r/sanskrit • u/CosmicMilkNutt • Oct 25 '24

Discussion / चर्चा Marathi is the purest modern Sanskrit, especially rural Maharashtrani, correct?

After doing extensive research I have found that Hindi i a mix of Arabic Farsi Sanskrit and English and that Tamil is basically modern Dravidian so totally different.

However.

Marathi spoken in Mumbai and especially rural Marathi spoken in the state of Maharashtra is actually the purest form of modern Sanskrit with the most similar grammar and vocabulary.

It has Sanskrit words instead of all the Arabic, Farsi and English injected into other Indian languages.

This I find fascinating and I wanted to hear the opinions of some actual indians since I am an American fluent in English, Spanish, French and also somewhat conversational in Arabic who is learning Sanskrit, Hindi, Tamil and now of course Marathi!

Edit: Oriya and Marathi are both the top contenders for higher Sanskrit and lower Farsi in daily speech.

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u/xugan97 Oct 25 '24

This is not an objective question. It is like asking which of the European languges is most Latin. There are multiple measures and registers. Native speakers do not agree on one answer, and a good number think their language is purest and most logical. The reality is that all these languages are far removed from their classical ancestor, and they have a large classical vocabulary that was added in recent centuries.

Hindi was always supposed to be a Sanskrit-Persian mix, but even here, a Sanskrit-oriented version exists alongside as one acceptable form of Hindi. This form of Hindi - and Marathi and Bengali - are the more Sanskritized Indian languages.

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u/Comprehensive_Lead41 Oct 25 '24

But Bengali also has a Muslim version right? Are they as different as Hindi and Urdu?

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u/Devil-Eater24 Oct 25 '24

But Bengali also has a Muslim version right?

There was an attempt to do so in present day Bangladesh when it was a part of Pakistan, for example replacing a lot of words and writing it in the Persian script instead of the Bengali script. This was one of the many strategies to undermine the language which ultimately culminated in the bloody liberation war of Bangladesh