Indian languages I (Sanskrit) [ LGLOR1672 ]

Most of the working tools used can be obtained on the iCampus server.

For the course I.2 :
- E. Lamotte, Composition nominale en sancrit, syllabus de cours, Louvain, 1934-1935, available in .pdf, S.B.I.O. E-Library n° 3
- http://belgianindology.blogs.lalibre.be/list/s-b-i-o-library/composition-en-sanskrit.html

On-line Sanskrit dictionaries:
- « Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries »

- For the level I.1 none.
- For the level I.2, the course LGLOR 1671 (level I.1).

Alternately with LGLOR 1671, this course is given to two distinct groups of students according to their level.

For level I.1 (beginners), it deals with writing, phonetics, the morphology of nouns (declensions) and of verbs (conjugations), syntax, as well as a basic vocabulary.

For level I.2, the course goes further into a series of elements of the nominal and verbal morphology, and details the rules of composition; it also begins the reading of a narrative or epic text.

Students attending this course during their preparatory year to the Master in Ancient Languages and Literatures (Oriental Languages) will receive specific guidelines enabling them to get in one year the necessary skills as required by the end of the two levels.

An initiation into Sanskrit, the classic language of Brahmanical and Buddhist India and Indianised Asia.

At the end of this course, which implies following the course LGLOR 1671 also, the student will be capable, with help of the appropriate tools, of translating Sanskrit texts of elementary and average difficulty. In order to achieve this goal, he will have acquired the reading of devanagari syllabic writing, the principal grammatical structures, and a basic vocabulary.

Oral exam on the basis of a previously written preparation.

- Level 1.1.:translation and analysis of sentences drawn from the exercises of the lessons.
- Level 1.2.:  translation and analysis of sentences drawn from the exercises of the lessons and from an extract from the literary text studied.

The main course of level 1.1. is based on volume 1 of the textbook of  R. Antoine, a copy of which will be given to the students. They will be asked to prepare from this the progressive exercises illustrating each lesson.

At the level 1.2., the grammatical part is given from volume 2 of the textbook of R. Antoine, a copy of which will be given to he students. They will be asked to prepare from this the progressive exercises, and also to prepare the translation of the literary text being studied, of which a copy will be given to the students.

Sanskrit is the classical language of the literary, religious and scholarly traditions of India  Indianised, Brahman and Buddhist  Asia;

- Level 1.1.: the course treats devangagari syllabic writing, phonetics (notably the rules for euphonic combination or sandhi), the morphology of nouns (declensions) and of verbs (conjugations), syntax, as well as a basic vocabulary, explained according to the principles of derivation and composition. Each grammatical explanation is completed by progressive  translation exercises that the student is asked to prepare.
- Level 1.2.:  the course goes further into a series of elements of the the morphology of nouns and verbs, and details the rules of composition; it also begins the reading of a narrative text (genre katha) or epic (an extract of the Mahabharata or of the classic Raramayana), whose translation the student is asked to prepare.

- R. Antoine, A Sanskrit Manual for High Schools, 2 vols, Calcutta, 1953-1954.
- J. Gonda, Manuel de grammaire élémentaire de la langue sanskrite, 3e éd., Paris : 1997.
- S. Brocquet, Grammaire élémentaire et pratique du sanskrit classique, avec exercices corrigés et textes expliqués, Bruxelles, 2010.
- P.-S. Filliozat, Le sanskrit, Paris (Que sais-je ? 1416), 1992.
- L. Renou, Grammaire sanskrite élémentaire, Paris, 1946.
- N. Stchoupak, L. Nitti, & L. Renou, Dictionnaire sanskrit-français, Paris, 1932.

The teacher calls together the students at the beginning of the year, to fix the timetable with them.