The Harappan language is the unknown language or languages of the Bronze Age (c. 2nd millennium BC) Harappan civilization (Indus Valley civilization, or IVC). The Harappan script is yet undeciphered, indeed it has not even been demonstrated to be a writing system, and therefore the language remains unknown.[3] The language being yet unattested in readable contemporary sources, hypotheses regarding its nature are based on possible loanwords, the substratum in Vedic Sanskrit, and some terms recorded in Sumerian cuneiform (such as Meluhha), in conjunction with analyses of the Harappan script.
| Harappan | |
|---|---|
| Indus Valley, Mohenjo-Daro | |
| Region | Indus Valley |
| Extinct | c. 1300 BC, or later |
unclassified | |
| Indus script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | xiv |
xiv | |
| Glottolog | hara1272 |
There are some possible loanwords from the language of the Indus Valley civilization. Meluḫḫa or Melukhkha (Sumerian: 𒈨𒈛𒄩𒆠 Me-luḫ-ḫaKI) is the Sumerian name of a prominent trading partner of Sumer during the Middle Bronze Age. Its identification remains an open question, but most scholars associate it with the Indus Valley Civilisation.[4] Asko Parpola identifies Proto-Dravidians with the Harappan Culture and the Meluhhan people mentioned in Sumerian records. In his book Deciphering the Indus Script. Parpola states that the Brahui people of Pakistan are remnants of the Harappan culture.[5] According to him, the word "Meluhha" derives from the Dravidian words mel ("elevated") and akam ("place"). Parpola also relates Meluhha with Balochistan, which he calls the "Proto-Dravidian homeland". He also relates Meluhha with the transient word Mleccha, a Vedic word used to mean "barbarian" and used by the incoming Aryan speaking population for the native Harappan population.[6][7][8]
Identification
editThere are a number of hypotheses as to the nature of this unknown language:
- One hypothesis places it within or near the Dravidian languages, perhaps identical with Proto-Dravidian itself. Proposed by Henry Heras in the 1950s,[9] the hypothesis has gained some plausibility and is endorsed by Kamil Zvelebil, Asko Parpola and Iravatham Mahadevan.[10][11] A 2021 research paper published in Nature argues that Proto-Dravidian was spoken in Indus Valley based on the ultraconserved Dravidian tooth-word and genetics.[12]
- A "language isolate", i.e. a language with no living continuants (or perhaps a last living reflex in the moribund Nihali language). In this case, the only trace left by the language of the Indus Valley civilization would be historical substratum influence, in particular the substratum in Vedic Sanskrit.[citation needed]
Multiple languages
editThe Indus script only indicates that it was used to write one language (if any), but it is quite possible that multiple languages were spoken in the IVC, much as Sumerian and Akkadian co-existed in Mesopotamia for centuries. Jane R. McIntosh suggests one such possibility: Para-Munda was originally the main language of the civilization, especially in the Punjab region. Later, the proto-Dravidian immigrants introduced their language to the area in the 5th millennium BC. The Dravidian language was spoken by the new settlers in the southern plains, while Para-Munda remained the main language of those in Punjab.[13]
Other theories
editMichael Witzel suggested as an alternative, that an underlying, prefixing language similar to Austroasiatic, notably Khasi; he called it "para-Munda" (i.e. a language related to the Munda subgroup or other Austroasiatic languages, but not strictly descended from the last common predecessor of the contemporary Munda family). Witzel argued that the Rigveda showed signs of this hypothetical Harappan influence in the earliest historic level, and Dravidian only in later levels, suggesting that speakers of Austroasiatic were the original inhabitants of Punjab and that the Indo-Aryans encountered Dravidian speakers only in later times.[14][15] The theory was since further supported by Franklin Southworth.[citation needed]
As of 2019, Witzel prefers to leave the question of the original Indian language(s) open until better reconstructions for Dravidian and Munda substrate components in Indo-Aryan languages have been done.[16]
See also
editFootnotes
editReferences
edit- ^ Parpola, Asko (2015). The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization. Oxford University Press. p. 353. ISBN 9780190226930.
- ^ "Meluhha interpreter seal. Site officiel du musée du Louvre". cartelfr.louvre.fr.
- ^ "India - Agriculture and animal husbandry | Britannica". 2023-03-06. Archived from the original on 2023-03-06. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
- ^ McIntosh 2008, p. 46.
- ^ Asko Parpola (1994), Deciphering the Indus script, Cambridge University Press
- ^ Parpola, Asko; Parpola, Simo (1975), "On the relationship of the Sumerian toponym Meluhha and Sanskrit mleccha", Studia Orientalia, 46: 205–238
- ^ Witzel, Michael (1999), "Substrate Languages in Old Indo-Aryan (Ṛgvedic, Middle and Late Vedic)" (PDF), Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies, vol. 5, no. 1, p. 25, archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-06, retrieved 2018-12-11
- ^ An Indus loanword of "para-Munda" nature in Mesopotamian has been identified by Michael Witzel, A first link between the Rgvedic Panjab and Mesopotamia: śimbala/śalmali, and GIŠšimmar? In: Klaus Karttunen and Petteri Koskikallio (eds.) Vidyarnavavandanam. Essays in Honour of Asko Parpola. 2000 (Studia Orientalia, published by the Finnish Or. Soc. 94): 497–508. See also Witzel, The language or languages of the Indus civilization Archived 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine, July 2007.
- ^ Heras, Henry (1953). Studies in Proto-Indo-Mediterranean Culture. Bombay, IN: Indian Historical Research Institute.
- ^ Rahman, Tariq. "Peoples and languages in pre-islamic Indus valley". Asian Studies Network Information Center (ASNIC). utexas.edu. Austin, TX: University of Texas. Archived from the original on 2008-05-09. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
... who was the first to suggest that the language of the Indus Civilization was Dravidian.
- ^ Cole, Jennifer. "The Sindhi language" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 6, 2007. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
... Harappan language, the ancient script is as yet undeciphered, but a prevailing theory suggests a Dravidian origin.
- ^ Ansumali Mukhopadhyay, Bahata (2021-08-03). "Ancestral Dravidian languages in Indus Civilization: ultraconserved Dravidian tooth-word reveals deep linguistic ancestry and supports genetics". Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. 8 (1): 1–14. doi:10.1057/s41599-021-00868-w. ISSN 2662-9992. S2CID 257091003.
- ^ McIntosh 2008, p. 355-356.
- ^ Witzel, M. (2000-02-17). "The Languages of Harappa" (PDF). In Kenoyer, J. (ed.). Proceedings of the conference on the Indus civilization. Madison, WI. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
- ^ Witzel, M. (August 1999). "Substrate languages in old Indo-Aryan". EJVS. 5 (1): 1–67. cf. reprint in: "[no title cited]". International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics (IJDL) (1). sqq. 2001.
- ^ Mukhopadhyay, Bahata Ansumali (December 2021). "Ancestral Dravidian languages in Indus Civilization: Ultraconserved Dravidian tooth-word reveals deep linguistic ancestry and supports genetics". Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. 8 (1): 193. doi:10.1057/s41599-021-00868-w. S2CID 236901972.
Further reading
edit- Olivelle, Patrick (13 July 2006). Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BC to AD 400. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199775071.
- McIntosh, Jane R. (2008). The Ancient Indus Valley: New Perspectives. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781576079072.
- Kohari, Alizeh (8 February 2022). "An ancient language has defied translation for 100 years, can AI crack the code?".