सरल संस्कृतम्
Modern Spoken Sanskrit
Indo-European (Indo-Aryan; Modern Spoken Sanskrit pedagogy) · historical / hidden variety
Modern Spoken Sanskrit (सरल संस्कृतम् sarala saṃskṛtam "Simple Sanskrit", or भाषितसंस्कृतम् bhāṣita-saṃskṛtam "spoken Sanskrit") is the pedagogically simplified, actively oral form of Sanskrit cultivated since the late 20th century, primarily by the Samskrita Bharati movement (founded 1981 in Bangalore by Chamu Krishna Shastry). Distinguished from canonical Classical Sanskrit (sa, the Pāṇinian literary canon) by: (1) simplified sandhi — sentences keep word boundaries clear instead of fusing all junctures via Pāṇinian rules; (2) conversational lexical preferences (snehaḥ over prema for "love", kukkuraḥ over śvā for "dog", akṣi over netram for "eye", namaskāraḥ over namaste); (3) modern technical coinages (saṅgaṇaka "computer", dūrabhāṣa "telephone", mūṣakaḥ "computer mouse"); (4) active oral pedagogy targeting fluent everyday conversation. ~25K self-claimed L1 speakers in the 2011 Indian Census, plus tens of thousands of L2 learners through Samskrita Bharati's 10-day courses and the Sanskrit-medium school network. Distinct from the Vedic (vsa) and Classical (sa) corpora that this movement's pedagogy is built on.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Modern Spoken Sanskrit
Water
जलम्
/dʑalam/
Fire
अग्निः
/aɡniɦ/
Sun
सूर्यः
/suːɾjaɦ/
Moon
चन्द्रः
/tɕandɾaɦ/
Mother
माता
/maːtaː/
Father
पिता
/pitaː/
Eat
खादति
/kʰaːdati/
Drink
पिबति
/pibati/
Love
स्नेहः
/sneːhaɦ/
Heart
हृदयम्
/hr̩dajam/
Tree
वृक्षः
/vr̩kʂaɦ/
House
गृहम्
/ɡr̩ham/
Dog
कुक्कुरः
/kukːuɾaɦ/
Cat
मार्जारः
/maːɾdʑaːɾaɦ/
Hand
हस्तः
/hastaɦ/
Eye
अक्षि
/akʂi/
Hello
नमस्कारः
/namaskaːɾaɦ/
Thank you
धन्यवादाः
/dʱanjaʋaːdaːɦ/
One
एकः
/eːkaɦ/
Good
साधु
/saːdʱu/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Indo-European (Indo-Aryan; Modern Spoken Sanskrit pedagogy) languages
| Meaning | Modern Spoken Sanskrit | Sanskrit | Vedic Sanskrit | Pali | Pedagogical Pali (Theravada monastic) | Maharastri Prakrit | Hindi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | जलम् /dʑalam/ | जलम् /dʑalam/ | आपः /aːpaɦ/ | उदक /udaka/ | udaka /udaka/ | उदग /udaɡa/ | पानी /paːniː/ |
| Fire | अग्निः /aɡniɦ/ | अग्निः /aɡniɦ/ | अग्निः /aɡniɦ/ | अग्गि /aɡːi/ | aggi /aɡːi/ | अग्गि /aɡɡi/ | आग /aːɡ/ |
