...oracle of Indian erudition." He introduced it to the notice of the learned in the following words : " The Sanscrit language, whatever be its antiquity,...stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs, and in the forms of grammar than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong, indeed, that no philosopher...

...Jones, in his first introduction of it to the notice of the Asiatic Society in 1782, describes it as of a wonderful structure, ' more perfect than the...than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than ca either.' When this ancient language came in view, and was submitted to the critical examination...

...at all likely, indeed, that a language written, unlike most aucient tongues, from left to right, " more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either," should have sprung up in India in the very infancy of letters. Long, very long, before we knew anything...

...Sanskrit appeared as a mine yielding only the purest virgin gold. The Sanskrit language, he said, was " more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either." But later philologists, who hold that complexity and redundance are but signs of imperfection, think...

...at all likely, indeed, that a language written, unlike most ancient tongues, from left to right, " more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either," should have sprung up in India in the very infancy of letters. Long, very long, before we knew anything...

...however, was his observation, in 1786, that The Sanskrit language, whatever may be its antiquity, is of wonderful structure: more perfect than the Greek,...stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and in the forms of grammar, than could have been produced by accident: so strong that no philologer could examine...

...to students of historical linguistics: The Sanskrit language, whatever may be its antiquity, is of wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek,...bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in roots of verbs and in forms of grammar, than could have been produced by accident; so strong that no...

...Enlightenment. With the discovery of Sanskrit [II.1.2], which Sir William Jones in 1796 declared to be 'of wonderful structure, more perfect than the Greek,...Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either', the new discipline of comparative philology was born, which led to the conceptualization of the IndoEuropean...

...'Third Anniversary Discourse' to the Asiatick Society, which contains the following famous passage: The Sanscrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than ihe Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both...

...quotation, has by now become the mangaldcdra of comparative philology: The Sanskrit language, whatever may be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more...stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and in the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong, indeed, that no philologer...