The king and the god

"The king and the god" (PIE|rēḱs PIE|deiwos-PIE|kʷe) is the title of a short dialogue composed in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language. It is loosely based on the "king Harishcandra" episode of Aitareya Brahmana (7.14 = 33.2). S. K. Sen asked a number of Indo-Europeanists (Y. E. Arbeitman, Eric P. Hamp, Manfred Mayrhofer, Jaan Puhvel, W. Winter) to reconstruct the PIE "parent" of the text.

The king and the god

Hamp's/Sen's version from the EIEC (1997:503), that differs from original Hamp's version in replacing Hamp's "Lughus" with Sen's "Werunos":

:Unicode|To rḗḱs éh₁est. So n̥putlos éh₁est. So rēḱs súhnum éwel(e)t. Só tós(j)o ǵʰeutérm̥ (e)pr̥ḱsḱet: "Súh_xnus moi ǵn̥h₁jotām!" So ǵʰeutēr tom rḗǵm̥ éweukʷet: "Ih_xgeswo deiwóm Wérunom". So rḗḱs deiwóm Werunom h₄úpo-sesore nu deiwóm (é)ih_xgeto. "ḱludʰí moi, ph_ater Werune!" Deiwós Wérunos km̥ta diwós égʷeh_at. "Kʷíd welsi?" "Wélmi sú_xnum." "Tód h₁éstu", wéukʷet loukós deiwos Werunos. Rēǵós pótnih_a súhnum gegonh₁e.

Lehmann's version:

:Unicode|Pótis gʰe ʔest. Só-kʷe n̥gn̥ʔtós ʔest, sū́num-kʷe wl̥next. So ǵʰutérm̥ pr̥ket: "Sū́nus moi gn̥hjotām!" ǵʰutḗr nu pótim weukʷet: "Jégeswo gʰi déiwom Wérunom." úpo pro pótis-kʷe déiwom sesore déiwom-kʷe jegto. "Kludʰí moi, dejwe Werune!" Só nu km̥ta diwós gʷāt. "Kʷód wl̥nexsi?" "Wl̥néxmi sū́num." "Tód ʔestu", wéwkʷet lewkós déjwos. Pótnī gʰi sū́num gegonʔe.

English translation:

:Once there was a king. He was childless. The king wanted a son. He asked his priest: "May a son be born to me!" The priest said to the king: "Pray to the god Werunos". The king approached the god Werunos to pray now to the god. "Hear me, father Werunos!" The god Werunos came down from heaven. "What do you want?" "I want a son." "Let this be so", said the bright god Werunos. The king's lady bore a son.

The EIEC spelling largely corresponds to that used in the Proto-Indo-European language article, with "h_a" for "h₂" and "h_x" for unspecified laryngeals "h". Lehmann attempts to give a more phonetical rendering, with IPA|x (voiceless velar fricative) for "h₂" and IPA|ʔ (glottal stop) for "h₁". Further differences include Lehmann's avoidance of the augment, and of the palato-alveolars as distinctive phonemes. Altogether, Lehmann's version can be taken as the reconstruction of a slightly later period, after contraction for example of earlier "pótnix" to "pótnī", say of a "Centum" dialect, that has also lost (or never developed) the augment. However, the differences in reconstructions are more probably due to differences in theoretical viewpoint. The EIEC spelling is a more direct result of the reconstruction process but having typologically too many marked features to be a language really spoken some time in that form, while Lehmann represents the position to attain the most probable natural language to show up in reconstruction the way PIE is.

Various stages of PIE

Carlos Quiles Casas of the Dnghu Group gives versions in various stages of Proto-Indo-European and post-Proto-Indo-European: [http://dnghu.org/indo-european-schleicher-fable.pdf PDF] .

"IE II, ca. 3500 BC (Proto-Indo-Hittite)":Unicode|To rēgs ʔest. So-kwe n̥gn̥ʔtós ʔest, súχnum-kwe wl̥neχt so ghutérm̥ pr̥kskét “Súχnus moi gnhjotām!” ghutḗr nu rḗgm weukwét: “Χewekho ghi déiwom Wéln̥om”. úpo pro rēgs-kwe djēm sésore djēm-kwe χewekhto. “Kludhí moi, pħtér Wéln̥e!" So nu km̥ta diwós keħt. “Kwód wl̥néχsi?” “Wl̥néχmi súχnum”. “Tód ʔéstu“, wewkwét leukós déiwos. Rēgós pótniħ ghi súχnum gegonʔe.

"IE III, ca. 2.500 BC (Proto-Indo-European)":Unicode|To rēgs (é)est. So-kwe n̥gn̥̄tós (é)est, sū́num-kwe (é)wl̥nét so ghutérm̥ (é)pr̥skét “Sū́nus moi gnjotām!” ghutḗr nu rḗgm (é)weukwét: “Éwekho ghi déiwom Wéln̥om”. úpo pro rēgs-kwe djēm sésore djēm-kwe ewekhto. “Kludhí moi, patér Wéln̥e!" So nu km̥ta diwós kāt. “Kwód wl̥nési?” “Wl̥némi sū́num”. “Tód éstu“, (é)wewkwét leukós déiwos. Rēgós pótnī ghi sū́num gegone.

"IE IIIa, ca. 2000 BC (Proto-Indo-Iranian)":Unicode|Ta rāĝs āst. Sa-ka ajātás āst, sū́num-ka ávr̥nat sa ghutrám̥ ápr̥skat “Sū́nus mai gnjatām!” ghutār nu rāĝam ávaukat: “Ávaghe ghi dḗvam Vár̥nam”. úpa pra rāĝs-ka dḗvam sásara dḗvam-ka ávaghta. “Srudhí mai, pitár Vár̥ne!" Sa nu káta devás gāt. “Kád vr̥nási?” “Vr̥námi sū́num”. “Tát éstu“, ávaukat rauķás dḗvas. Rāĝás pátnī ghi sū́num ĝáĝana.

The king and the god in Sanskrit original

Sanskrit:

:IAST|athainam uvāca: Varuṇaṃ rājānam upadhāva: putro me jāyatāṃ, tena tvā yajā iti tatheti. sa Varuṇaṃ rājānam upasasāra: putro me jāyatāṃ, tena tvā yajā iti. tatheti. tasya ha putro jajñe Rohito nāma.

English translation:

:Then he said to him: Have recourse to Varuna, the king, (saying): "Let a son be born to me; with him let me sacrifice to thee" "Be it so" (he replied). He went up to Varuna, the king (saying) "Let a son be born to me; with him let me sacrifice to thee." "Be it so" (he replied) To him a son was born, Rohita by name.

References

Sen, S.K., "Proto-Indo-European, a multiangular view", JIES 22, 67–90 (1994).

ee also

*Schleicher's fable

External links

*http://www.grsampson.net/Q_PIE.html