| Sun | सूर्यः /suːɾjaɦ/ | सूर्यः /suːɾjaɦ/ | सूर्यः /suːrjaɦ/ | सुरिय /surija/ | suriya /suɾija/ | सूर /suːɾa/ | सूरज /suːɾəd͡ʒ/ |
| Moon | चन्द्रः /tɕandɾaɦ/ | चन्द्रः /tɕandɾaɦ/ | चन्द्रमाः /tɕandramaːɦ/ | चन्द /tɕanda/ | canda /tɕanda/ | चंद /tʃanda/ | चाँद /t͡ʃãːd/ |
| Mother | माता /maːtaː/ | माता /maːtaː/ | माता /maːtaː/ | माता /maːtaː/ | mātā /maːtaː/ | माय /maːja/ | माँ /mãː/ |
| Father | पिता /pitaː/ | पिता /pitaː/ | पिता /pitaː/ | पिता /pitaː/ | pitā /pitaː/ | पिअ /piaː/ | पिता /pitaː/ |
| Eat | खादति /kʰaːdati/ | खादति /kʰaːdati/ | अत्ति /atti/ | खादति /kʰaːdati/ | bhuñjati /bʱuɲd͡ʒati/ | खा /kʰaː/ | खाना /kʰaːnaː/ |
| Drink | पिबति /pibati/ | पिबति /pibati/ | पिबति /pibati/ | पिवति /pivati/ | pivati /pivati/ | पिब /piba/ | पीना /piːnaː/ |
| Love | स्नेहः /sneːhaɦ/ | प्रेम /preːma/ | स्निह्यति /snihjati/ | पेम /pema/ | mettā /metːaː/ | पेम /peːma/ | प्यार /pjaːɾ/ |
| Heart | हृदयम् /hr̩dajam/ | हृदयम् /hr̩dajam/ | हृदयम् /hr̩dajam/ | हदय /hadaja/ | hadaya /hadaja/ | हिअ /hiaː/ | दिल /dil/ |
| Tree | वृक्षः /vr̩kʂaɦ/ | वृक्षः /vr̩kʂaɦ/ | वृक्षः /vr̩kʂaɦ/ | रुक्ख /rukːʰa/ | rukkha /rukːʰa/ | रुक्ख /rukːʰa/ | पेड़ /peːɽ/ |
| House | गृहम् /ɡr̩ham/ | गृहम् /ɡr̩ham/ | गृहम् /ɡr̩ham/ | घर /ɡʱara/ | gehā /ɡehaː/ | घर /ɡʱaɾa/ | घर /ɡʱaɾ/ |
| Dog | कुक्कुरः /kukːuɾaɦ/ | श्वा /ɕvaː/ | श्वा /ɕwaː/ | सुनख /sunakʰa/ | sunakha /sunakʰa/ | सुणग /suɳaɡa/ | कुत्ता /kutːaː/ |
| Cat | मार्जारः /maːɾdʑaːɾaɦ/ | मार्जारः /maːɾdʑaːɾaɦ/ | मार्जारः /maːrdʑaːraɦ/ | बिळाल /biɭaːla/ | biḷāra /biɭaːɾa/ | मज्जार /madʒːaːra/ | बिल्ली /bilːiː/ |
| Hand | हस्तः /hastaɦ/ | हस्तः /hastaɦ/ | हस्तः /hastaɦ/ | हत्थ /hatːʰa/ | hattha /hatːʰa/ | हत्थ /hatːʰa/ | हाथ /haːtʰ/ |
| Eye | अक्षि /akʂi/ | नेत्रम् /neːtɾam/ | अक्षि /akʂi/ | चक्खु /tɕakːʰu/ | cakkhu /tɕakːʰu/ | अच्छि /atʃːʰi/ | आँख /ãːkʰ/ |
| Hello | नमस्कारः /namaskaːɾaɦ/ | नमस्ते /namasteː/ | स्वस्ति /swasti/ | नमो /namo/ | namo /namo/ | — /—/ | नमस्ते /namasteː/ |
| Thank you | धन्यवादाः /dʱanjaʋaːdaːɦ/ | धन्यवादः /dʱanjaʋaːdaɦ/ | — /—/ | अनुमोदामि /anumodaːmi/ | anumodanā /anumodanaː/ | — /—/ | धन्यवाद /dʱanjaʋaːd/ |
| One | एकः /eːkaɦ/ | एकः /eːkaɦ/ | एकः /eːkaɦ/ | एक /eka/ | eka /eka/ | एग /eɡa/ | एक /eːk/ |
| Good | साधु /saːdʱu/ | साधु /saːdʱu/ | साधु /saːdʱu/ | सुन्दर /sundara/ | kusala /kusala/ | सुंदर /sundara/ | अच्छा /at͡ʃːʰaː/ |
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