a. _The Sanskrit_, spoken in ancient India. Of this there were several
stages, the oldest of which is the Vedic, or language of the Vedic Hymns.
These Hymns are the oldest literary productions known to us among all the
branches of the Indo-European family. A conservative estimate places them
as far back as 1500 B.C. Some scholars have even set them more than a
thousand years earlier than this, i.e. anterior to 2500 B.C.

The Sanskrit, in modified form, has always continued to be spoken in India,
and is represented to-day by a large number of dialects descended from the
ancient Sanskrit, and spoken by millions of people.

b. _The Iranian_, spoken in ancient Persia, and closely related to the
Sanskrit. There were two main branches of the Iranian group, viz. the Old
Persian and the Avestan. The Old Persian was the official language of the
court, and appears in a number of so-called cuneiform[2] inscriptions, the
earliest of which date from the time of Darius I (sixth century B.C.). The
other branch of the Iranian, the Avestan,[3] is the language of the Avesta
or sacred books of the Parsees, the followers of Zoroaster, founder of the
religion of the fire-worshippers. Portions of these sacred books may have
been composed as early as 1000 B.C.

Modern Persian is a living representative of the old Iranian speech. It has
naturally been much modified by time, particularly through the introduction
of many words from the Arabic.

c. _The Armenian_, spoken in Armenia, the district near the Black Sea and
Caucasus Mountains. This is closely related to the Iranian, and was
formerly classified under that group. It is now recognized as entitled to
independent rank. The earliest literary productions of the Armenian
language date from the fourth and fifth centuries of the Christian era. To