingual situation did not, however, come in the way of unity and oneness of Indian culture. Language has never been an issue and Sanskrit, of course, was taken as the binding force. People of this vast country have always been bilinguals and even multilingual.

The role of these languages in the life of an Indian was clearly defined and there was never a conflict between their functions. Sanskrit was used in more formal situations like religious ceremonies; discussions on philosophical and scientific matters, and the vernaculars were employed in informal occasions such as routine conversations among friends and relatives. Thus, we may say that Sanskrit and the spoken dialects were in complementation where Sanskrit had its role to play in the religious as well as cultural life and the spoken forms in the social life.

The pre-Aryan population, which had to learn Sanskrit and the prakrits, were the real bilinguals. As Sanskrit developed into literary standard, we see that at a latter date it is a variety of Prakrit, which was employed in literary compositions. Thus, we note that Mahavira preached his sermons in a Prakrit dialect called Ardhamāgadhi and his sayings are preserved to us only in this dialect. Similarly, Buddha too delivered his sermons in a spoken dialect, which is identified as Magadhi.

Coming to the middle Ages, we find again Sanskrit regaining its importance. It became a sort of common link language among the speakers of different mother tongues. Thus in his Naisadhiyacarita, Sriharsha describes the suitors of Damayanti from all parts of Indian as speaking to each other in Sanskrit to avoid mutual unintelligibility. Another poet, Bilhana in the 11th century, mentions in his 'Vikramankadevacaritha' that in Kashmir even women in every home spoke Sanskrit and Prakrit like their mother tongue. Conditions may have been probably more or less the same in other parts of India, particularly among the cultured classes.

Sanskrit has always been the most potent force that has welded the whole of Indian subcontinent into unity. It was the bridge language between the Aryan north and the Dravidian south. Many a southerner has nourished this language. He did not consider Sanskrit as a foreign language thrust upon him. The great Acharyas –Sankara, Raamanuja and Madhva wrote Bhasya 'commentary' on the Bhagavad-Gita which is read by every one alike in the country. The great Sayana who wrote commentary on the Vedas was in the Vijayanagara Empire. The other two Vedic commentators, Venkatamādhava and Bharataswami were under the cholas and the Hoysalas. Mallinathasuri who commented on the works of Kālidasa was a southerner Kumarila Bhatta, Mandana misra, Appayya Diksita were all great scholars from the south and enriched this language by their writings. Sankara born in the state of Kerala traveled all over the country and established Matts in all the four corners of this land. This he could achieve only through Sanskrit, which was understood in all parts of the country. Even today, religious discourses are given in Sanskrit and people from different regions participate in this with equal facility. This glorious tradition of the past must be continued to maintain the unity of the nation and it is possible only through this great language.

The literary activity in Sanskrit is not something of the past. It is going on continuously even to this day and many kavyas, prose works, dramas and essays are being produced in this language as in the olden days. New trends like patriotism and political consciousness may be witnessed in these compositions. Evils of society and of religion have been utilized for plots of the dramas. This is a great proof for Sanskrit not to be qualified as a dead language as far as literary activity is concerned.

There are a number of journals and magazines in Sanskrit. They include dailies, weeklies, fortnightlies, and monthlies. There are also quarterly journals, half yearly journals and Journals issued once a year. As in other languages, news in Sanskrit is relayed on the radio and television. It is tried out, as a language of day-to-day communication in a village called Mattur in Shimioga District of Karnataka and it has turned out 100% successful. Not only those belonging to the upper caste, everyone including persons like postman speaks here in Sanskrit”.

Thus, Sanskrit language has played and is playing an important role in the national integration of the country. As Sanskrit was spoken by some as mother tongue like in Shimoga of Karnataka, it was also spoken as a second language and it is spoken even now as a second language throughout the country, more so in the elite group called Sanskrit scholars.

2. Functional Group and their mother tongue:

Sanskrit has remained a language of function from the beginning. Sanskrit as a functional group can be traced to Vedas. The yajurveda is famous for 'Yajna'. It contains lot of Mantras on the performing of 'Yāgas'. In ancient India, 'Yajna' and 'Yāga' were frequently performed such as 'Ashva mēdha yāga', 'Putra kāmēshṭi yajna' , 'Rājasūya yāga' and many others.

