Sanskrit is an Indo-European classical language of India and a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It has a position in India and Southeast Asia similar to that of Latin and Greek in Europe, and is a central part of Hindu tradition. Sanskrit is one of the 22 official languages of India. Sanskrit is taught in schools and households throughout India, as a second language. Some identify it as their mother tongue. According to recent reports, it is being revived as a vernacular in the village of Mattur near Shimoga in Karnataka.

　　梵語是印度的古典印歐語系語言，是印度教、佛教和耆那教的祭禮語言。就像歐洲的拉丁和希臘語一樣，梵語在印度和東南亞有重要位置，是印度傳統(tǒng)文化的核心部分。梵語是印度22種官方語言之一。在印度，梵語作為第二語言，在學(xué)校和家庭都有教導(dǎo)。一些人還把它鑒別為他們的母語。根據(jù)一些新近的報(bào)導(dǎo)，它在卡納塔克邦(印度邦名，舊稱邁索爾邦)悉摩迦附近的地方馬特的一些村莊里作為本國語言而復(fù)興起來。

　　Sanskrit is mostly used as a ceremonial language in Hindu religious rituals in the forms of hymns and mantras. Its pre-classical form of Vedic Sanskrit, the liturgical language of the Vedic religion, is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family, its most ancient text being the Rigveda.

　　梵語主要作為印度宗教儀式的語言而使用，以詩歌和咒語的形式出現(xiàn)。吠陀梵語的古典前期形式，吠陀宗教的禮拜語言，是經(jīng)驗(yàn)證無誤的最早印歐語系家族成員之一，最古老的梵語文獻(xiàn)就是梨俱吠陀。

　　The scope of this article is that of Classical Sanskrit as laid out in the grammar of Panini, roughly around 500 BC. Most Sanskrit texts available today were transmitted orally for several centuries before they were written down in medieval India.

　　這篇古典梵語文獻(xiàn)主要地是以帕尼尼(公元前四世紀(jì)的印度法語學(xué)家)的文法方式寫成，粗略估計(jì)是在公元前500年之間。很多今天仍在使用的梵語在中印度成書之前的幾個(gè)世紀(jì)以來都在口頭流傳著。

　　吠陀梵語未

　　Sanskrit as defined by Panini had evolved out of the earlier \"Vedic\" form, and scholars often distinguish Vedic Sanskrit and Classical or \"Paninian\" Sanskrit as separate dialects. However, they are extremely similar in many ways and differ mostly in a few points of phonology, vocabulary, and grammar.

　　梵語也被帕尼尼定義和發(fā)展成早期的吠陀形式，學(xué)者經(jīng)常辨別吠陀梵語和古典，或者古代印度梵語作為劃分語調(diào)。然而，它們卻是極端地相似，在音韻、詞匯和語法上相差無幾。

　　Classical Sanskrit can therefore be considered a seamless evolution of the earlier Vedic language. Vedic Sanskrit is the language of the Vedas, a large collection of hymns, incantations, and religio-philosophical discussions which form the earliest religious texts in India and the basis for much of the Hindu religion.

　　從而，古典的吠陀梵語就被認(rèn)為是較早期的吠陀語言。吠陀梵語是吠陀經(jīng)的語言，收集了大量贊美詩，咒語和宗教哲學(xué)的討論，形成了早期印度宗教文獻(xiàn)和印度宗教信仰的大多數(shù)基礎(chǔ)。

　　Modern linguists consider the metrical hymns of the Rigveda Samhita to be the earliest, composed by many authors over centuries of oral tradition.

　　現(xiàn)代語言學(xué)家認(rèn)為梨俱吠陀的《吠陀本集》韻律般的詩是更早期的，是由很多作者經(jīng)過上百年來的口頭傳統(tǒng)集結(jié)而成。

　　The terminus ad quem of the Vedic period is marked by the composition of the Upanishads, which form the concluding part of the Vedic corpus in the traditional compilations.

　　吠陀時(shí)期的終結(jié)集結(jié)在《奧義書》上，形成了傳統(tǒng)編輯的吠陀文集的結(jié)束部分。

　　The current hypothesis is that the Vedic form of Sanskrit survived until the middle of the first millennium BC. It is around this time that Sanskrit began the transition from a first language to a second language of religion and learning, marking the beginning of the Classical period.

