A Neuroscientist Explores the “Sanskrit Effect”
I have to say, as someone who studied Sanskrit grammar in the paninian system, and also mathematics in University how mathematical the Paninian grammar is, incredibly algebraic. Prefixes and suffixes combine to change and modify words, words can be joined together to create new words. Though I’m sure these features are found in other languages.<p>Another interesting note is that Vedic mantras are sometimes traditionally learnt and recited in what is known as a Ghana patha. If i were to number the words in a sentence, “The cow jumped over the moon” as 1 2 3 4 5 6 and then if I were to recite the sentence now permuting the words as 1 2 2 1 1 2 3 3 2 1 1 2 3,, 2 3 3 2 2 3 4 4 3 2 2 3 4.... The complexity increases. This is because words can be joined together in Sanskrit. Furthermore each letter in Vedic Sanskrit has three ways of pronouncing it (similar to the Chinese four accents) and these can change as you permute and apply the sandhi rules as well.<p>I haven’t seen such complexity in other languages (though it’s possible it may exist) but such complexity is why it wouldn’t surprise me that the effect could possibly be specific to Sanskrit.