A Comparative study on the analysis of letters in Thrax’s TéchnēGrammatiké and Paṇinī’s Aṣṭādhyāyi.

Abstract

This comparative research is focused on letters analyzed by Paṇinī (400 B.C) and Dionysius Thrax (100 B.C). Linguistic history of the world can be divided into two main groups such as Western linguistic tradition (WLT) and Oriental linguistic tradition (OLT). Both of these traditions have rich of linguistic works. Thrax is a well-known grammarian in the WLT. Paṇinī is also a well-known grammarian in the OLT. Thrax and Paṇinī have composed grammar books namely as Téchnē Grammatiké and Aṣṭādhyāyi respectively. This comparative research is concentrated on their analysis of letters in general. It is discussed that their own views on letters as they are pioneers of the traditions. The main problem of this research is whether there is similarity or dissimilarity of the views of letters of two Grammars. This research is focused on the purposes of identifying and classifying those similarities and disparities. To collect data, two grammar books are well observed. Firstly, common identification of letters of Thrax Grammar and Paṇinī Grammar are noticed. Secondly, it is investigated similarities and dissimilarities of the analysis of letters, done by Thrax and Paṇinī. As a result of this research a number of similarities are found. For an example, both grammarians have identified two categories of letters such as vowels and consonants. Apart from those similarities, there are a number of dissimilarities. For an example, even though Thrax discussed a special phonological element called syllable, Paṇinī did not specially discuss that element in his letter analysis (Paṇinī’s analysis was on Mātrā). In conclusion, it can be stated that there are similarities and dissimilarities of the analysis of letters in Thrax’sTéchnēGrammatiké and Paṇinī’s Aṣṭādhyāyi.