A Comparative Grammar of the Modern Aryan Languages of India v1.c7.26

v1.c7.26

The whole of this part of the development of the modern languages seems purely Aryan, and may be paralleled by corresponding changes in the other languages of the family, as, for instance, the modern Romance languages of Southern Europe. As none of the non-Aryan families in India are prone to the use of compound consonants, their influence can hardly be looked for in this branch of the inquiry. It is, however, held by some writers, who are never easy unless they can drag in some hint of non-Aryan influence to account for changes which require no such explanation, that the weakness of Dravidian enunciation, which forbids the use of any complex accumulation of consonants, is parallel to the weakness which led the Prakrits to assimilate *kt* into *tt*. As, however, the Italians do precisely the same, it is not evident why non-Aryan intervention should be suggested. There is a process in Prakrit, carried on into the moderns, which certainly does resemble Dravidian customs, namely, that of splitting up a nexus by the insertion of a vowel; when the custom is discussed it will be seen how far this supposition is true; at any rate it has become of late years quite a nuisance, this perpetual suggestion of non-Aryans here, there, and everywhere; one will soon have to believe that the Aryans did not know how to speak at all till the Dravidians taught them the use of their tongues, and that the Vedas are a mangled copy of some ancient Tamil liturgy!