Linguistic Archaeology of South Asia
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LINGUISTIC ARCHAEOLOGY OF SOUTH ASIA Linguistic Archaeology of South Asia brings together linguistic and archaeological evidence of South Asian prehistory. Following introductory chapters describing the methodology of the interdisciplinary field known as “linguistic archaeology” and introducing the South Asian linguistic scene, the bulk of the book makes use of different types of linguistic evidence (such as loanwords, place names, region- ally shared grammatical innovations) to draw inferences about prehistoric events. These inferences are then compared with and tested against the findings of other disciplines dealing with prehistory, including archaeology and palaeobotany. The final chapter uses the evidence of the previous chapters, in the light of the latest archaeological work, to sketch possible prehistories of the major South Asian lan- guage groups, and to suggest hypotheses for further investigation. The basic premise of the work is that ancient linguistic evidence, when put into its socio- historical context, can provide information to supplement the findings of other prehistoric disciplines. Thus the book is both a description of the unique method- ology of “linguistic archaeology” and a treatment of South Asian historical lin- guistic data. It will be of interest to scholars and students of linguistics, archaeology, prehistory, and palaeobotany. Franklin C. Southworth completed his PhD in Linguistics at Yale University. Subsequently, he taught Linguistics and South Asian Languages (Hindi, Urdu, Marathi, Nepali) in the South Asia Regional Studies Department at the University of Pennsylvania from which he retired in 1998. He spent over ten years in India doing fieldwork on Indo-Aryan (Marathi, Konkani, Hindi–Urdu) and Dravidian (Tamil, Malayalam) languages. His current research interest is SARVA (South Asian Residual Vocabulary Assemblage), an online dictionary of words of unknown origin in South Asian languages. LINGUISTIC ARCHAEOLOGY OF SOUTH ASIA Franklin C. Southworth First published 2005 by RoutledgeCurzon 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by RoutledgeCurzon 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” RoutledgeCurzon is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group © 2005 Franklin C. Southworth All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-203-41291-5 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0–415–33323–7 (Print Edition) CONTENTS List of figures vi List of tables viii Preface and acknowledgments ix List of abbreviations xi Formulae and symbols xiv 1 The scope of linguistic archaeology 1 2 The South Asian linguistic scene 39 3 Prehistoric languages of South Asia 62 4 The social context of linguistic convergence 98 5 The Grierson hypothesis revisited: subgroups of Indo-Aryan 126 6 Historical implications of the inner–outer hypothesis 154 7 Palaeobotanical and etymological evidence for the prehistory of South Asian crop plants 193 8 Some aspects of Dravidian prehistory based on vocabulary reconstruction 229 9 Maharashtrian place names and the question of a Dravidian substratum 288 10 Historical linguistics and archaeology in South Asia 322 Bibliography 335 Index 352 v FIGURES 1.1 Illustration of subgrouping 14 1.2 Illustration of overlapping changes 15 1.3 Schematic representation of stable sociolinguistic variation 23 2.1 Major Indo-Aryan languages 41 2.2 Chronology of Indo-Aryan languages 47 2.3 Approximate locations of modern Dravidian languages 48 2.4 Alternative subgroupings of Dravidian languages 50 2.5 Subgrouping of Munda languages 52 3.1 Pre-Indo-Aryan substratum languages 65 4.1 Types of speakers in contact situations 114 4.2 Models of linguistic diffusion 119 5.1 Various subgroupings of NIA 127 5.2 Some phonological isoglosses in NIA 128 5.3 Grierson’s view of Indo-Aryan 130 5.4 Defining isoglosses of “outer” NIA 147 6.1 Approximate locations of Ashokan inscriptions 156 6.2 Phonological isoglosses in Ashokan inscriptions 168 6.3 Mountains and hills of Central India with the approximate location of “tribal” languages 174 6.4 Proposed movements of Indo-Aryan languages 2000–500 BCE 182 8.1 Dravidian languages – major isoglosses 234 8.2 Diachronic isogloss map of Dravidian subgroups 235 8.3 Approximate locations of Dravidian subgroups 244 9.1 Districts of Maharashtra 290 9.2 (A) Earlier districts of Maharashtra (schematic); (B) regional divisions of Maharashtra 291 9.3 Distribution of village names in -v(a)li 296 9.4 Distribution of village names in -gav 297 9.5 Inscriptional occurrences of village names in -grama 297 9.6 Distribution of village names in -oli 298 vi FIGURES 9.7 Inscriptional occurrences of village names in -vallika, -vulika, -al(l)i, -uli 299 9.8 Distribution of reflexes of -valli and -pa¬¬i 300 9.9 