Language and Literature in Ancient India

Try to answer the following questions:
Style: Book Based
Suggestion: Use Chapter IX, The Wonder That Was India by A. L. Basham.


Additional Note:

If You like the question bank, and desire to answer it, then as given in the suggestion, get the Wonder That Was India by A. L. Basham. Open the chapter IX and start reading each paragraph slowly. After ending each paragraph try to look at the question. If you are able to answer the first set of question under the heading "I. Language , Paragraph: Sanskrit", then you will understand the aim of this question bank. When you complete answering it, you may learn on your own that how this question bank is made.

Then get any question bank made for civil services preliminary and try to answer the related questions. Develop your own estimate about the efficacy of this question bank.

After completing this book, the questions will follow.

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Kindly also refer to Ancient Question Bank on Religion of Vedas or click on Ancient History Question Bank One under heading Some of the important posting from Archive on your right side of the page by pulling down the page.

Chapter IX
Language and Literature
Section I
Language

Sanskrit

Which of the foreign languages are related to Sanskrit language from antiquity?
Which of the European languages are not related to the Sanskrit language since the ancient time?
Where were those tribes existing, whose dialect could be the originator of the group of the languages to which Sanskrit belong?
At what time, that language could have been existing, from which the group of Sanskrit related languages emerged.
What was the basis of finding the affinity of the European languages with Sanskrit?
On what other point, is there affinity between Sanskrit and classic languages of Europe namely Greek and Latin?
Which form of the Sanskrit has affinity with parent language of Indo-European class?
Name the scholars who discovered the affinity of Sanskrit and other European language?
Which science had developed which the affinity between the Sanskrit and other European language was made?
Which science emerged when the affinity of Sanskrit with the other European languages was discovered?
When did the science of the comparative philology develop?
Under what influence did the science of comparative philology develop?
Which is the earliest form of Sanskrit?
Which is the best source of the earliest form of Sanskrit?
What is peculiar about the Vedic Sanskrit at present?
Which is salient feature of the Sanskrit language?
With which other language does the Sanskrit language had the affinity concerning speaking and grammar?
What is the main feature of Sanskrit language while speaking?
Which other language has the tonic accent like Sanskrit?
What are the feature of the consonant of the Sanskrit and the languages derived form Sanskrit?
List the major phonetic features of the Sanskrit language, which differentiate it the most from other European languages?
From where did the European languages borrow the retroflex sounds?
When did Sanskrit language flourish in reality?
What changes had taken place in the Sanskrit language in the first millenium BC?
What changes were observed in the case of the vocabulary of the Sanskrit language?
What was the benefit of reciting the Vedic hymns accurately without even knowing the meaning of the word or the correct grammar?
What was the cause of the inventions of the science of phonetics and grammar in Sanskrit?
Which is the oldest text on the Indian Linguistics?
Who was the author of Nirukta?
With what aspect of language is Nirukta concerned?
What does Nirukta explain the most?
When was Nirukta actually written?
What were the sources of borrowing in writing the Nirukta?
Who had written Ashtadhyayi?
When did Panini exist?
Which book did Panini write?
When was Ashtadhyayi written?
What was the importance of Panini Ashtadhyayi for Sanskrit?
What was the only change that took place in Sanskrit language after it had been regularized under the rules of Ashtadhyayi?
What is the general word used for the Sanskrit language when it is written as per the rules of the Ashtashyayi?
What is the biggest and peculiar development in Sanskrit language concerning the vowels and the consonant?
When did the science of Phonetic emerge?
Did other grammarian exist before Panini?
How many basic roots are there with which all the possible words can be constructed?
How many grammar rules are there in the Panini’s Ashtadhyayi?
List the main commentaries of the Panini’s Ashtadhyayi.
What is the name of the commentary by Patanjali on Ashtadhyayi?
When did Patanjali write Mahabhashya?
When was the Kashika Vritti written?
Who were the authors of Kashika Vritti?
What is the content of Kashika Vritti?
What is the importance of Ashtadhyayi for Sanskrit language for all times to come?
What is the difference between Sanskrit and Prakrit?
What is the meaning of the word Sanskrit?
Which is the most difficult rule of the Panini’s Ashtadhyayi?
Language of which region could have been the base of the language on which Panini had demonstrated his grammatical rules?
Which class of India made Sanskrit as their basic language?
Which class after the Brahmans, had made Sanskrit their basic language?
What was the language of the monarchical class before the times of Guptas’ rule?
Which dynasty had adopted Sanskrit as an official language?
Which was the region where the ruling monarchy of Shaka made Sanskrit their official language?
Which is the earliest written document in Sanskrit?
Do we have any other document earlier than the Rudradaman inscription of Giranr?
Where is the inscription of Rudradaman located, which is considered as the earliest inscription in Sanskrit?
What was the cause that as per general trend Sanskrit did not simplify with the passage of time?
Which of the rules of the Panini’s grammar had the later writers ignored and bypassed?
Which rule of the Panini’s grammar the later writers had retained, as they could not overlook it.
What is the peculiar feature of the language of later Vedic and Epic literature concerning the use of the Sanskrit language?
What is peculiar about the classic Sanskrit as it developed with the passage of time?
What is the best example in the Sanskrit of common use where the compound known having more than twenty aspects?
With what seal did the Samudragupta authenticate the royal charters?
Under what influence did the Sanskrit language adopt the compound language?
What another feature develops in the Sanskrit language along with the emergence of the compound nouns?
Name the authors of the seventh century, in whose work we find long sentences spreading over one page.
What other features emerge in Sanskrit language during the seventh century in the works of writer like Bana and Subandhu?
How did the Sanskrit language keep on developing?
What type of Sanskrit literature was produced in large number in the medieval period?
Whose work is considered the earliest surviving lexicography?
Why is Amarasimha popular in the Sanskrit literature?
Who was the contemporary of Amarasimha?
Which famous Sanskrit writer considered the Amarasimha as the earliest Lexicographer of the Sanskrit language?
Whom does Kalidas consider as the earliest lexicographer of the Sanskrit language?
Which was the another field of literature, which was favoured by the Indians along with language?
What aspect of the language was field of interest in philosophy by the Indians?
What is the Mimansa view on the relation of the word and its meaning?
What was the view of Naya school of Philosophy on the relation f the word and the meaning attach to it?
What was the difference in the opinion between the Mimansa and Naya School of philosophy on the question of the word and the meaning attach to that word?
Who were the main speakers of the Classic Sanskrit?
Who could have not been the speaker of the Classic Sanskrit?
What had been is importance of the Sanskrit language for the masses of India?

