Language+and+Writing+Systems

= **Language and Writing Systems** = toc Ancient Greek and Sanskrit can be compared in their written language, spoken language, and their languages history. =Sanskrit=

Language History Sanskrit has seen a lot of history. It has been through wars, invasions and countless revisions. Sanskrit is one of the oldest languages that are still used today. This language began around 500 B.C.E. It has inspired many religions and civilizations. Hinduism, for  instance; the Hindu religion’s basis is formed from the Sanskrit language Sanskrit didn’t just inspire, it was also inspired. It is believed that Sanskrit got its idea to write again from the Persians. The Indian people hadn’t written for thousands of years. Not after the Harrapan language was lost after the Aryan Invasion in 1500 B.C.E.  Written Language The Sanskrit language is mostly known for its writing. This language has an alphabet like English, but their writing system isn’t completely the same. Unlike English, Sanskrit has letters for sounds that we don’t have a name for. For example, we do not have a letter for the sound “ch” where as Sanskrit does. Sanskrit has not 26 letters but 52. It has 36 consonants and 16 vowels. And what makes Sanskrit special is that those 52 letters have never been changed, shifted or modified in any way over the years. For instance the original word for mother that was come up with centuries ago was “matri”. And today that word still holds the same meaning.  Spoken Language

Sanskrit’s spoken language has lasted numerous years but like the written language, it has never changed a bit. Sanskrit has still the same pronunciation as when it was originated. For example, Sanskrit has always been 100% phonetic. Phonetic means that the spelling looks the way it sounds. One can sound out a word easily, just like the Spanish language. l-a-s is pronounced las. This is phonetic. But the French’s l-a-s is pronounced la. This means that French isn’t phonetic. In Sanskrit, each letter stands for a sound or multiple sounds. For example, one specific letter is pronounced both “an” and “am”.   = = =**Ancient Greek ** =

Language History The Greek language is a very old language. Not as old as Sanskrit but it is still considered ancient. Archeologists have found tablets with Greek writing on it dating back to 800 B.C.E. The earliest found writings were written after the collapse of the Mycenaean Civilization. This was a Greek civilization which was in power for about 300 years before it collapsed due to its lack of fighting capability. The script that the Greeks wrote in when the first tablets were found was a type of writing called Linear B. These scripts were found onclay tablets, but the ancient Greeks wrote on much more the clay. They used from clay to papyrus to various parchments. The Greeks were resourceful and used what was around. <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;"> Written Language <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Ancient Greeks wrote a lot. In fact, they were famous for it. They wrote down facts to fiction, documentaries to heroic tales. One writing style that ancient Greeks were particularly known for, were epics. Epics are longs stories that are told in a more poetic form. One epic that is still mentioned to this day is one called The Epic of Gilgamesh. This tale is about an irresponsible king named Gilgamesh who befriends someone who helps to keep him inline. The two friends go on many brave adventures together until one day Gilgamesh angers a god who uses her powers to kill Gilgamesh's friend. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a typical epic for ancient Greece. The story usually includes a hero (which is Gilgamesh) who goes on many adventures. It also normally includes gods. This is something that the Ancient Greeks believed strongly in. Epics are only one form of writing that the Greeks wrote plenty of. The Ancient Greeks wrote their great tales using a simple alphabet. All of their 24 letters weren’t identical to English’s 26, but some were very similar and one or two letters are matching completely. For instance, the ancient Greeks “ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//A”// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is the exact same to ours. But on the other hand, other letters like their “ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//L”// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is nothing like ours at all. Also the Ancie nt Greeks alphabet has letters that we don’t even have, like a letter for the sound “th”. We do not have a specific letter for that sound. <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;"> Spoken Language

<span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Greek language had many different dialects. Dialects are ways of speaking Greek. All of the many dialects are Greek, but they are slightly altered from each other but don’t hold that big a change. The most popular dialect was <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//Koine Greek.// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This dialect was spoken around Alexander the Greats time, and kept developing from there. That means that Koine was used around 300 B.C.E. That form of Greek used some of the rules from the dialect before which was the <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//Attic Dialect.// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Koine Greek was a completely different language though. Koine Greeks spoken language was also very different from its written form. <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"> =<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"> =

= = = = <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">** ﻿Sanskrit vs Ancient Greek ** <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 38px;">Similarities <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Koine Greek is a very different language from Sanskrit. While Greek had many different dialects that changed and modified, Sanskrit stayed the same. All the way from 500 B.C.E. to modern times today. Another difference is that Sanskrit is 100% phonetic and easy to sound out, but Koine is completely different from its script. Also, Koine’s script has many letters that resemble and some that are the same as English’s letters. On the contrary, Sanskrit’s letters look much more foreign in contrast to English. Koine Greek and Sanskrit have many different examples where they are two contrasting forms of speech. <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 38px;">Differences <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal;">  <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ancient Greek and Sanskrit may be two very different languages. But like their many differences, they also have much in common. Greek and Sanskrit both have gone through invasions and the collapsing of civilizations. Koine lived through Alexander the Great’s time and Sanskrit has seen the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, the Aryan invasionand much more. Also, both of their alphabets use compound letters like “th” or “ch”. And finally both Koine Greek and Sanskrit used their famous clay tablets to write on, which turn into the great historical findings that archeologists uncover today. <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">