Sant Bhasha Explained

Sant Bhasha
Familycolor:Indo-European
Script:Gurmukhi (including Anandpur Lipi)
Nativename:ਸੰਤ-ਭਾਸ਼ਾ
Fam1:Indo-European
Fam2:Indo-Iranian
Fam3:Indo-Aryan
Speakers:no native-speakers (liturgical language)
Region:Northern Indian subcontinent
Era:Medieval-period to present-day
Posteriori:
Ancestor:Proto-Indo-European
Ancestor2:Proto-Indo-Iranian
Ancestor3:Proto-Indo-Aryan
Ancestor4:Vedic Sanskrit
Ancestor5:Classical Sanskrit
Ancestor6:debated Prakrit[6]
Ancestor7:debated Apabhraṃśa
Ancestor8:Old Punjabi[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

Sant Bhasha (Gurmukhi: ਸੰਤ-ਭਾਸ਼ਾ; Sant Bhāṣā;) is a liturgical and scriptural language composed of vocabulary common to northern Indian languages, which was extensively used by saints and poets to compose religious verses.[13] [14] It can be understood by readers with a background in either Punjabi, Hindi-Urdu and its dialects.

Features

Sant Bhasha is notable for its high usage of inherited tadbhava vocabulary in-comparison to Sanskritic tatsama borrowings.[15]

In Sikhism

Sant Bhasha is most prominently used in the central Sikh scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib.[16] [17] [18] [19] The languages used include Punjabi and its dialects, Lahnda, regional Prakrits, Apabhramsa, Sanskrit, Hindustani languages (Brajbhasha, Bangru, Awadhi, Old Hindi, Deccani), Bhojpuri, Sindhi, Marathi, Marwari, Bengali, Persian, and Arabic. While vocabulary from all of these languages is used, Sant Bhasha is only written in the Gurmukhi script.[20] [21]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Mansukhani . Gobind Singh . Introduction to Sikhism : 125 basic questions and answers on Sikh religion and history . 1998 . Hemkunt Press . New Delhi . 9788170101819 . 12.
  2. Book: Dhillon . Dalbir Singh . Sikhism, Origin and Development . 1988 . Atlantic Publishers & Distri . 307–308.
  3. Book: Kohli . Surindar Singh . History of Punjabi literature . 1993 . National Book Shop . Delhi . 9788171161416 . 24, 48.
  4. Book: Johar . Surinder Singh . Guru Gobind Singh : a multi-faceted personality . 1999 . M.D. Publications . New Delhi . 9788175330931 . 56.
  5. Book: Sukhbir Singh Kapoor . Mohinder Kaur Kapoor . Dasam Granth: An Introductory Study . Hemkunt Press . 9788170103257 . 39.
  6. Singh . Sikander . The Origin Theories of Punjabi Language: A Context of Historiography of Punjabi Language . International Journal of Sikh Studies . April 2019 .
  7. Book: Haldar . Gopal . Languages of India . 2000 . National Book Trust, India . New Delhi . 9788123729367 . 149 . The age of Old Punjabi: up to 1600 A.D. […] It is said that evidence of Old Punjabi can be found in the Granth Sahib..
  8. Book: Bhatia . Tej K. . Punjabi: A Cognitive-Descriptive Grammar . 2013 . Routledge . London . 9781136894602 . XXV . Reprint . As an independent language Punjabi has gone through the following three stages of development: Old Punjabi (10th to 16th century). Medieval Punjabi (16th to 19th century), and Modern Punjabi (19th century to Present)..
  9. Book: Christopher Shackle . Arvind Mandair . Teachings of the Sikh Gurus : selections from the Scriptures . 2013 . Routledge . Abingdon, Oxon . 9781136451089 . First . 0.2.1 – Form . Surpassing them all in the frequent subtlety of his linguistic choices, including the use of dialect forms as well as of frequent loanwords from Sanskrit and Persian, Guru Nanak combined this poetic language of the Sants with his native Old Punjabi. It is this mixture of Old Punjabi and old Hindi which constitutes the core idiom of all the earlier Gurus..
  10. Book: Frawley . William . International encyclopedia of linguistics . 2003 . Oxford University Press . Oxford . 9780195139778 . 423 . 2nd.
  11. Book: Austin . Peter . One thousand languages : living, endangered, and lost . 2008 . University of California Press . Berkeley . 9780520255609 . 115.
  12. Book: Braj B. Kachru . Yamuna Kachru . S. N. Sridhar . Language in South Asia . 2008 . Cambridge University Press . 9781139465502 . 411.
  13. Book: Singh, Khushwant. A history of the Sikhs: Vol. 1. 1469-1839. 17 December 2011. 1991. Oxford University Press. 298.
  14. Book: Textual sources for the study of Sikhism . 1990 . University of Chicago Press . W. H. McLeod . 0-226-56085-6 . Chicago . 5 . 22243489.
  15. Book: Kohli, Surindar Singh . History of Punjabi literature . 1993 . National Book Shop . 81-7116-141-3 . Delhi . 24 . 29595565.
  16. Book: Deol, Harnik. Religion and Nationalism in India:The Case of Punjab, 1960 -1990. 2012. 48. Remarkably, neither is the Qur'an written in Urdu language, nor are the Hindu scriptures written in Hindi, whereas the compositions in the Sikh holy scripture, Adi Granth, are a melange of various dialects, often coalesced under the generic title of Sant Bhasha..
  17. The making of Sikh scripture by Gurinder Singh Mann. Published by Oxford University Press US, 2001., Page 5. "The language of the hymns recorded in the Adi Granth has been called "Sant Bhasha," a kind of lingua franca used by the medieval saint-poets of northern India. But the broad range of contributors to the text produced a complex mix of regional dialects."
  18. History of Punjabi Literature by Surindar Singh Kohli. Page 48. Published by National Book, 1993., . "When we go through the hymns and compositions of the Guru written in Sant Bhasha (saint- language), it appears that some Indian saint of 16th century".
  19. http://www.sikhs.nl/downloads/English/Introduction%20to%20the%20Guru%20Granth%20Sahib.pdf Introduction: Guru Granth Sahib
  20. Songs of the Saints from the Adi Granth By Nirmal Dass. Published by SUNY Press, 2000., . Page 13. "Any attempt at translating songs from the Adi Granth certainly involves working not with one language, but several, along with dialectical differences. The languages used by the saints range from Sanskrit; regional Prakrits; western, eastern and southern Apabhramsa; and Sahaskrit. More particularly, we find sant bhasha, Marathi, Old Hindi, central and Lehndi Panjabi, Sindhi and Persian. There are also many dialects deployed, such as Purbi Marwari, Bangru, Dakhni, Malwai, and Awadhi."
  21. http://www.sikhwomen.com/sikhism/scriptures/ggs/index.htm Sikhism. The Guru Granth Sahib (GGS)

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