Heading

Prakrit and Pali:

From which times do we learn about the difference in dialect in the spoken language?
What was the general language of communication of the Aryan tribesmen?
What was the language of communication of the common people by the time of Buddha?
Which is the best source of the archaic language or the local languages of Ancient India?
What is the main language of the pre-Guptan period?
What was the spoken language of the characters in the Sanskrit dramas?
Name of the popular dialect of Prakrit language from the Ancient period of Indian history?
Which is the earliest form of the Prakrit language?
What was the language of the Sthaviravadin Buddhism?
What was the probable language of communication of Buddha?
What was the attitude of Buddhism towards the dialects of Magadha region?
Where was the language that had been adopted by the Sthaviravadin Buddhism, popular?
Where is the Pali language popular now these days?
What was the official language of the Mauryan Court?
What variation had been adopted in inscribing the edicts of Ashoka in different regions?
What is the genesis of Ardh-Magadhi Language?
Which religion had adopted Ardh-Magadhi?
What was the source of borrowing for the Pali language?
Which were two main other respectable dialects apart from Prakrit?
Where was Shuraseni popular?
Where was Maharashtri popular?
What was the major language of the respectable characters of Dramas in Ancient times?
What was the language of the women character in Dramas in Ancient times?
What was the importance of the Shuraseni language in Ancient time in the field of culture?
In which area was Shuraseni language mainly used in the Ancient times?
What was the major use of Maharashtri language?
Which language was mainly popular as the language of the lyric songs?
For what purpose the Maharashtri language was mainly used?
What was the position of Prakrit language by the time of Guptas?
When did the Prakrit language acquire its standardized form?
How did the playwrights use the Prakrit language in writing the dramas?
What is Apabhramnsha?
To which area do the Apabhramnsha belong?
What is the meaning of Apabhramnsha?
When did Apabhramnsha acquire the literary status?
Who were the main users of the Apabhramnsha language?
For what purpose did the Jain writers of Gujarat and Rajesthan use the Apabhramnsha?
How did the Bengali language emerge?
What other language emerge under the influence of Tamil from the Sanskrit?
130. For how long had the Dravidian language developed?
131. Which are the four main Dravidian languages?
133. Where is the Tamil language spoken?
Where is the Canarese (Kannada) language spoken?
Where is the Telegu language spoken?
Where is the Malayalam language spoken?
Which language is spoken in region Cape Comorin to Madras and in which direction this region lies on the Indian topography?
Which language is spoken in Mysore (present Karnataka region to the south of Bangalore) and parts of Andhra Pardesh?
Which is language is spoken from the north of Madras towards Orissa along the coastal regions of the Coromandal region?
Which are the oldest languages among the four Dravidian languages?
What is appreciable about the status of Dravidian languages?
By what time did Dravidian languages have there literature and the script?
To which language groups do Dravidian language belongs?
Which Indian languages belong to the Finno-Ugrian group of languages?
Is it an establish fact that there is affiliation of Dravidian languages with the Finnish language? If so, what could be deducted from it from their relation concerning with the ancient history of the world?
On which features are the Dravidian languages differentiated form the North Indian languages?
By which time did the Sanskrit grammar influence the Tamil grammar?
When did the complete Sanskrit words enter the vocabulary of the Tamil language?
Which of the two Dravidian language have the greater influence of Sanskrit ion their vocabulary and the syntax and the grammar?
When was the Kannada language adopted for the inscription writing?
When did the literature written in the Kannada language emerge?
Which Dravidian language had developed its literature only in the 9th century?
Which Dravidian language had been considered fit for writing the inscription in the 6th century?
When did the Telugu language become the language of the literature?
Which Dravidian language had become the literary language only in the 12th century?
Which language had been given importance during the Vijayanagar Empire?
During which period had the Telegu language produced its finest literature?
What was the court language of the Vijayanagar Empire?
When did the Malayalam acquire its independence existence?
With which language did the Malayalam had complete similarity till it emerges as a separate language by the 11th century?

Further Suggestion:

Make a separate list of Books and Authors under two separate Headings namely Books and Authors (Ancient Period).