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VedaWeb

A Web-based Platform for the Research of Sanskrit Texts

“VedaWeb” is a web-based platform for the linguistic research of old Sanskrit texts that builds on the Rigveda – one of the oldest and most important texts of the Indo-European language family. The Rigveda will be presented with full morphological and metrical annotation and translations. The texts will be searchable based on lexical and corpus-linguistic criteria. The Rigveda, which was composed in Vedic i.e. the oldest form of Sanskrit, is the pilot text. It was written in late second millennium BCE. As it more extensive than the Iliad and Odyssey combined, it constitutes a rich base of information.

The project builds on a complete morphological (i.e. word structural) annotation of the Rigveda that was undertaken at the University of Zurich. Based on this annotation, various research and analytical tools will be developed and integrated into the VedaWeb platform such as: a combined search function according to linguistic parameters (lemma, word forms, morphological and metrical information), the connecting of the Rigveda to the standard dictionary of Hermann Grassmann  (1873), access to various translations (Grassmann, Geldner and Griffith) and commentaries  (Oldenberg) as well as the possibility to export retrieved texts in TEI format according to user defined criteria. Of central importance is the linking of the text to the portal website for Sanskrit dictionaries (Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries Cologne, http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de), which is hosted by the CCeH. The word forms will be linked through each lemma with the Grassmann dictionary so that users will be directed from the word to the dictionary and, conversely, from the dictionary to the relevant passages.

Further texts such as the Atharvaveda, Yajurveda and other Vedic prose texts are also to be integrated into the Veda-Web platform. One of main objectives is that VedaWeb will become a core resource for the international community of Sanskrit scholars. The project will thereby further contribute to Cologne’s already leading position in the research of South Asian languages.