PHONOLOGY 84 are not found in the text of the Rgveda , either by accident, or because their meaning was of such a nature that they were not likely to appear in a text of sacred hymns (e.g. plusi- 4 flea J : Arm. lu, Alb. pVest, cf. Lith. blusd) ; (iii) that some derivatives which have become isolated from their roots preserve IE l even when it is normally replaced by r in the corresponding roots : Sloka- * verse J vipula- 4 great, extensive ' {pf~, piparti fill J ). The explanation of this apparently complicated treatment is fairly simple. The dialect at the basis of the Rgvedic language lay to the north-west, while the classical language was formed in Madhyadesa. The original division must have been such that the Western dialect turned l into r in the same way as Iranian (being contiguous to Iranian, and at the same time probably representing a later wave of invasion), while the more easterly dialect retained the original distinction. It was in this latter area that Classical Sanskrit was elaborated, but it was not evolved as a separate literary language, distinct from that of the Veda ; on the contrary it developed as a modification of the old sacred language of the Vedic hymns. The latter was always the foundation of the literary language, but since after the earliest period (and this excludes most of the later tenth book of the Rgveda), the centre of its cultivation shifted eastward to Madhyadesa, in its further development it was subject to the continuous influence of the dialectal forms of this region. So in the case of the distribution of r and l many of the basic words of the vocabulary retain always the form established by the Vedic literature, but in other cases /-forms based on the dialect of Madhyadesa replace them. In cases where the word in ques- tion is not found in the Vedic text, and where therefore there existed no established literary tradition, the Eastern form with original / almost universally appears. The treatment of IE r is different in that in the vast majority of cases it continues to be represented by r in all periods of the language, e.g. rudhird- 1 red, blood ', Gk, ipvdpos ; jdrant- ‘ old Gk. ytpojv ‘ old man ' ; rat- ' property Lat. res , pari 4 round Gk. 7 rtpl ; variate 4 turns Lat. vertitur, pdrdate 4 breaks wind Gk. Trephtrai ; pdrsni- 4 heel ', Gk. nr^pva, Goth, fairzna ; sru- ' to flow’ ', Gk. peaj ; tiaras n. pi. 4 men J , Gk. avtpes, a vdpes sdrpati 4 crawfls Gk. Lat. serpd ; rtij-, rdjan - 4 king Lat. rex ; rdtha - 4 chariot Lith. rdtas