　　當(dāng)前的假說就是梵語形式的吠陀經(jīng)保存了下來，直到公元前一千年中葉為止。大概這個(gè)時(shí)期左右，梵語開始從宗教和知識、標(biāo)記的第一語言轉(zhuǎn)變成第二語言，標(biāo)志著古典時(shí)期的開始。

　　It is interesting to note that orthodox Hinduism believes that the language of the Vedas is eternal and revealed in its wording and word order. Evidence for this belief is found in the Vedas itself, where in the Upanishads they are described as the very \"breath of God\" (nihsvasitam brahma).

　　有趣的是，要注意一下傳統(tǒng)的印度教相信吠陀經(jīng)是永恒和提示出它的詞語和詞序。跡象表明這種信仰也可以在吠陀本身找到，在《奧義書》，它們被完全描述為神的呼吸。

　　The Vedas are therefore considered \"the language of reality\", so to speak, and are unauthored, even by God, the rishis or seers ascribed to them being merely individuals gifted with a special insight into reality with the power of perceiving these eternal sounds.

　　吠陀經(jīng)因此被認(rèn)為是真實(shí)的語言，可以說，是沒有真正的作者，即使是由神所寫，圣人或先知把它們的存在歸咎于各個(gè)個(gè)體用感知的力量對內(nèi)在真實(shí)的特別洞察，覺察這些永恒的聲音。

　　At the beginning of every cycle of creation, God himself \"remembers\" the order of the Vedic words and propagates them through the rishis. Orthodox Hindus, while accepting the linguistic development of Sanskrit as such, do not admit any historical stratification within the Vedic corpus itself.

　　在每個(gè)創(chuàng)世周期的開始之際，神自己記起吠陀梵語詞語的順序，通過圣哲去傳播它們。正統(tǒng)的印度教徒，認(rèn)可這些梵語的語言發(fā)展同時(shí)，并不承認(rèn)吠陀文集里面任何歷史性的階層形成。

　　This belief is of significant consequence in Indian religious history, as the very sacredness and eternality of the language encouraged exact memorization and transmission and discouraged textual learning via written propagation.

　　當(dāng)每一種神圣和永恒的語言被鼓勵去強(qiáng)記，傳播和經(jīng)由書寫文本而記下來的時(shí)候，這種信仰在印度宗教史上有著重大的作用。

　　Each word is believed to have innate and eternal meaning and, when properly pronounced, mystic expressive power. Erroneous learning of repetition of the Veda was considered a grave sin with potentially immediate negative consequences. Consequently, Vedic learning by rote was encouraged and prized, particularly among Brahmins, where learning of one's own Vedic texts was a mandated duty.

　　每一個(gè)單詞都被認(rèn)為是擁有先天和永恒的意思，當(dāng)適當(dāng)?shù)卣f出來的時(shí)候，就會神秘地傳播著力量。對吠陀復(fù)制本的錯(cuò)誤學(xué)習(xí)被認(rèn)為是一種嚴(yán)重的罪，潛在地產(chǎn)生直接的消極效果。因此，機(jī)械地學(xué)習(xí)吠陀是受到鼓勵和贊揚(yáng)，尤其是在婆羅門中間，學(xué)習(xí)吠陀文獻(xiàn)是一個(gè)受委托的責(zé)任。

　　On the social side, the need to preserve the error-free nature of the Veda served as a justification to prevent teaching and propagation of the text to those considered unworthy of receiving it, by virtue of caste and gender.

　　在社會方面，需要保持有錯(cuò)誤但自由本性的吠陀作為正當(dāng)?shù)睦碛扇シ乐拱盐墨I(xiàn)教導(dǎo)和傳播給那些被認(rèn)為是不值得聽的人，那是由于印度的世襲階級和種姓。

　　There is a strong relationship between the various forms of Sanskrit and the Middle Indo-Aryan \"Prakrits\", or vernacular languages (in which, among other things, most early Jain and Buddhist texts are written), and the modern Indo-Aryan languages.

　　形形式式的梵語同中古時(shí)代印度雅利安人的古印度語，或者說本國語言(大多數(shù)耆那教和佛教文獻(xiàn)也用這種語言書寫)，以及現(xiàn)代印度雅利安語有緊密的聯(lián)系。

　　The Prakrits are probably descended from Vedic, and there is mutual interchange between later forms of Sanskrit and various Prakrits. There has also been reciprocal influence between Sanskrit and the Dravidian languages.

