Sanskrit and Russian are two important members of the large Indo-European family of languages. Sanskrit represents the Aryan branch of the Indo-Iranian group and Russian is one of the main languages of the Slavonic branch of the Balto-Slavonic group. The close resemblance found in the basic elements of their grammatical system and vocabulary reveals a close linguistic link between them. Yet the exact nature of this relationship has not been ascertained so far. No concrete historical data, not even the mythical legends or native folk tales throw any light on the exact or even the approximate age and place of this ancient unity.
My own research treatise on "The Comparative Study of Suffixes and Prefixes in Sanskrit and Russian" impressed upon me to broaden the scope of such type of research study to the area of lexicon as a whole by providing lucid etymological explanations of the cognate word-roots, concurring not only in these two languages but also in some modern and classical Indo-European (IE) languages, and thereby determine the scope and extent of their relationship and explore the prob-able source of their origin.
The object my present treatise "Cognate Words in Sanskrit and Russian" is to present a critical and systematic analysis of cognate words in the light of comparative philology. The etymological explanations, furnished with references to the views of various eminent foreign and Indian scholars, are mostly the accepted ones and are well supported by phonetic as well as semantic congruence. With a view to make the comparison lucid and comprehensible, the phonetic laws operating in Sanskrit and Russian have been dealt with in de-tail. Each statement has been supported by parallel correspondences found in other Indo-European languages.
The word 'Sanskrit' used in wider sense includes both the Vedic as well as the classical Sanskrit. Similarly, the word 'Slavonic' or 'Slavic' denotes the Slavic languages in general including Russian, Bulgarian, Czech, Serbo-Croatian etc.
The accent on Sanskrit words is not indicated as it is used only on Vedic words. The reconstructed Indo-European, Proto-Indian and Proto-Slavonic words and forms are marked with a traditional asterisk.
The treatise is divided into five chapters:
(i) Introduction: An attempt has been made to show the importance and necessity of systematic etymological study of the cognate word-roots in accordance with the phonetic laws, established by the comparative-historical procedure.
(ii) Comparative Assessment of Proto Indo-European Phonemes in Sanskrit and Russian: This chapter deals with the assumed phonemic system of Common Indo-European (CIE) with its subsequent development in Sanskrit and Russian. The Sanskrit sounds with their phonological principles which formed the background of the Vedic language are listed in detail while the gradual development of Russian phonemic system is explained stage by stage proceeding from the Common Slavonic (CS), a hypothetical prehistoric common source of all the Slavic languages, reconstructed by the philologists on the basis of comparative study of kindred and cognate IE languages.
(iii) Special Features of Sanskrit and Russian Phonological System: The third chapter illustrates the peculiar characteristics of Sanskrit and Russian phonological system, throwing light on some changes and deviations, particularly in Russian, which reflect not only the transitional stage of certain forms but also explain the process of emergence of some new phonemes in their phonemic system.
(iv) Cognate Words in Sanskrit and Russian: This chapter contains a list of congate words beloging to various aspects of life and culture, illustrated and supported by etymological explanations.
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