Sanskrit is an ancient Indo-European language of South Asia, known for its significant role in Indian cultural, religious, and intellectual history. It is one of the oldest languages in the world, with its earliest form (Vedic Sanskrit) found in the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, composed around 1500 BCE or earlier. Classical Sanskrit, standardized by the grammarian Panini in the 4th century BCE, became the lingua franca of ancient and medieval India, facilitating scholarly and religious discourse across the Indian subcontinent.

Sanskrit is the liturgical language of Hinduism, the historical language of Buddhism and Jainism, and has profoundly influenced the development of several modern languages of the Indian subcontinent. Despite its ancient origins, Sanskrit is not entirely extinct; it is still used in Hindu religious ceremonies, traditional scholarship, and is taught in schools and universities. It has a rich literary tradition encompassing a vast array of poetry, drama, philosophical and scientific treatises, and epic narratives like the Mahabharata and Ramayana.

As a language, Sanskrit is known for its systematic phonetic structure, flexibility, and richness in vocabulary. Its grammar, codified by Panini, is highly precise and complex, influencing linguistic study and theory. The enduring legacy of Sanskrit is seen not only in its literary and religious texts but also in its impact on the linguistic, cultural, and intellectual landscapes of South Asia and beyond.

https://vocab.chat/blog/sanskrit-and-latin.html

Sanskrit and Latin

Sanskrit and Latin originated from a common ancestor language, the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE). This language is not spoken anymore, and there are no written traces of it. It has been reconstructed by linguists based on linguistic patterns shared between the two languages.

Sanskrit and Latin are both highly inflected languages: in both these languages the endings of words change to indicate grammatical cases.

Sanskrit has 8 grammatical cases Latin has 6 grammatical cases (plus some vestiges of a 7th) The 6 grammatical cases which Latin and Sanskrit have in common are (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive, ablative, vocative). Sanskrit has 2 additional grammatical cases (locative, instrumental). In Latin, there are some residual traces of the locative case.

While Latin has two grammatical numbers (singular and plural), Sanskrit has 3 (singular, dual, plural) Both Sanskrit and Latin have 3 grammatical genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) In contrast to the English language where articles ("the", "a", "an") are among the most common words, one noteworthy similarity between Latin and Sanskrit is that articles don't exist in these two languages.