梵语是什么？为什么要学？怎么学？
今天早些时候，我们的Caley Smith老师发来了教学大纲
我们来看看他怎么说
Caley 玉照
Sanskrit 1: Sound, Script, and Sentence
梵语第一单元: 语音、文字和句子
Course Description: Each Sanskrit course I offer is a series of 8 lectures, one per week. In each course, students will be introduced to new elements of Sanskrit grammar and practice their use.
课程简介：我的梵语课每个单元由八节课组成，每周一节。每节课上学生会学到新的语法点并作练习。
（按：我们计划一共推出四个单元，完整覆盖梵语全部语法。）
Sanskrit 1 Objectives: Students will learn the Sanskrit sound system and the most common script used for Sanskrit, called Devanāgarī. Further, they will come to understand the most common types of nouns and verbs as well as their application in simple sentences. While mastery of Sanskrit vocabulary is very limited at this stage, Sanskrit 1 shows the student the core conceptual landscape of the language, upon which they can build as they slowly approach mastery through future studies.
课程目标：了解梵语的语音系统，学会最常用的梵语文字天城体（Devanāgarī）字母。了解最常见的动词名词的分类及其在简单句子中的应用。这一阶段对词汇掌握要求很低，不过本单元将向学生展示梵语核心概念的风景，为之后的学习打下坚实的基础。
（按：天城体字母长这样：देवनागरी 写的是 Devanāgarī，即“天城”）
But what is Sanskrit? And why should we study it?
梵语是什么？为什么要学它？
Let’s first answer “what is Sanskrit,” before we ask why we should study it.
The prehistory of Sanskrit is that it is the descendant of Proto-Indo-European, a language which is also the parent of as diverse a spread of modern languages as English, Russian, French, Spanish, German, Armenian, Farsi, Hindi, and many others. It is also the parent of ancient languages like Greek, Latin, Hittite, and Tocharian.
再聊为什么学之前先说说“梵语是什么”。梵语源自原始印欧语，与之同宗同源的现代语言非常丰富，包括：英、俄、法、西、德、亚美尼亚、波斯、印地等等，同宗的古代语言包括希腊、拉丁、赫梯、吐火罗语。
印欧语系诸语言示意图
Sanskrit belongs to a clade of Indo-European called Indo-Iranian. It began its life as a hieratic language, known as Vedic Sanskrit, used in public rituals at the end of the Bronze Age in the regions today called the Panjab and Haryana. These rituals served the religious and governmental needs of a tribal alliance of pastoralists around 3000 years ago. While it faded as the primary spoken language of these communities, it endured as a special holy tongue, passed on by families of Vedic priests.
梵语属于印欧语的印度-伊朗语支，其开端是一种祭司语言，称为吠陀梵语，流行于青铜时代晚期的今旁遮普地区和印度的哈里亚纳邦，在仪式中使用。这些仪式在距今约三千年前的一个以畜牧为生的部落联盟中有宗教和政治的功能。随着语言不断演化，吠陀梵语不再是这些人的日常语言了，但因其特殊的神圣性，在吠陀祭司家族中一代代流传了下来。
旁遮普地区，包括今巴基斯坦北部以及印度西北部
（旁遮普 Punjab，波斯语 panj āb 意思是"五水"，指印度河的五条支流）
We believe that shortly before the invasion of Alexander the Great at the end of the 4th century BCE, there lived a man in a region called Gandhara, in a city called Taxila, named Pāṇini. Pāṇini seems to have been part of an old Vedic tradition of grammatical analysis, which focused on understanding this language, by now no one’s first language, and keeping it alive. He created the first Sanskrit grammar, a highly terse oral text which could be memorized and unpacked by the trained student to access every single Sanskrit grammatical rule. Some think Pāṇini was the greatest linguist to have ever lived. Because of his opus, rather than dying out, Sanskrit would survive. We call his form of the language “Classical Sanskrit.”
