A Popular Survey of Indian Linguistic Traditions

Abstract

“Linguistics in Ancient India in the Context of Culture and Ritual” (Moscow, Vodoley, 2020, 244 p.) by O. A. Voloshina, published in Russian, presents a popular survey of Indian linguistic traditions, with a particular focus on descriptive methods of Pāṇini's grammar. A popular book on this topic written in Russian is indeed highly in demand. However, the book by Voloshina is not a popular, high-quality book, rather an imperfect compilation. The references in the book are mainly irrelevant or out of date. Works of contemporary leading scholars in Vedic studies are totally ignored. As a result, the book contains a number of errors and wrong conclusions, let alone numerous typos in Sanskrit. The author fails to distinguish consistently between historical description, the ideology of Vedic texts, and their subsequent interpretation in the frames of Hinduism. Chapters of the book that deal with Pāṇini's grammar provide parallels with concepts of modern linguistics. These seem promising, though sometimes a bit straightforward. The author is suggested to distinguish between descriptive and comparative parts in the chapters on Pāṇini.