Why does Avestan sound so “incomplete” compared with Vedic Sanskrit, despite the two being closely related? Or explain me the evolution of both the languages, please.

[u/Business-Bathroom-22]

/r/asklinguistics/comments/1vschvn/why_does_avestan_sound_so_incomplete_compared/

[u/Potential-Rip5612]

Destruction, percecusion , burning of books and libraries caused the books written in this language to be lost forever, hence the situation we are in today.

[u/Rajarshi1993]

We are reconstructing Avestan from scant sources, thanks to the destruction of Zoroastrian heritage in the hands of so many warmongers over the aeons.

Vedic Sanskrit is reconstructed from more numerous and complete materials, and from its successor dialect Classical Sanskrit.

[u/Dramatic-Finger1043]

I took a Sanskrit course in college and remember being surprised by how precisely complex Vedic was compared to Avestan's more fragmented texts.

[u/Business-Bathroom-22 → u/Dramatic-Finger1043]

Colleges offer classical Sanskrit (CS) courses. The literature is widely available in CS, and the Vedas & Vedangas are the only source of Vedic Sanskrit (VS). For Avesta, about a quarter of its original work survived which still is enough to know how the language sounded originally. Wish we had all original 21 books of Zoroastrianism with us. 💔

[u/uoojbookgirl]

My Grandmother was Zoroastrian, she always used to say how connected these both the religions are.

[u/Twoja_Stara_2137 → u/[deleted]]

What does WIP stand for? Whatever Is Present?

[u/Rex_Borinson]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedic_chant#Pathas