学者们相信，在公元前四世纪末亚历山大大帝攻入印度次大陆之前不久，在健陀罗（今巴基斯坦白沙瓦一带）地区的塔克西拉（佛经中译作：呾叉始罗）城有一个人名叫波你尼（Pāṇini，这个译名怪怪的，因为是玄奘译的），他是吠陀语法分析传统的集大成者。此时的吠陀梵语已是死语言，其语法传统致力于解释该语言，并将其传承下去。波你尼创制了第一部梵语语法（即《八章经》，又称《波你尼经》）。注意，这是一部口传著作，并未诉诸文字。其语言高度简练，受训过的学生背下全部经文之后可以将其拆解开来，从中得到梵语语法的每一条规则。有人说波你尼是人类历史上最伟大的语言学家。托了波你尼的福，梵语没有消亡，而是不再变化，以固定的形式（即按《波你尼经》中的规则）流传了下来，此即“古典梵语”。
《波你尼语法入门》我的恩师 段晴 教授的大作
Sanskrit was the not language of our earliest inscriptions from India! When writing began in India, it was for Emperor Aśoka’s royal proclamations (3rd century BCE), and they were in the language he spoke, not Sanskrit. When Aśoka made new inscriptions at sites of his conquest far from home, he had those inscriptions translated into those local dialects. We are not entirely certain how the idea that Sanskrit would be a useful translocal language came into being. It might have been a Buddhist idea, to transmit the Dharma in a language that could be read by knowledgeable experts on both Indian coasts. This is supported by the fact that our earliest surviving kāvya, or Classical Sanskrit poetry, is by a 2nd century CE Buddhist: Aśvaghoṣa. The 2nd century CE was also the time when the latest scion of a dynasty of Saka warlords, a king named Rudradāman, set up an inscription praising his virtues in a place today called Junagadh. It’s our first example of proper Classical Sanskrit panegyric, or royal praise, in the kāvya style. You see, Rudradāman, like Aśvaghoṣa, evidently saw the potential Sanskrit had as translocal language. At the same time, by “Sanskritizing” himself, Rudradāman, was able to erase his foreignness. For the Sakas were speakers of an Iranian dialect originally. This strategy proved so successful, that it was picked up later by some better-known dynasts: the Guptas.
印度最早的文字材料并非梵语！印度最早出现的文字是印度孔雀王朝的统治者阿育王（Aśoka，公元前三世纪）在印度各处留下的王家石刻，所用语言是阿育王的语言，并非梵语。他若在遥远的地区刻石立碑，则会将内容译成当地方言。我们不完全清楚梵语可用作跨地区的语言这一想法是如何成型的。这也许与佛教有关，要用一种印度东西海岸的饱学之士都能明白传播佛法（Dharma）。证据是现存最早的古典梵语长诗（kāvya）是公元二世纪诗人马鸣（Aśvaghoṣa）的《佛所行赞》。此时也是印度塞人（Indo-Saka）王朝的最后一位统治者卢陀罗达摩（Rudradāman）的时代。他在今印度古吉拉特邦的朱纳格特（Junagadh）造了一通赞颂他美德的石刻。这是最早的Kāvya风格的古典梵语王家颂诗。你看，卢陀罗达摩和马鸣一样，明显都看出了梵语具有跨地区语言的潜质。同时，卢陀罗达摩通过对自身的梵语化，抹去了他身上的外来民族属性，因为塞人原本讲的是一种伊朗语。这一策略很成功，并被之后更著名的笈多（Gupta）王朝所继承。
阿育王石刻在印度的分布图
印度东部比哈尔邦的阿育王石柱铭文，婆罗米字母，印度俗语（Prakrit）
《佛所行赞》的梵汉对照本，黄宝生 译注
印度塞人王朝国王卢陀罗达摩（Rudradāman，公元130-150在位）的银币
朱纳格特（Junagadh）在印度西部的古吉拉特邦
朱纳格特石刻，上面有三篇石刻，最早的是公元前250年前后的阿育王石刻（就是阿育王那副图中的Girnar），400年后，公元150年左右，卢陀罗达摩也刻了一段，再之后，公元450年前后，芨多王朝的塞建陀笈多（Skantagupta）刻了第三段。
卢陀罗达摩铭文的拓片，咱就看个热闹就行了
The use of Sanskrit as the official language of Gupta art and science is what ushers in “the Classical period” proper. This period, which begins in the late 4th century CE, sees the production of the works of the great playwright and poet Kālidāsa, who was evidently deeply influenced by Aśvaghoṣa. This period also sees the proliferation of technical manuals (called śāstra) used for philosophy, crafting technique, political science, and ethical instruction. Texts like the Nītisāra teach the reader how one builds, runs, and defends a kingdom. Texts like the Ratnaśāstra teach the reader how to mine and craft jewels. Texts like the Bodhicaryāvatāra teach the reader the proper ethical and meditative practices which awaken and develop one’s Bodhisattva-nature. Yes, from the Classical period on, Sanskrit becomes an urban and courtly language that never totally died out, although at different times and specific places, Sanskrit literary culture variously weakened or strengthened.