Many religious ceremonies are performed in Sanskrit language even today. Marriage ceremonies, Death rituals, Homas like Gāyatri Homa, Pavamāna Hōma are performed in Sanskrit. Many worshippings like satyanārayana pūja, Ganesha pūja, Lakshmi pūja, Saraswati pūja, Āyudha pūja are performed in Sanskrit. In all Hindu temples, daily worshipping is done in sanskirt. In south, famous pilgrim centers like Udupi, Sonda, Katilu, Kollur, Dharmasthala and in other parts of the country Sanskrit is being used as a language of function. Vedas are recited during birth, marriage and death ceremonies.

Most of the priests and purohits who perform these yajnas and yāgas speak Sanskrit as their second language. Their mother tongue is invariably either a regional language or a local language.

Thus, Sanskrit plays as an important functional language of India. For the functional identity and group of Sanskrit, I again quote Dr. H.S.Ananthanarayana as follows:

"What is necessary for modern India is a common medium for inter-provincial education transcending the mother tongue stage, a common medium through which principles of Government could be laid down, (i.e.) government acts could be enacted, for all the provinces, a common medium that could secure an uniform and identical judicial procedure and administration of law possible all over the country. Such a common medium can only be Sanskrit. One of our own leaders, in modern times, pundit Jawaharlal Nehru, expresses eloquently the unique heritage preserved in this language. He said, "If I was asked what the greatest treasure which India possesses is and what is her finest heritage, I would answer unhesitatingly it is the Sanskrit language and literature, and all that it contains. This is a magnificent inheritance, and so long as it endures and influences the life of our people, so long the basic genius of India will continue".

Such is the importance of Sanskrit. It may be neglected at our own peril. It is too well known to emphasize that Sanskrit has contributed to the national solidarity in the past and is the one language, which can still bind people from all parts of this vast country culturally, emotionally and spiritually. It is not confined to any particular region and does not interfere in the growth of any particular region or regional language. It has on the other hand proved to be an inexhaustible treasure house of vocabulary from which all Indian languages (whether belonging to the Aryan group or the Dravidian) have drawn through the centuries. It is not a dead language; it continues to enrich our languages and literature and everything that India stands for. It is so intertwined with every aspect of our life that we cannot think of India without it at the same time thinking of this great language. It will remain with us as long as there may be India, as long as there may be Vindhya and the Himalayas and as long as there may be Ganga and Godavari". (Sanskrit and Indian Heritage pp. 248 – 249)

Thus, Sanskrit plays even today as an important language for the functional group as well as communication group. It is this language which can unite India as a single nation and bind people of different regions and languages as one single unit.

B.Distribution of Identity Group and Functional Group:

Introduction: Sanskrit language was the language of communication during the Vedic period. Later, when parakrit forms developed, they became the medium of mass communication. However, Sanskrit remained the language of communication thought out the country among the learned Brahmins called 'Shisṭha'.

Yaska (7th or 8th century B.C) in his Nirukta clearly says that Sanskrit was used for communication purposes in the learned society as quoted below:

		"भाषिकेभ्यो धातुभ्यो नैगमाकृतो भाष्यंते" 
	(Bhaṣikēbhyō  Dhātubhyō naigmākratō  bhāṣyantē)  

Yaska calls Sanskrit as 'भाषा' (Bhāṣā). He explains how different words give different meanings in different regions. The quotation is as follows:

		शर्वात गतिकर्मा कंबोजेष्वेव भाष्यते। विकारमस्यार्थेषु भाषंते 
		शव इति। दातिर्लवनार्थे प्राच्येषु दात्रमुदीच्येषु      	निरुत्क  2.2.  

(Śavati gatikarmā kambō jēṣvēva bhāṣyatē. Vikāramasyārthēṣu bhāṣantē śava iti Dātirlavanārthē prāchēṣu dātramudīcyeyēṣu) Nirukta – 2.2.

