Teaching Delivery: This module is taught in 20 weekly lectures.

Content:  Sanskrit is not only one of the most influential and long-lived classical languages of India: it is also one of the most ancient languages of the Indo-European family. From a purely comparative perspective, Sanskrit constitutes an ideal complement to the study of other ancient Indo-European languages such as Greek, Latin and Hittite. What is even more compelling, Sanskrit opens up a window into the societies, religions, philosophies and literary cultures of pre-modern South Asia (and, to an extent, even South-East and Inner Asia). Sanskrit is the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, as well as one of the languages used in the Buddhist and Jain traditions; yet it is also the language in which courtly poetry, novels, epic poems, philosophical and scientific literature, as well as theoretical treatises on virtually every aspect of life have been written for over two millennia. The aim of this module is to give students a solid and comprehensive grounding in basic Sanskrit grammar, so that by the end of the academic year they can read and translate simple unadapted prose and poetry in Sanskrit and compose simple texts in Sanskrit. The first two weeks of the module will be dedicated to learning the Devanāgarī script along with the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST). Afterwards, students will be introduced to increasingly complex grammar while translating short sentences from Sanskrit to English and vice-versa; starting from Week 6 of Term 1, students will translate longer adapted texts in Sanskrit, while at the beginning of Term 2 they will start translating also unadapted prose and poetry. By the end of the module, students will have mastered the basics of the Sanskrit language and will thus be able to read simple unadapted prose and poetry in Sanskrit, demonstrating both confidence and an appreciation for the stylistic qualities of the texts. Moreover, students will be able to compose short texts in Sanskrit, thus demonstrating some familiarity with basic Sanskrit vocabulary and a good command of basic grammar.

Skills: At the end of the module students should:

1. have a solid and comprehensive grounding in basic Sanskrit grammar, and have some familiarity with basic Sanskrit vocabulary;

2. read, understand, and appreciate the linguistic and stylistic features of unadapted prose and poetry in Sanskrit;

3. be able to compose simple texts in Sanskrit;

4. have a good knowledge of the relevant reference grammars and dictionaries of the Sanskrit language, and be able to use them critically;

5. have a preliminary understanding of the many facets of Sanskrit literary culture, and be able to carry out further research under a tutor’s guidance;

6. develop an informed sense of the similarities and differences between the Sanskrit literary culture and their own culture and/or the other classical cultures they are familiar with.