Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics
Sanskrit [Skt 
‘put together; wellformed, refined, correct’]
Term for various forms of Old Indo-Aryan. The oldest form is the language of the Vedas (ritual texts originating before 1000 BC but written down much later), followed by the language of speculative writings such as Brāhmanas and theoretical works like the grammar of Pānini. The language of the two great epics, the Mahābhārata and Rāmāyana, dates to the second and first centuries BC. The term Classical Sanskrit is used to denote the language still used today for the language of priests and scholars in India; especially important is the Devanāgarī script developed from the Brāhmi script. In some usage, only the classical language is called Sanskrit, the term Vedic being used for the older form, as this differs in many aspects (e.g. more complex morphology) from the classical language.
Characteristics: rich morphology (for nominals eight cases, three numbers, three genders; for verbs various tenses, moods, and voices); especially in Classical Sanskrit, numerous word compounds. Word order: SOV.
References
General
Burrow, T. 1955. The Sanskrit language. London.
Goldmann, R. and S.Sutherland. 1986. Devarānipraveśikā. San Francisco, CA.
Staal, J.F. 1967. Word order in Sanskrit and universal grammar. Dordrecht.
——(ed.) 1972. A reader on the Sanskrit grammarians. Cambridge, MA.
Thumb, A., H.Hirt, and R.Hauschild. 1958–9. Handbuch des Sanskrit. Heidelberg.
Wackernagel, J. and A.Debrunner. 1896–1954. Altindische Grammatik, 3 vols. (Reprints: vol. I 1978; vol. 11,1 1985; vol. II, 2 1987; vol. 3 1975.) Göttingen.
Whitney, W.D. 1896. Sanskrit grammar, including both the classical language and the older dialects of Veda and Brahmana. (5th edn 1924.) Leipzig/ London. (Reprint Delhi, 1983.)
Vedic
Klein, J.S. 1985. Toward a discourse grammar of the Rigveda, 2 vols. Heidelberg.
MacDonell, A.A. 1910. Vedic grammar. Strasburg.
——1916. Vedic grammar for students. Oxford. (Last reprint Delhi, 1990.)
Renou, L. 1952. Grammaire de la langue védique. Paris.
Classical Sanskrit
Aklujkar, A. 1991. An easy introduction to an enchanting language, 3 vols. with cassettes. University of British Columbia.
Egenes, T. 1989.
Introduction to Sanskrit, 2 vols. San Diego, CA.
MacDonell, A.A. 1927. A Sanskrit grammar for students, 3rd edn. Oxford. (Reprint Delhi, 1987.)
Renou, L. 1968. Grammaire sanscrite, 2 vols. Paris. (2nd rev. edn 1984.)
Dictionaries
Apte, V.S. 1959. Sanskrit-English dictionary, rev. ed. Poona.
An encyclopedic dictionary of Sanskrit on historical principles. 1979–. Ed. A.M.Ghatage et al. Vol. 4, 3 1992–3. Poona.
Böhtlingk, O. von and R.Roth. 1855–75. Sanskrit Wörterbuch, 7 vols. (Reprint 1966.) St. Petersburg.
Grassmann, H. 1976. Wörterbuch zum Rigveda, 5th repr. Wiesbaden.
Monier-Williams, M. 1899. A Sanskrit-English dictionary, new edn, enlarged and improved with the collaboration of E.Leumann, C.Cappeller et al. Oxford. (Last reprint Delhi, 1990.)
Schlerath, B. 1980. Sanskrit vocabulary, arranged according to word-families with meanings in English, German and Spanish. Leiden.
Etymological dictionaries
Mayrhofer, M. 1956–80. 
etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindischen/Concise etymological Sanskrit dictionary. 4 vols. Heidelberg.
——1986–. Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen. Vol. III. 1995. Heidelberg.
Bibliographies
Dandekar, R.N. 1946–73. Vedic bibliography, 3 vols. Bombay and Poona.
Renou, L. 1931. Bibliographie védique. Paris.
Indo-Aryan
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