The verb 'शवति' (śavati) in kāmbōj (North western part of present Punjab) was used to mean 'going' but its nominal form 'शव' (śava) was used by the Āryans in different meanings. In Eastern part of the country the word 'दाति' (dāti) meant 'cutting' but the people of north use 'दात्र' (dātra) in ironical sense.

During the period of patanjali (150 A.D), Sanskrit was a living language and that there were still people for whom it was the mother tongue but not one acquired from grammar books and literature. Most probably such people belonged to the upper crust of the society and were also less in number, since as evidenced by Mahābhāṣya itself, a variety of the prākrit called Apabhramśa has already come into vogue and was spoken chiefly by the uneducated masses.

Coming to the modern India, S.S.Bhattacharya in his paper on 'Languages in India – their status and functions' says that "In a geographically vast multilingual country like India with more than one billion speakers (1,027,015,247), (census of 2001 provisional populations) distributed in 28 states including 3 more created recently and in 7 Union Territories, Language identification is not a simple matter, particularly in the absence of a definitive inventory of languages possessing linguistically autonomous systems recognized by the linguists. Though there is no official inventory of languages spoken in India, the only source of official data on languages is the Indian census. The last and the only published inventory i.e. 1991 census Report on Language/Mother tongue, gives the name, locations and number of speakers of 114 languages and 216 mother tongues each of which returned by 10,000 or more speakers at All India level. The distribution of these languages is at once diverse, complex and unequal. Obviously, some states, regardless of their size have more languages than others. It is self evident that all the states of India have linguistic minorities and all languages are minority languages in some states, of course, of different types and according to the degrees of their importance".

Thus, the speakers of Sanskrit either as mother tongue or as second language are scattered throughout the country and their number varies from state to state.

S.S.Bhattacharya further says in his paper that The language list of the 1991 census is the latest as far as language statistics is concerned since the language data of 2001 census is yet not available. It defined "Languages" in terms of broad demo-linguistic and geolinguistic units. The census 1991 consists of a list of 114 languages, each with a speaker strength of 10,000 and above at the All India Level.

All the 18 languages specified in the schedule VIII to the constitution other than Sindhi and Sanskrit have a numerical strength of 10 million and above. On the basis of their native speaker strength, these 18 languages make up an overwhelming 96.29% of the Indian population. The rest of the 96 non-scheduled languages constitute 3.17% of the total population. But these languages are no less important for these communities and the regions where they are spoken. The gross numerical strength of the country is qualified by the presence of these smaller linguistic groups. This situation has resulted in a vast bilingual population.

Regarding the data on bilingualism and trilingualism, sex-wise in respect of 114 languages (18 scheduled languages and 96 Non-scheduled languages) were presented in the 1991 census. The rate of national average of bilingualism in the 1991 census is significantly higher compared to the national average recorded in the last three census. The rates are 1961 - 9.70%, 1971 - 13.04%, 1981 - 13.34% and in 1991 – 19.44%. The national average rate of trilingualism is 7.26%, which was presented for the first time in 1991 census.

However, the Indian languages in general, account for their strength mainly through native speakers except English. In the Indian context, English sets the highest limit of second language speakers. Most of the scheduled languages show a rate of bilingualism between 11- 40% except Sanskrit, Sindhi, Kashmiri and Konkani. However, the rate of bilingualism is comparatively high among the speakers of non-scheduled languages.

Sanskrit being a functional language for the Hindus has its importance for the religious identity. In almost all the states of India, Sanskrit is used for the religious functions like marriage, death ceremonies etc. Most of these functions are performed by the pundits, purohits belonging to the Brahmin community. However, due to the modernization of Hindu religion, priests of Arya Samaj and Brahma Samāj have also started using Sanskrit for religious purposes.

C.Diaspora of Identity Group:

The diaspora of Identity Group is found throughout the country. Aryans of the Vedic period were the real identity group who migrated from one place to another and inturn brought their own culture and language. They pushed the Dravidians to the extreme south and later on mixed with the local people. Hence, in south India we find the mixture of Aryan and Dravidian race and culture. Due to this and the importance given by the rulers of that time, Sanskrit became a prestigious language and the priests of North were invited to the South by the then rulers for the performance of Yagas. Thus, the priests who came here settled down in the south and had matrimonial relationship with the locals and became part and parcel of the South Indian community. Thus, the diaspora of IG is very complex.

