The king and the god
Encyclopedia
The king and the god is the title of a short dialogue composed in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language
. It is loosely based on the "king Harishcandra" episode of Aitareya Brahmana
(7.14 = 33.2). S. K. Sen asked a number of Indo-Europeanists (Y. E. Arbeitman, Eric P. Hamp
, Manfred Mayrhofer
, Jaan Puhvel
, W. Winter) to reconstruct the PIE "parent" of the text.
with Sen's Werunos
:
Lehmann's version:
English translation:
The EIEC spelling largely corresponds to that used in the Proto-Indo-European language
article, with ha for h2 and hx for unspecified laryngeals h. Lehmann attempts to give a more phonetical rendering, with x (voiceless velar fricative
) for h2 and ʔ (glottal stop
) for h1. Further differences include Lehmann's avoidance of the augment
, and of the palato-alveolars as distinctive phonemes. Altogether, Lehmann's version can be taken as the reconstruction of a slightly later period, after contraction for example of earlier pótnix to pótnī, say of a Centum dialect, that has also lost (or never developed) the augment. However, the differences in reconstructions are more probably due to differences in theoretical viewpoint. The EIEC spelling is a more direct result of the reconstruction process but having typologically too many marked features to be a language really spoken some time in that form, while Lehmann represents the position to attain the most probable natural language to show up in reconstruction the way PIE is.
English translation:
Proto-Indo-European language
The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
. It is loosely based on the "king Harishcandra" episode of Aitareya Brahmana
Aitareya Brahmana
The Aitareya Brahmana is the Brahmana of the Shakala shakha of the Rigveda, an ancient Indian collection of sacred hymns. This work, according to the tradition is ascribed to Mahidasa Aitareya.-Contents:...
(7.14 = 33.2). S. K. Sen asked a number of Indo-Europeanists (Y. E. Arbeitman, Eric P. Hamp
Eric P. Hamp
Eric Pratt Hamp is an American linguist. Born in London, England on November 16, 1920, he grew up in The United States from age 5 onward due to his father's posting by a British shipping firm...
, Manfred Mayrhofer
Manfred Mayrhofer
Manfred Mayrhofer is an Indo-Europeanist specialized on Indo-Iranian languages. Mayrhofer is professor emeritus at the University of Vienna. He is noted for his etymological dictionary of Sanskrit....
, Jaan Puhvel
Jaan Puhvel
Jaan Puhvel is an Estonian-American Indo-Europeanist. As a student of Georges Dumezil, he also specializes in comparative mythology....
, W. Winter) to reconstruct the PIE "parent" of the text.
The king and the god
Hamp's/Sen's version from the EIEC (1997:503), that differs from original Hamp's version in replacing Hamp's LughusLugus
Lugus was a deity of the Celtic pantheon. His name is rarely directly attested in inscriptions, but his importance can be inferred from placenames and ethnonyms, and his nature and attributes are deduced from the distinctive iconography of Gallo-Roman inscriptions to Mercury, who is widely believed...
with Sen's Werunos
Varuna
In Vedic religion, Varuna is a god of the sky, of water and of the celestial ocean, as well as a god of law and of the underworld...
:
Lehmann's version:
English translation:
- Once there was a king. He was childless. The king wanted a son. He asked his priest: "May a son be born to me!" The priest said to the king: "Pray to the god Werunos". The king approached the god Werunos to pray now to the god. "Hear me, father Werunos!" The god Werunos came down from heaven. "What do you want?" "I want a son." "Let this be so", said the bright god Werunos. The king's lady bore a son.
The EIEC spelling largely corresponds to that used in the Proto-Indo-European language
Proto-Indo-European language
The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
article, with ha for h2 and hx for unspecified laryngeals h. Lehmann attempts to give a more phonetical rendering, with x (voiceless velar fricative
Voiceless velar fricative
The voiceless velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The sound was part of the consonant inventory of Old English and can still be found in some dialects of English, most notably in Scottish English....
) for h2 and ʔ (glottal stop
Glottal stop
The glottal stop, or more fully, the voiceless glottal plosive, is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. In English, the feature is represented, for example, by the hyphen in uh-oh! and by the apostrophe or [[ʻokina]] in Hawaii among those using a preservative pronunciation of...
) for h1. Further differences include Lehmann's avoidance of the augment
Augment (linguistics)
In linguistics, the augment is a syllable added to the beginning of the word in certain Indo-European languages, most notably Greek, Armenian, and the Indo-Iranian languages such as Sanskrit, to form the past tenses.-Indo-European languages:...
, and of the palato-alveolars as distinctive phonemes. Altogether, Lehmann's version can be taken as the reconstruction of a slightly later period, after contraction for example of earlier pótnix to pótnī, say of a Centum dialect, that has also lost (or never developed) the augment. However, the differences in reconstructions are more probably due to differences in theoretical viewpoint. The EIEC spelling is a more direct result of the reconstruction process but having typologically too many marked features to be a language really spoken some time in that form, while Lehmann represents the position to attain the most probable natural language to show up in reconstruction the way PIE is.
The king and the god in Sanskrit original
Sanskrit:English translation:
- Then he said to him: Have recourse to VarunaVarunaIn Vedic religion, Varuna is a god of the sky, of water and of the celestial ocean, as well as a god of law and of the underworld...
, the king: "Let a son be born to me; with him let me sacrifice to thee" "Be it so". He went up to Varuna, the king "Let a son be born to me; with him let me sacrifice to thee." "Be it so". To him a son was born, Rohita by name.
External links
- What was the earliest ancestor of English like? by Geoffrey SampsonGeoffrey SampsonGeoffrey Sampson is Professor of Natural Language Computing in the Department of Informatics, University of Sussex....
, with a simplified spelling of the EIEC version - The fable in PIE and its main Proto-languages PDF