When did Proto-Indo-Aryan exist and where was it located?
Proto-Indo-Aryan existed before 1500 BCE somewhere in Central Asia. This ancient tongue eventually split into Old Indo-Aryan between 1500 and 300 BCE.
Questions about Indo-Aryan languages
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What is the earliest concrete evidence for the Indo-Aryan language family?
The earliest concrete evidence appears not in India but in the Late Bronze Age Mitanni civilisation of Upper Mesopotamia. A treaty between the Hittites and the Mitanni invokes deities like Mitra, Varuna, Indra, and the Ashvins using names that clearly belong to an early Indo-Aryan superstrate.
Which languages are considered Northern Indo-Aryan or Pahari languages?
Northern Indo-Aryan languages known as Pahari or hill languages include Nepali Jumli Doteli Garhwali Kumaoni Dogri Kangri Bhadarwahi Churahi and many others listed by linguists like Hoernlé and Grierson. These languages are spoken throughout the Himalayan regions of the subcontinent.
How many places of articulation do New Indo-Aryan stops have?
The normative system of New Indo-Aryan stops consists of five places of articulation: labial dental retroflex palatal and velar matching Sanskrit exactly. Some Dardic languages such as Kashmiri and Shina may add a retroflex affricate maxing out stop positions at seven barring borrowed sounds.
When did Romani speakers leave India according to research from 1845 and 1882-1888?
Research by nineteenth-century scholars Pott in 1845 and Miklosich between 1882 and 1888 established Romani as a New Indo-Aryan language suggesting proto-Romani speakers left India no earlier than AD 1000. The loss of old nominal case systems coupled with reduction to two-way nominative-oblique case supports this later migration timeline.