D. Ethinic Composition of IG and F.G:

The ethnic composition of the Identity group for Sanskrit were mostly Brāhmins who were called as 'śisṭā' i.e. learned, right from the vedic period. The evidence for this is available in patanjali’s 'Mahābhāṣya' (150 A.D) which I quote from A.B.Keith’s 'History of classical Sanskrit literature' - "How wide was the circle to which the epic could appeal in Pāṇini’s time (5th century B.C) we do not know, but we have a couple of centuries later the evidence of patañjali (150 A.D) as to the speech of his day. From him we learn that the norm of speech in his day were the ‘śisṭās’- the learned Brāhmins of Āryavratta, who whether they studied grammar or not, had a hereditary skill in the correct use of the tongue and from whose employment of it others could acquire it. Others, however, were less precise in speech, thus they mispronounced sounds making śaśa of śaśa, palāśa of palāśa and mañjaka for mañcaka. Again, they used in correct terms (apaśabda), mainly nouns often in prākrit forms adapted slightly to seem Sanskrit, more rarely in verbal forms, a greater deviation. We have in the Rāmāyaṇa a similar distinction drawn between the correct speech of the Brāhmin and the less precise language of an ordinary man who uses Sanskrit".

From the above quotation, it becomes clear that Sanskrit was spoken primarily by the Brāhmins and also by the other communities of that period.

However, during the epic period we notice that men and women knew Sanskrit but society norm of that period did not allow speaking Sanskrit by women folk, including queen. Whether the king or the ordinary man addressed to their respective wives in Sanskrit, they inturn replied in prākrit. The evidence for this is available in the epics of kālidasa.

As centuries passed, kings patronized the Sanskrit language and encouraged the scholars of Sanskrit. Thus, many epics in Sanskrit were written. During the Vijayanagara Empire (15th century) kings encouraged the study of Sanskrit.

Coming to the modern period, due to changed political systems and the norms of the society, Sanskrit is accessible to all communities irrespective of the gender distinction. Hence, not only Brāhmins of the present day but also other communities like non-Brāhmins and SC and ST people are showing lot of interest in the study of Sanskrit.

Thus, the I.G. group for Sanskrit is not confined only to the Brāhmin communities but also to all other non-Brāhmin communities.

However, the functional group even today continues to be the Brāhmin community like pundit, purohit etc, who use the Sanskrit language for religious purposes and other rituals like Hōma, Yāga and death rituals (Srāddha).

Dr. H.S.Ananthanarayana in his paper "Sanskrit and Indian Heritage" says that (pp 245) Sanskrit was a spoken language and the vast literature in this language is a solid testimony to this fact. It was not limited to any particular area, but was spoken throughout the length and breadth of the country. Regional pecularities observed by Pāṇini and others confirm this thesis. It was spoken not only by the Brāhmins but was equally used and understood by other social classes too. If the word samskrta is taken in the meaning 'polished', 'purified', 'correct speech', it may then be thought of as the speech of the educated class of the Āryan society. Others must have spoken substandard form and may have even mastered it so as to use it on occasion. The fact that Sanskrit and Prakrit were used side by side suggests that they were mutually intelligible and the people were bilinguals. Within their class, the members may have used their own speech as a mark of identity and whenever it involved members of the upper class".

From the above quotations of different scholars, the ethnic composition of Identity group and Functional group can be ascertained. Due to modernization, the function group also consists of non-Brāhmins who have become the members of Ārya-Samaj and Brahmo Samaj. Such functional groups strictly adhere to the norms established by the Ārya Samaj, Brahma Samaj, Chinmaya mission, etc.

1.Sedentary, Migrant, Nomadic:

As said under ethnic composition of IG and FG, the Aryans who spoke Sanskrit during the Vedic period migrated from different parts of the north and settled in different parts of the country including the south. The kings of the earlier period invited Vedic scholars of north and requested them to settle down in the south for religious purposes. Hence, we see many priests from north came to south and settled here. This type of migratory thing continued for a long time and finally they settled in their respective settlements and became part and parcel of that society. However, they continued to maintain their cultural/religious identity even in the migrated place.

