The similarities between Slovenian and Sanskrit are surprising. Sanskrit has a phonetic script, the same as the Slovenian language. They also share the reversed sequence of ones and tens. For example, 31, written as ‘enaintrideset’ in Slovenian, is literally translated as ‘one and thirty’. In Sanskrit 31 is written as ‘eka-trimšat’, ‘one and thirty’.
The first few numbers are written in a similar fashion:
| Number | Slovenian | Sanskrit |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ena | eka |
| 2 | dve | dve |
| 3 | tri | trini |
| 4 | štiri | čatvari |
| 5 | pet | panča |
| 6 | šest | šat |
| 3rd | tretji | tritija |
| 4th | četrti | čaturthi |
Slovenian and Sanskrit are the only languages know, which have the grammatical number dual. What appear to be remnants of dual that are still notable in Ukrainian, and some other Slavic languages, in fact have nothing to do with the grammatical dual, the similarities are coincidental.
The Slovenian language has six cases, three grammatical numbers (singular, dual, plural) and three grammatical genders (masculine, feminine, neuter). Sanskrit is identical with the exception that features one more case, ‘ablativ’.
Other similarities include conjugation of verbs and several words:
| English | Slovenian | Sanskrit |
|---|---|---|
| to give | dati | dadhate |
| day | dan | dina |
| heaven | nebesa | nabhas |
| night | noč | niš |
| to hold | prijeti | parjeti |
| to drive | peljati se | palati |
| to drink | piti | pitje |
| mother | mater | matr |
| fog | megla | megha |
| to live | živeti | živati |
| winter | zima | hima |
| to walk | hoditi | hudati |
This article is a paraphrased excerpt from the book Človek: navodila za uporabo (Human: Instructions for Use).
Delving into Slovenian and Sanskrit roots
By the 1960’s, at the latest, Slovenians learned about the similarities between their language and Sanskrit. A hundred years later foreign lexicologists have discovered an astounding fact, that Sanskrit and Slovenian share in total more than 30% of their linguistic core roots. In addition, they have also many common grammatical characteristics; only these two languages are known for dual, and their declensions are almost completely identical.
With these discoveries, some foreign linguists have mistakenly concluded that similarities between the languages are the results of Sanskrit influencing Slovenian. Whereas the author (of the article referenced below) concludes that it is the other way around; a version of Slovenian, older than Sanskrit existed. This ancient form of Slovenian is said to be more similar to ancient Sanskrit.
This article is an excerpt from the January 21st edition of Misteriji magazine.