从四世纪末期开始，梵语成为了笈多王朝时代艺术与科学的正式语言，开启了真正的古典梵语时代，见证了伟大的诗人和剧作家迦梨陀娑作品的产生，他也深受马鸣影响。这一时期也产生了许多技术手册（称为《论》），内容涵盖哲学、手工艺、统治术和道德说教。比如《政论精华》（Nītisāra）教读者如何建立、管理、守卫一个王国。《宝论》（Ratnaśāstra）教读者如何开采制作珠宝。《入菩萨行论》教读者如何发起、实践菩提心。从古典梵语时期开始，梵语成为了城市与宫廷的语言。在之后不同的时代与区域，梵语文化有起有落，但从未完全消亡。
《云使》迦梨陀娑 著 罗鸿 译
《罗怙世系》梵汉对照本 迦梨陀娑 著 黄宝生 译注
《沙恭达罗》迦梨陀娑 著 季羡林 译
Thanks to the seafaring empires of South India, Sanskrit literature travelled to Southeast Asia, where the epic the Rāmāyaṇa would deeply influence local ideas of kingship. Cambodia has the most Sanskrit inscriptions of any country other than India. The version of the character Hanuman in the Thai Ramakien, based on the Rāmāyaṇa, would go on to influence the figure of the Monkey King, best known from the Ming-era novel Journey to the West. Through Buddhism, Sanskrit would penetrate Nepal, Tibet, and Central Asia. It would spread along the Silk Road through the Tocharian oasis-kingdoms of the Taklamakan Desert, spreading Mahāyāna and Tantric Buddhist ideas into China, Korea, and Japan. In short, although Sanskrit began its life in ancient India, it is truly a world language. Its literature has influenced all of Asia, and, in fact, it has influenced Europe too. Common English words like “orange” (ultimately from nāraṅga) and less common words like “juggernaut” (ultimately from jagannātha) were borrowed into the languages of Europe long before the modern period.
由于南印度的航海帝国，梵语文学也流行于东南亚。史诗《罗摩衍那》深刻影响了当地王权的观念。在印度以外，柬埔寨的梵语石刻数量最多。由《罗摩衍那》衍生出了泰语史诗《拉玛坚》（Ramakien），其中猴王哈努曼这一角色催生了明代小说《西游记》中的美猴王。通过佛教，梵语进入了尼泊尔、西藏和中亚，并沿丝绸之路传入塔克拉玛干沙漠边缘讲吐火罗语的绿洲王国。大乘和密宗传入了汉地、朝鲜和日本。简而言之，虽然梵语起源于古代印度，但这是一门真正的世界语言，其文学影响了整个亚洲，甚至欧洲。英语中的orange来自梵语 nāraṅga，不那么常用的juggernaut来自梵语 jagannātha。这两个词早在现代之前就借进了欧洲诸语言。
《拉玛坚》中猴王哈努曼的形象
So: Sanskrit is a world language with world literature. It contains the accumulated knowledge of millennia of religious, scientific, and philosophical literature. It also contains rich narrative works and poetry, and song, which, beyond the purpose of accruing knowledge, is a pleasure to consume. There is a great deal to be gained by mastery of Sanskrit literature. There is also a great deal to be gained simply in the study of Sanskrit. Sanskrit, as students will learn, is an extremely precise language. Mastering it tests and develops human memory, expands the way one thinks about language. In short, even just learning the language, without reading any texts, is a great augment to one’s person. For these reasons, I strongly suggest you commit time and mental resources to this endeavor.
