Comparative Grammar of the Modern Aryan Languages of India

The Indo-Aryan language family is a branch of the Indo-European phylum and includes Hindi Urdu Bengali Punjabi Kashmiri and Gujarati. First published in 1872 this three-volume comparative grammar of the family was written by the British civil servant John Beames (18371902). From 1866 he spent twelve years in India during which he gathered data for what he intended to be the first comprehensive and accurate Indo-Aryan grammar. Volume 1 focuses on phonetics and phonology. Drawing on evidence from Indo-Aryan sound systems it shows Sanskrit to be the languages'' parent while exploring some non-Sanskritic exceptions. It also gives a detailed historical background to the languages provides careful descriptions of their vowel and consonant systems and explores how Indo-Aryan phonology has changed over time. Beames'' findings remain central to the work of general linguists phonologists and language typologists.