　　古代印度語很可能是從吠陀梵語而來，相互影響著后期形式的梵語和各種古印度語。梵語和德拉威語也是相互影響。

　　A significant form of post-Vedic but pre-Paninian Sanskrit is found in the Sanskrit of the Hindu Epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata. This dialect includes many archaic and unusual forms which deviate from Panini and are denoted by traditional Sanskrit scholars as aarsha or \"of the rishis\", the traditional title for the ancient authors. In some contexts there are also more \"prakritisms\" (borrowings from common speech) than Classical Sanskrit proper. Finally, there is also a language dubbed \"Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit\" by scholars, which is actually a prakrit ornamented with Sanskritized elements, perhaps for purposes of ostentation (see also termination of spoken Sanskrit).

　　帕尼尼梵語之前的吠陀前期有重大意義的梵語可以在印度史詩《羅摩衍那》和《摩訶婆羅多》找到。這種語調(diào)包括了很多古老和不尋常的形式，偏離了帕尼尼梵語，被傳統(tǒng)的梵語學(xué)者認(rèn)定是阿薩哈或者是(印度教)圣人，這是給予古代作者的傳統(tǒng)頭銜。在一些上下文里也有很多的古代印度語(從通俗語言借鑒而來)，比固有的古典梵語更加多。最后，學(xué)者還給了佛教的混合梵語的語言稱號，實(shí)際上是古印度語的梵語化，很可能是為了夸耀。(也可參見口頭梵語的終止)

　　Sanskrit historically has had no single script associated with it. Since the late 19th century, the Devanagari (meaning \"as used in the city of the gods\") script has become the most widely used and associated with Sanskrit, yet this was by no means the case earlier. Each region adapted the script of the local vernacular, whether Indo-Aryan or Dravidian. In the north, there are inscriptions dating from the early centuries B.C. in the Brahmi script, also used by the king Ashoka in his famous Prakrit pillar inscriptions. Roughly contemporary with the Brahmi, the Kharosthi script was used. Later (ca. 4th to 8th centuries AD) the Gupta script, derived from Brahmi, became prevalent. From ca. the 8th century, the Sharada script evolved out of the Gupta script, and was mostly displaced in its turn by Devanagari from ca. the 12th century, with intermediary stages such as the Siddham script. The Bengali and other scripts were also used in their respective regions.

　　梵語，從歷史上看，沒有單一的手稿與它聯(lián)合起來。自從十九世紀(jì)后期，梵文字母(意思是作為眾神使用的城市)手稿變得最為廣泛使用和與梵語聯(lián)合在一起，然而這決不是更早期的情形。每種宗教都使用本國當(dāng)?shù)氐奈墨I(xiàn)，不管印度雅利安人還是德拉威人。在北部，還有公元前數(shù)個(gè)世紀(jì)留下的婆羅米語手稿里面的題字，也由阿索卡國王留下的著名古印度語題字的柱子。粗略地說，Kharosthi手稿使用著同時(shí)代的婆羅米語。隨后(ca. 四世紀(jì)到公元八世紀(jì))的Gupta手稿，源自婆羅米語，變得流行起來。從ca. 八世紀(jì)開始，Sharada手稿從Gupta發(fā)展起來，主要地從ca.十二世紀(jì)開始依次被梵語所取代, 連同著中間狀態(tài)的Siddham手稿。孟加拉語和其他手稿也使用它們各自的宗教。

　　In the south where Dravidian languages predominate, scripts used include Grantha in Tamil speaking regions, Telugu in Telugu and Tamil speaking regions, Kannada, and Malayalam. Grantha, though modeled on the Tamil script, was used exclusively for Sanskrit and is rarely seen today. A recent development has been to use Tamil characters with numeric subscripts indicating voicing and aspiration.

　　在德拉威語占優(yōu)勢的南方，手稿的使用包括講述泰米爾語的宗教的錫克教《圣典》，印度東部的泰盧固語和使用泰米爾語的宗教，埃納德語和印度西南部德拉威語的一種方言以及錫克教《圣典》，盡管它們是模仿泰米爾手稿，卻專有地使用梵語，在今天很少看到。近期已經(jīng)發(fā)展成使用泰米爾字母，連帶有寫在下放的數(shù)字，標(biāo)志著表達(dá)和欲望。