cardemaister: > Basics of Sanskrit grammar in a couple of minutes? > The first thing to be done is to memorize the Sankrit ABCs and be able to recognize them on flash cards.
Then, you can go on to grammar and syntax. This will take at least an hour or two, unless you have a photographic memory, or live in Finland and can read and write five languages already. <http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Sanskrit-National-Integration-Language/dp/B\ 000SUVSTE/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1323961726&sr=8-15> Obviously the Indo-European language group must have existed for a long time previous to the Aryan migration into India. However, written history begins with the historical Buddha in India, around 300 B.C., on the Ashokan Pillars. Sanskrit is a dead language now and hardly anyone reads Sanskrit literature anymore. In India the ability to recite the Vedas has almost died out - only a few pandits are left. It may be that Sanskrit was never a spoken language in India. I don't have a linguistic predeliction myself but I have discussed this with one of my teachers who is an expert in Vedic literature. According to Patrick Olivelle, Chairman of the Department of Asian Studies at the U. of Texas at Austin, the Vedas were probably composed around 1500 B.C. Most historians agree with this date for the Aryan immigration into the five rivers area; that's the date of the composition of the Rig Veda. Many archaeologists also agree with this scenario and there is serious doubt that the Indo-European language group 'came out of India', rather the reverse, that the Indo-Iranian language came to India from Persia and Avestan sources. Titles of interest: 'The Upanishads' Translated by Patrick Olivelle, Ph.D. Oxford World's Classics http://tinyurl.com/558mg <http://tinyurl.com/558mg> Amazon ships in about 24 hours Patrick Olivelle is the Chairperson of the Department of Asian Studies at the U. of Texas at Austin.
