Clarification about Spoken Sanskrit

[Herman Tull]

Appropriate to this discussion is Edwin Gerow's  "Primary Education in 
Sanskrit: Methods and Goals" from the Journal of the American Oriental 
Society, Vol. 122, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 2002), pp. 661-690

Herman Tull
Princeton, NJ

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From: "Stella Sandahl" <ssandahl at SYMPATICO.CA>
Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2008 11:05 AM
To: <INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk>
Subject: Clarification about Spoken Sanskrit

> Dear all,
> I seem to have stepped on many tender toes by making fun of a certain 
> type of Spoken Sanskrit.  My main objection is entirely practical.   Over 
> the years I have noticed that those who have been taught spoken  Sanskrit 
> seem to have real difficulties reading even simple classical  Sanskrit 
> such as the Kathasaritsagara and the Hitopadesa, not to  speak about the 
> epics. It is important that there still are a few  students who wish to 
> learn the language of Kalidasa et alii - and it  is a real pity that 
> alamkarashastra is not given much attention among  scholars of comparative 
> literature to give just one example.
>
> Spoken Sanskrit can be quite an intellectually stimulating pass- time. 
> Like playing chess. But trying to revive a dead language by  creating 
> words for nuclear submarines, supermarkets, tennis  tournaments  etc.  is 
> in my view a rather useless enterprise. Mass  Sanskrit is  of little 
> interest for the large Indian population  trying to eke out a meagre 
> living to get  one meal a day. Languages  are living organism that 
> constantly change - bhasha calti nadi.  Sanskrit has a normative 
> unchangeable grammar since around 400 B.C.  So can't we let it be what it 
> is, a beautiful dead language?
> Nobody has tried to revive Latin in Italy since the days of  Mussolini. 
> However, Latin is still used in Western universities to  harangue 
> recipients of honorary doctorates and such things.
> And it is of course used by the Vatican. There is no reason not to  use 
> Sanskrit in a similar way to inaugurate dams, swearing in  cabinets, 
> taking ministerial oaths, and of course in solemn rites of  passage.  But 
> trying to take a bus in Bombay/Mumbai or disputing the  taxi fare in 
> Sanskrit is probably not going to have much effect  except amusing the 
> drivers and the ever-present surrounding crowd.
>
> However, I do believe it is important that students do regular  exercises 
> translating into Sanskrit, not just the other way around.  At the Sorbonne 
> we did "themes et versions" on alternating weeks (the  "themes" were 
> Sanskrit texts translated into an often bizarre French  which we 
> translated back into Sanskrit), and that was very useful.  More useful 
> than chatting in Sanskrit about tea and iddlis.
>
> Best to all
> Stella Sandahl
>
> P.S. I do know how to transliterate - I just do not like the e-mail 
> transliteration. And in the few cases above all members of the list  can 
> surely supply them.
> P.P.S. Does anyone have the full text of Sacchidanandan's wonderful  poem 
> about the dinosaurs who "died out because they spoke Sanskrit"?
> --
> Professor Stella Sandahl
> Department of East Asian Studies
> 130 St. George St. room 14087
> Toronto, ON M5S 3H1
> ssandahl at sympatico.ca
> stella.sandahl at utoronto.ca
> Tel. (416) 978-4295
> Fax. (416) 978-5711
>