Distribution of village names cinca-vli and cinc-oli 300 9.10 Distribution of pal(i) as village name 301 9.11 Distribution of village names in -vadi 303 9.12 Distribution of vadi (Ϯsuffix) as village name 304 9.13 Distribution of pat (Ϯsuffix) as village name 305 9.14 Distribution of village names in -ur 306 9.15 Distribution of ku~d as suffix/as name 307 9.16 Distribution of nigade and variants as village names 308 9.17 Distribution of village names in -omi, -umi, -ome, -os 309 9.18 Distribution of -v(a)li and related suffixes in India 314 10.1 Relative chronology of South Asian archaeological cultures 324 10.2 Chronology of South Asian linguistic prehistory 329 vii TABLES 3.1 Chronological development of Indo-Aryan phonological features attributed to Dravidian or other pre-Indo-Aryan languages 86 3.2 Syntactic convergence: the quotative construction 87 4.1 Lexical borrowings by grammatical category in selected South Asian languages 103 4.2 Lexical borrowings by grammatical category in selected world languages 104 4.3 Comparison of grammatical and lexical diffusion for selected world languages 107 viii PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book is written for students of prehistory. While it inevitably contains technical linguistic details in places, I have done my best to make the work access- ible to non-linguists. Chapter 1 is a discussion of the assumptions of the field I have dubbed “linguistic archaeology,” and is intended for non-linguists. Each chapter concludes with a summary aimed at the general reader. Chapter 3 and Chapters 5–9 present various types of linguistic evidence which lead to specific prehistoric inferences about South Asia. Chapter 4 uses linguistic data from South Asia and other world areas to explore relationships between culture contact and linguistic change. Chapter 10 pulls together the various strands presented in the preceding chapters. The non-linguist interested in getting a quick view of the book is advised to start with Chapter 10, glancing at the sections cross-referenced there (including the chapter summaries) as needed. If this work has an overall goal, it is to stimulate communication between historical linguists and other prehistorians, in the hope of finding ways to explore the totality of prehistoric cultures. This issue is taken up especially in Sections 1.7 and 10.3. I no longer remember when I started telling colleagues and friends that my book on linguistic archaeology “is almost finished.” As with most books of its kind, the contents have been presented at numerous conferences and discussed many times during preparation, and suggestions and references have been incor- porated from many sources. In addition, I have been shameless in asking for help when I needed it, and colleagues have been unhesitatingly generous in providing it. Thus it is more than possible that I have forgotten the names of some of these contributors, along with forgetting that their ideas were not originally mine. I hereby offer my sincere apologies to any whose ideas I have used without proper acknowledgment, and ask their forgiveness. To those colleagues and friends who have, over the years, given their time to discuss my work with me, have looked over drafts of chapters, and have freely offered suggestions, criticism, and encouragement, I feel a debt of deep gratitude. I would particularly like to mention Mahadeo Apte, George Cardona, Madhav Deshpande, Peter Hook, Henry Hoenigswald, Ashok Kelkar, Bhadriraju Krishnamurti, Nick Masica, Joan Mencher, Asko Parpola, Edgar Polomé, ix PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Gregory Possehl, David Stampe, Romila Thapar, Michael Witzel, Norman Zide, and Arlene Zide. I am also grateful to the following for advice, assistance, criti- cism, and permission to use published materials: Lloyd Anderson, H. S. Biligiri, George Erdosy, Walter Fairservis, Anne Feldhaus, Dorian Fuller, Peter Gardner, K. M. George, Hans Hock, Paul Hockings, Damir Kalogjera, Mark Kenoyer, Ken Kennedy, William Labov, Karl Lamberg-Karlovsky, David McAlpin, Richard Meadow, P. J. Mistry, Thomas Moylan, Prabodh Pandit, Jagdish Sharma, Prem Singh, Stanley Steever, K. V. Subbarao, V. I. Subramonian, Dell Hymes, and Vishnu-Mittre, among others. The following organizations have graciously allowed me to quote materials from their publications without charge: Harvard University Press, M. S. University of Baroda, The Center for Applied Linguistics, Orient Longman, Thomson Publishing Services, Random House Group Ltd, Stanford University Press, The University of California Press, La Société d’Édition Les Belles Lettres, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Blackwell Publishers, The University of Chicago Press, The Linguistic Society of America, Faber & Faber, and Librairie d’Amérique et d’Orient Adrien Maisonneuve-Jean Maisonneuve Succ.