2. Urban / Rural: People speaking Sanskrit were found equally in rural and urban areas. Depending upon the opportunities for their livelihood, they settled down in different areas. During the period of kings, they were in the urban cities, but many of them lived in villages. Even today Brahmins are scattered in rural as well as urban areas. Hence, ethnic composition of the speakers of Sanskrit is composed in both rural and urban areas.

E. Language contact, code mixing, code switching:

Sanskrit, being the ancient language of India has its own impact on other Indian languages. Infact all Indo-Aryan languages have developed from Vedic Sanskrit through the Apabhramsa. Naturally, they show lot of similarity in vocabulary and structure with Sanskrit. Language contact with Sanskrit is not the recent one. It has its own history. S.Nagalakshmi in her paper, 'Respect for linguistic and cultural diversity in India' published in 'Linguistic Heritage of India and Asia' (pp. 96) says "The Aryans came to India after 1500 B.C. by way of Eastern Asia Minor, Mesopotamia and then Iran, where a distinct Indo-Aryan form of the original Indo-European culture had developed, in the evolution of which we have to admit a number of Asianic and Mesopotamian elements, in religion and mythology as well as in outer paraphernalia of civilization. In spite of this contact with the highly civilized peoples of West Asia, with whom they sojourned for centuries, the Aryans entered India retaining a good deal of their primitive character as a semi-nomadic people, whose main wealth was their herds and flocks, and it is in India that they found their fullest expression as a result of their contact with the Dravidians, the Nisadas and the Kiratas. With their adaptability and imagination, the Aryans built up a synthetic Hindu culture out of the different cultural elements in India."

On page 98 under the head 'Sanskrit and its unifying Influence' says that "The vehicle of Hindu culture is Sanskrit. The unifying influence of Sanskrit can hardly be overstated".

She quotes "Our ex-President, Hon’ble President, Shri Gyani Zail Singh has remarked"- "Sanskrit is not just a religious language. Sanskrit is an invaluable treasure of this land and it is our responsibility to keep alive this ancient language, which is a storehouse of Indian traditions and culture. Since time immemorial, this language has been instrumental for the unity of the country". Modern Indian Literary Languages, whether Aryan or Dravidian are no longer 'building languages' i.e. They do not create new words with their own native elements. With Sanskrit in the background and being nurtured in the bosom of Sanskrit, they have all become 'borrowing languages'. Any word in a Sanskrit book or in the Sanskrit dictionary is a prospective Bengali or Telugu or Marathi or Malayalam word. The much needed development of scientific and technological vocabulary will mean a greater and still greater place for Sanskrit in modern Indian intellectual and cultural life. Further, Sanskrit, though it is not a spoken language of any region or group of people, as other regional languages are, is widely understood and is still used in speeches on special occasions and in conferences, as well as in religio-philosophical discussions in orthodox circles. These and many other weighty reasons will make the place of Sanskrit so very vital in India, a place that far transcends in extent and depth that of Greek and Latin for Europe.

Indian culture has an organic unity and this has been largely brought out by language movements shaped and moulded by the Sanskrit language. Sanskrit was never static. In its growth, it absorbed and assimilated many words and terms of expressions from the regional dialects, both of Aryan and non-Aryan (Dravidian, Kol or Munda and Tibeto – Burman region).

Dr.J.C.Sharma also in his paper on "Multi-Lingualism and Language Maintenance in India" published in "linguistic Heritage of India and Asia" (pp. 132) says that "There has been contact among various languages since long and this contact is as old as the history of India. The result of language contact is multilingualism i.e. people have been using more than one language simultaneously and the influence of one language on the other could be seen in almost all the languages. The loan words from other languages are found in old forms of languages as attested in available literatures. This shows the people had exposure to languages other than their mother tongues. We find borrowed words from Sanskrit in present day Dravidian languages namely Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam and these borrowings are attested in the older forms also.