总之：梵语是一门有着世界文学的世界语言，包含积累了几千年的宗教、科学、哲学作品，以及丰富的叙事作品、诗歌。这些作品除了不仅能增加知识，而且读起来也是一种享受。掌握梵语将使你拥有以上这一切。学习梵语的过程本身也让人收获颇多。学了就会明白，梵语是一门极为精确的语言。学习过程中会锻炼记忆力，还会扩展对语言的认识。即便只学语法不读文献，也能极大地丰富我们自身。基于以上几点，我强烈建议大家为此付出时间和精力。
Format of the Class: Because of the nature of the course (large group, remote teaching), the format will be a 2-hour session once per week, primarily lecture with open Q&A. I will make available an assignment to do during the week in your spare time that held cement the previous lesson into your memory. Lesson 5 and Lesson 8 will be a guided translation exercise, in which we apply the lessons learned so far to undo the sandhi and translate Sanskrit sentences.
授课方式：基于课程形式（大班，远程授课），每周上一次课，一次两小时，授课加答疑。课后会留作业帮大家加深记忆，巩固课上学到的内容。第五课和第八课是翻译练习，我带着大家把学过的知识用上，拆解连声，翻译句子。
Recommended Grammar: The Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit by Antonia Ruppel
推荐教材：The Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit by Antonia Ruppel
Recommended Dictionary: The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary by V.S. Apte
推荐字典：The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary by V.S. Apte
Schedule of Topics:
课程安排：
Lesson 1: Phonetic Inventory of Sanskrit; Vowel Coalescence, Conversion, and Ablaut
第一课：梵语语音；元音的融合、变化与升级。
Lesson 2: The Sanskrit Noun conceptually, a-stem (masculine and neuter)
第二课：梵语名词概说。a-词干（阳性与中性）
Lesson 3: The Sanskrit Verb conceptually, the thematic present indicative (class 1, 4, 6, 10)
第三课：梵语动词概说。有词干元音动词直陈式（第一、四、六、十类）
Lesson 4: Internal and External Sandhi rules
第四课：词内与词间的连声法则
Lesson 5: Sentence Translation Exercises
第五课：句子翻译练习
Lesson 6: The feminine ā-stem; adjective agreement
第六课：阴性ā-词干。形容词与名词的性、数、格配合
Lesson 7: The personal pronouns
第七课：人称代词
Lesson 8: Sentence Translation Exercises
第八课：句子翻译练习
阿拉希尔空间站梵语基础第一单元
授课时间：
每周日上午10-12点，2月28日至4月18日，共八周。
授课方式：
通过zoom网上直播授课，可回看，可下载，不可传播。
授课教师：
Caley Smith，现任华盛顿大学（西雅图）梵语讲师
2017年于哈佛大学梵语系取得博士，专攻吠陀。
（简单地说就是当今世界年轻一辈中最好的梵语学者之一）
授课语言：
全英文
学费：
3200元人民币/人（相当于200元/小时）
（简单算一下，2020-2021年度华盛顿大学学费一年39,114美元，三个学期，每学期十周，每学期四门课，一年12门课，相当于一门课3259.5美元，21078人民币，八周相当于16862.4人民币，是我们学费的五倍还多。）
报名方式：
加我微信报名
过几天我从我的角度再写一篇为什么学梵语
请大家期待！