Animal names in the history of the Indo-Aryan languages: Hereditary traits and innovative trends

Abstract

Animal names represent a privileged field of research for the study of the lexicon of both ancient and modern Indo-Aryan languages. This is particularly true with regard to lexical enrichment strategies, as certain animals, occupying a prominent position in Indian culture (i.e. cow, elephant, monkey, etc.), acted as true centers of synonymic attraction. The main goal of the paper is therefore to explain one specific lexical enrichment strategy of Indo-Aryan starting by showing the difference, in this respect, between Vedic and Sanskrit and then highlighting the role of Middle Indo-Aryan in shaping the lexicon of New-Indo-Aryan. It will thus be possible to observe how alongside borrowings from the alloglot element there are other means in the inception of new words or new meanings of ancient words. Can these means be considered “areal trends” (i.e. concerning not only Indo-Aryan languages, but also Dravidian and Munda languages in particular), thus providing further evidence of South Asia as a “linguistic area”? An attempt to answer such a question will be also considered in this paper.