There are common vocabulary found between Hindi-Kannada, Hindi-Tamil, Hindi-Malayalam, Hindi-Telugu prepared by CIIL and most of such words are tatsam from Sanskrit base which confirms the contact between Sanskrit and Dravidian languages since time immemorial".

Prof. V.R.Prabodhachandran Nayar also in his paper "Role of Sanskrit in the Development of Malayalam" published in "Linguistic Heritage of India and Asia" (pp. 202-203) says that "During the Brahmins cultural conquest of south India in general and of Kerala in particular, the influence of the Brahmins and their language on the life and languages of the people inhabiting Kerala has had long standing effects. Aryan influence on the Malayalam language appears to be all-pervasive infiltrating into almost all levels of the language. It did have a catalystic effect in the final disintegration of Proto-Tamil-Malayalam and separation of Malayalam and Tamil from each other".

Prof. Nayar further says on page 204 of his paper that "Technical terminology in most branches of informative literature in Malayalam is a domain wherein Sanskrit predominance is quite clear. In general, it can be stated that Malayalam prefers Sanskritization to nativization in coining technical terms. Thus, 'nasal' is anunasikam in Malayalam whereas it is muukkoli in Tamil. The pan-Indian term for All India Radio namely aakaasavaani met with no resistance in Kerala, unlike in Tamilnadu which held it unacceptable since it consists of Vatamoyi (that is, Northern language or Sanskrit) words aakaasa and Vaani and started to use the expression Vaanoli (Vaan 'sky' + oli 'sound') specially coined for the purpose". The quotations from the above noted scholars clearly indicate the Sanskrit language contact with other languages both Dravidian and Indo-Aryan. In case of Tamil, there is a resistance to use Sanskrit words due to the language movements and purification movement. They have started coining new words from the Tamil base rather than borrowing from Sanskrit.

Regarding code switching and code mixing it may be said that those who speak Sanskrit as the second language or as mother tongue do not prefer for code mixing. When they speak in Sanskrit they speak only in Sanskrit and when they switch over to the regional languages they do not use Sanskrit.

However, in religious functions code mixing and code switching is very common, while performing marriages or death ceremonies, pundits or purohits usually chant 'Mantras' in Sanskrit and switch over to regional languages for the instructions to be followed for performing the religious duties. This type of code mixing and code switching can be seen in almost all languages of India whether it is Dravidian or Indo-Aryan.

Hence, code mixing and switching is possible only in the domain of religious functions of the Hindus.

F. Convergence, Borrowing, Diffusion:

According to David Crystal, "Convergence is a term used in sociolinguistics to refer to a process of Dialect change in which the dialects become more like each other (or converge). This usually happens when a non-standard dialect falls under the influence of the standard dialect falls under the influence of the standard, but it may happen the other way round as in the current development of modified forms of "Received pronunciation" in English. Geographically adjacent speech communities are sometimes referred to as 'Convergence areas'. The opposite effect is known as 'Divergence'. 'Convergence' also has a currency in Historical Linguistic studies referring to the merging of forms which at an earlier stage of a language were contrastive.

Borrowing is a term used in comparative and Historical Linguistics to refer to linguistic forms being taken over by one language or Dialect from another; such 'borrowings' are usually known as 'Loan words' (e.g. Restaurant, bonhomie, chagrin which have come into English from French) and several types have been recognized (cf Loan). Less commonly, sounds and Grammatical structures may be borrowed e.g. the pronunciation of the above loan words with a French or Quasi-French accent, or the influence of English grammar often found in European languages, e.g. using an English plural -S for a noun, as in drinks, ski-lifts, goals, girls".

According to Hartmann and Stork, Diffusion refers to expansion

(a) the addition of further elements in a sentence without changing its basic structure, e.g. John has a sister can be expanded by little and / or beautiful occurring before sister. John has a beautiful little sister or by adding big to John. Big John has a sister or by adding a negative particle to the verb. John hasn’t a sister → modifier.

(b) The linguistic effects of migration and transmission of cultural institutions across language boundaries, in particular.

Regarding convergence, it may be said that Sanskrit has influenced the Indian languages in the area of vocabulary. Many Sanskrit words are converged into Dravidian languages sometimes with the original meaning or the extended meaning or completely new meaning for Ex.: Upanyāsa in Hindi refers to a novel whereas in Kannada it means a Lecture’.

