by Zabaan | Jun 17, 2015 | Ancient Greek, Classical languages, Old Norse, Sanskrit
This article is intended as a follow-up to yesterday’s article entitled Sanskrit words for animals: haikus of first impressions. Its subject is a device employed in traditional Germanic verse, such as the poetry produced by the Anglo-Saxons or of their...
by Zabaan | Jun 16, 2015 | Classical languages, Sanskrit
Sanskrit has many words for animals and trees that do nothing else than describe one of their characteristic features. These words always consist of a noun or adjective, to which the shortened form of a root is added (for this process c.f. the article...
by Zabaan | Jun 15, 2015 | Classical languages, Sanskrit
The word avatar is certainly, and especially since the advent of 3D cinema, one of the most commonly known Sanskrit words among people who otherwise have no dealings with the classical language of India. It is true, the word has by itself an ominous aura of...
by Zabaan | Jun 14, 2015 | Classical languages, Literature, Old Norse
The great wooden hall was the hub of ancient Germanic society as we find it depicted in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf. It was the stage on which the all-important gift-economy was enacted, through which kings and retainers were tied together by the totemic...
by Zabaan | Jun 13, 2015 | Etymology, Hindi, Sanskrit
This is the first in a series of 101 articles intended as a short introduction of the system of vowel combination called sandhi, which Hindi has, in a fossilised form, inherited from Sanskrit. Since the system is fossilised, i.e. does no longer produce new...
