Etymology, Biology & Population Movement
मूषो॒ न शि॒श्ना व्य॑दन्ति मा॒ध्य॑ स्तो॒तारं॑ ते शतक्रतो
Inspired by the thread below, I am pleased to share the fruits of my labour!
Presenting my AMT – Aryan Mouse Theory*!
[*channeling my inner Witzel]
Of Men, Mice & Languages!
आर्यमिश्रान् विज्ञापयामि अस्मिन् विषये। While this may seem in jest, the data shown is all valid
As the screenshot shows, the word for Mouse is remarkably conserved across multiple languages
German – Maus | Dutch – Muis | Swedish – Musen | Russian – myš’ | Czech – Myš | Polish – Mysz | Bulgarian – miškata | Slovenian – Miška
Samskritam मूषिकः । Mushika | Mushaka
Below is a list of 70+ languages with the word for ‘Mouse’
In fact, total list may be 100+ languages!
Quite remarkable!
But why?
Mice & humans in fact, go a long way back
The history of origin & spread of Mouse is an important clue to the spread of human beings & languages
Interesting Points to Note
१ Mice originated in India & SEA
२ 10,000 years ago had split to 4 populations with non-overlapping range in India
३ Mouse started commensalism only after agricultural communities started
४ domesticus spread to fertile crescent
५ musculus spread to China
६ 4000 BP ->Europe
This is the map highlighting the spread of mice
Now if Mouse originated in India, what is the Samskritam etymology for मूषिक or मूषक?
It originates from मुष – a “thief”, someone who steals grains & food!
मूष्णाति द्रव्याणि इति।
Steals things
मूष् in Paninian धातुः (word root) system comes from मुषँ स्तेये। स्तेन->steal
Let us ask ourselves, how old is the Samskrita word मूषक for Mouse?
Very ancient!
In fact, it is mentioned in the Rg Veda “As mice eat threads”!
Mice मूषिकः are also mentioned in abundance across ancient Indian texts
Texts that are clearly prior to 500 BCE like Ramayanam, Mahabharatam, SusrutaSamhita etc
Mice मूषिकः are also mentioned in abundance across ancient Indian texts Texts that are clearly prior to 500 BCE Ramayanam, Mahabharatam, SusrutaSamhita etc
Mice are commensals {2 species living together where 1 benefits (mice) & other may/may not benefit}
Mice & agricultural communities naturally go together
Since mice originated in India, its important to understand origins of Indian agriculture
India shows evidence of agriculture from 9000 BCE !
So beginnings of Indian agriculture is intimately connected with commensalism of mice
It is likely that original Indian farming communities were the first to give the name मूषक to “mouse” given the stealing skills they experienced first hand!
Where Indians went, mice also went
Now, let us take the Aryan Mouse Theory 🙂
How does ARYA come in all of this?
The संस्कृतम् word Arya originates from ऋ गतौ (to go, flow etc)
It means cultured/noble . It is also connected to ‘Cultivate/Agriculture/Irrigation’ etc.
In fact one of the meanings for Arya is Trader/Farmer!
अर्यः = वैश्यः।कृषकः।
@sudarshanhs & @BhattaPN have discussed words originating from ऋ गतौ incl. आर्य।अर्य।ऋतम्।इरिणम्।
Many pundits have written about Arya & Agriculture/Trading
Sediyapu Krishna Bhat’s theory on the connection between Arya & Agriculture {‘Arable’}
Read this wonderful article on this topic by Shatavadhani Dr Ganesh here: https://prekshaa.in/debunking-aryan-dravidian-issue-indigenous-approach-0
@vakibs has written about his theory of how agriculture & irrigation is connected to the notion of Arya / civilization / nobility which is broadly similar to Shri Bhatt’s ideas
So it is quite likely that agriculture & civilization gave rise to “Aryas” & also led to mice being fellow-travellers with humans
Direction of movement of mice is OUT OF INDIA & follows human migration patterns
मूषिकः is a conserved word across many languages -> मूषिक is attested in Rg Veda
Farmers evolved to trading -> Shreshta/Traders are also Arya
India had a trading culture right from Saraswati Sindhu Civilization days
So it is highly likely that मूषिक, the global template word for mouse, originated in India
As Indians expanded, both mice & language went along
The origin & spread of मूषिक, the ‘species’ as well as the ‘word’ is thus an important clue to direction of human migration & language spread
Hence, its time to consider alternate models also to understand how we came to be..
The REAL Aryan Migration Theory
शुभमस्तु।🙏🏼
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Post Script | पश्चाल्लेखः।
While further analysis based on genetics/archaeology etc is useful, we must acknowledge that AIT/AMT is PRIMARILY a linguistics hypothesis
So, a few points to consider re: संस्कृतम् / PIE and linguistic aspects (Dr Nikolas Kazanas)
१ Dhatu/root structure
२ Organic coherence
३ Entropy/erosion
१ Dhatu/Root structure
Only Samskritam & ‘Avestan’ have roots. Dhatus generate a spectrum of MEANINGS from a root word
See how this impacts the notorious Saraswati Vs Haraxvaiti debate!
Harah (sole word) Vs सरति सरित् सर्ता सरण etc So just s>h sound debate is insufficient!
As an example, in the मूषिक case, Maus is just a German SOUND label for MOUSE 🐁
In संस्कृतम् it denotes ‘stealing’ a meaningful characteristic of MOUSE 🐁
मुष् धातुः also generates many words NOT connected to the concept 🐭 -> मोषणम् मोष्टा मोषकः
मूषक is thus conceptually denser & upstream to Maus!
२ Organic coherence
संस्कृतम् has an organic coherence that is missing in most/all IE languages
We move from a DENSER concept rich format in संस्कृतम् to LESSER ‘bits & pieces’ format across other IE languages
We see a gradient -> Latin {filia | nata} & Hittite don’t have cognates for daughter!
३ Entropy/erosion
As we move from Rg Veda to other IE branches, we see linguistic & cultural entropy and LOSSES
Again a gradient !
The overemphasis on ONLY ‘sound changes’ may be clouding judgment on other equally important aspects re: direction of transmission & movement
So, it is worthwhile for us to have a fresh look at the big picture!
For भारतीयाः to meaningfully engage with these critical issues, knowledge of Samskritam is critical
As we rebuild & expand भारतीय viewpoints, learning Samskritam & engaging with foundational texts directly should be among our highest priorities !
पठतु संस्कृतम्। जयतु भारतम्।
References:
Read: the full article by Kazanas at https://kalyan97.wordpress.com/2016/12/26/fallacies-of-proto-indo-european-nicholas-kazanas/
प्वालसंस्कृतभाण्डारम्। PvaalSamskritam 