Regarding borrowing, it can be said that All Indian Languages whether Dravidian or Aryan have borrowed words from Sanskrit. Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam have borrowed extensive vocabularies from Sanskrit.

Regarding diffusion, it can be said that many Sanskrit words are diffused with Dravidian words. Malayalam is the best example for such diffusion at all levels.

G. Social Structure:

In the ancient India, social structure contained only upper caste Hindus i.e. Kshatriyas and Brahmins used to speak Sanskrit. However, Sanskrit was also spoken by other communities in a corrupted manner which gave rise to Prakrit languages. Women were prohibited from speaking Sanskrit as can be seen in the dramas of Kālidasa.

The 'Sisthas' or the learned Brahmins of that period were the custodians of Vedas. They practiced it orally and transmitted from one generation to the other.

Patañjali in his Mahābhāsya says in detail about the 'Sistas'- the learned Brāhmins.

Coming to the Modern India, Social structure has changed. Not only Brāhmins but other communities also started learning Sanskrit. But those who speak Sanskrit as mother tongue are invariably Brāhmins. Many who speak Sanskrit as second language also are Brāhmins. In matters of Shimoga District of Karnataka, 'Sanskrit' is spoken by all communities.

H. Institutionalization:

In modern India, there are several Institutions which take care of teaching and research in Sanskrit. Almost all Universities in India have a department of Sanskrit either at the Post graduate level or at graduate level or both with the facility to do research leading to M.Phil or Ph.D. Degree.

There are national level Institutes for Sanskrit, viz: Rashtriya Sanskrit Samsthan. There are universities on Sanskrit; one is famous in Kaladi, Kerala. Lot of research is being conducted on Vedas, Brāhmanas and Upanishads, and Vedic Research Institutes are established. Sanskrit research is done by the scholars outside India such as Germany, U.S.A, England, France etc.

Sanskrit teaching is also done on modern principles of teaching. Intensive courses and need based courses are prepared for this purpose. Pāṇini’s 'Asṭadhyāyī' is a great contribution to the world linguistics. It is being tested, analysed through computers. This Asṭadhyāyī is studied from different angles such as Descriptive linguistics, Transformational Generative Grammar, etc.

I. Identity, Loyalty, Status, Attitudes (F.G.):

From the beginning, it was the impression that Sanskrit was the language of Brāhmins. Of course, it was during the Vedic period. Later on during epic period and onwards, Sanskrit was studied by all. However, social restrictions were there in using Sanskrit. Women were not allowed to speak in Sanskrit as can be seen in the dramas of Kālidasa and others.

In the modern India, this identity is changing. Now, study of Sanskrit is open to all. Many non-Brāhmins have also mastered the Sanskrit language and contributed for its developent. Inspite of this, still Brāhmins are in majority in the area of Sanskrit so far as loyalty and attitudes are concerned. It is the Hindu religious functions which give lot of importance for the use of Sanskrit.

The status of Sanskrit is high even now in the areas of philosophy, Grammar and Religious functions. Pundits and purohits use Sanskrit for performing marriage, death ceremonies etc. Hence, language loyalty, Identity status and Attitudes are high for Sanskrit.

J. Differentiation and Cohesions: Languages and power (Socio-political Economy):

In ancient India, Sanskrit was the language of power, prestige as kings used to give lot of importance for this language. For Ex.: Gupta Dynasty, Mauryan Kings, Vijayanagar kings and others helped in the development of Sanskrit language. Religious founders like Sankara, Ramanuja and Mādhva have written several books in Sanskrit for the propagation for their philosophy.

In modern India, Sanskrit is recognized as one of the scheduled languages under 8th schedule of the constitution. Sanskrit has influenced many Indian languages, both Dravidian and Indo-Aryan in vocabulary and other areas. Malayalam is the best example for the Sanskritization of it. It has no political power but it definitely has the power of uniting people from different parts of the country. Such a unifying force is not found else where. India was culturally one from the beginning, and it was Sanskrit that was the link language.