Verse:Lõis/Indo-Iranian languages

Sanskrit in Lõis, unlike in our timeline, is most often written with the Latin alphabet. Its orthography was standardized in the second century AD. Older texts (like the Vedas) use a deeper orthography for Sanskrit, including j̈ for /h/, vowel and semivowel letters used interchangeably (reflecting Sievers' law) and vowel letters <e> and <o> besides <a>. Popular Lõisian English transcriptions like <Jimoleyos> for the Himālayas reflect this more ancient Sanskrit orthography. The modern orthography is used in Sanskrit texts on astronomy like the Súryasidḋánta.

Vowels

ᴀ ᴀ́ i í u ú ꞃ ꞃ́ l ᴀi ᴀ́i ᴀu ᴀ́u

Consonants

p ṗ b ḃ m ꞇ ꞇ̇ d ḋ n żꞇ żꞇ̇ żd żḋ ꞃ̇n ç ç̇ j j̈ ņ c ċ ᵹ ᵹ̇ y ꞃ l v ş ꞃ̇ꞅ ꞅ h

/ʂʈ/ is written ꞃ̇ꞅꞇ or şꞇ depending on etymology.

Anusvāra and visarga are written ṁ and ꞅ̇.

The interpunct (·) is used to separate nouns in compounds.

Dialectology

Lõisian scholars call Vedic Sanskrit "Old Sanskrit" (Puráṙna·saṁscrtaṁ), and unlike in our timeline, more conservative (i.e. less Prakrit-like) dialects were spoken in the first few centuries AD as vernacular languages. The situation was a bit like Arabic dialects in our timeline, with Classical Sanskrit (identical to our timeline) serving as a bringe between the different native dialects.

Most dialects have some innovations traceable to Vedic Sanskrit, like the use of retroflex lateral flaps /ɭ ɭʰ/ for <żd żḋ> (termed "thick D" by phoneticians). Extreme northern Sanskrit, though, uses dental fricatives /ð ðʰ/, deriving from a Vedic dialect that used /ɭd ɭdʰ/.

Sample text

From the Rgvaida (in the ancient orthography):

Agnimíżdei purouhitoṁ iojņosio deiuoṁ rtuijaṁ j̈outóroṁ rotnoḋétamoṁ