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Band. The language of the Midland became the language of literature, and was crystallized in the shape of literary Sanskrit about 300 B.C. Beside it all the Primary Prakrits continued to develop under the usual See also:

LAWS

laws of See also:

PHONETICS (Gr. Davit, voice)

phonetics, and, as vernaculars, reached a secondary See also:

STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage marked by a tendency to simplify harsh combinations of consonants and the broader diphthongs, the synthetic processes of declension and conjugation remaining as a whole unaltered. The See also:

PROCESS

process of development closely resembles that of old See also:

ITALIAN

Italian from the See also:

ITALIC

Italic dialects of Latin times. It should be noted that although the literary See also:

DIALECT (from Gr. Sia stcror, conversation, manner of speaking, &aXeyec6at, to converse)

dialect of the Midland became fixed, the vernacular of the same See also:

TRACT (from Lat. tractare, to treat of a matter, through Provencal tractat and Ital. trattato)

tract continued to develop along with the other Primary Prakrits, but owing to the existence of a literary See also:

standard by its See also:

side its development was to a certain extent retarded, so that it was See also:

LEFT

left somewhat behind by its See also:

FELLOWS, SIR CHARLES (1799-1860)

fellows in the See also:

RACE

race. The Secondary Prakrits, in their turn, received literary culture. In their earliest stage one of them became the sacred language of See also:

BUDDHISM

Buddhism, and under the name of See also:

PALI

Pali (q.v.) has been widely studied. In a still later stage several Secondary Prakrits became generally employed for a new literature, both sacred and profane. Not only were three of them used for the See also:

PROPAGATION

propagation of the Jaina See also:

religion (see See also:

JAINS

JAINS), but they were also dealt with as vehicles for See also:

INDEPENDENT

independent See also:

SECULAR (Lat. saecularis, of or belonging to an age or generation, saeculum)

secular See also:

WORKS

works, besides being largely employed in the See also:

INDIAN

Indian See also:

DRAMA (literally "action," from Gr. Snail, act or do)

drama. In the last-named Brahmans, heroes and See also:

PEOPLE

people of high See also:

RANK (O.Fr. rant or rent, mod. rang, generally connected with the O.E. and O.H.G. bring, a ring)

rank spoke in Sanskrit, while the other characters expressed themselves in some Secondary Prakrit according to See also:

NATIONALITY

nationality or profession.

This later stage of the Secondary Prakrits is known as the Prakrit See also:

PAR (Lat. par, equal)

par excellence, and forms the main subject of the See also:

PRESENT

present See also:

ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article. A still further stage of development will also be discussed, that of the Apabhramsa, or " corrupt language." The Prakrit par excellence, which will throughout the See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest of this article be called simply " Prakrit," underwent the See also:

COMMON

common See also:

FATE

fate of all Indian literary languages. In its turn it was fixed by grammarians, and as a literary language ceased to grow, while as a vernacular it went on in its own course. From the point of view of grammarians this further development was looked upon as corruption, and its result hence received the name of Apabhrarirsa. Again in their turn the Apabhram.as received literary cultivation and a stereotyped See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form, while as vernaculars they went on into the stage of the See also:

TERTIARY

Tertiary Prakrits and become the modern Indo-Aryan languages. In the Prakrit stage of the Secondary Prakrits we see the same grouping as before—a Midland language, and the dialects of the Outer Band. The Prakrit of the Midland was known as Sauraseni, from Surasena, the name of the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round Mathura (See also:

MUTTRA, or MATHURA

Muttra). It was the language of the territories having the Gangetic See also:

DOAB

Doab for their centre. To the See also:

west it probably extended as far as the modern See also:

LAHORE

Lahore and to the See also:

east as far as the confluence of the See also:

JUMNA, or JAMUNA

Jumna and the See also:

GANGES (GANGA)

Ganges. Conquests carried the language much further afield, so that it occupied not only See also:

RAJPUTANA

Rajputana, but also See also:

GUJARAT

Gujarat. As stated above, the development of Sauraseni was retarded by the See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence of its See also:

GREAT

great See also:

NEIGHBOUR (O. Eng. neahgebiir, from Walt, " nigh," " near ")

neighbour Sanskrit. Moreover, both being sprung from the same See also:

ORIGINAL

original—the Primary Prakrit of the Midland—its vocabulary, making allowances for phonetic changes, is the same as in that language.

The Prakrits of the Outer Band, all more closely connected with each other than any one of them was to Sauraseni, were Magadhi, Ardhamagadhi, Maharastri, and an unknown Prakrit of the See also:

North-west. Magadhi was spoken in the eastern See also:

HALF

half of the Gangetic See also:

PLAIN (O. Fr. plain, from Lat. plenum)

plain. Its proper See also:

home was See also:

MAGADHA

Magadha, the modern See also:

South Bihar, but it extended far beyond these limits at very See also:

early times. Judging from the modern vernaculars, its western limit must have been about the See also:

LONGITUDE (from Lat. longitudo, " length ")

longitude of the See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city of See also:

BENARES

Benares. Between it and Sauraseni (i.e. in the modern Oudh and the country to its south) See also:

lay Ardhamagadhi or " half-Magadhi." Maharastri was the language of Maharastra, the great See also:

KINGDOM

kingdom extending southwards from the See also:

RIVER

river See also:

NERBUDDA, or NARBADA

Nerbudda to the See also:

Kistna and sometimes including the See also:

SOUTHERN

southern See also:

PART

part of the modern Bombay See also:

PRESIDENCY

Presidency and See also:

Hyderabad. Its language therefore lay south of Sauraseni. West of Sauraseni, in the Western See also:

PUNJAB

Punjab, there must have been another Prakrit of which we have no See also:

RECORD (Lat. recordari, to recall to mind, from cor, heart or mind)

record, although we know a little about its later ApabhrarhSa form. Here there were also speakers of Paisaci (see INDO-ARYAN LANGUAGES), and the See also:

LOCAL

local Prakrit, if we are to See also:

JUDGE (Lat. judex, Fr. juge)

judge from the modern Tertiary vernacular, was a mixed form of speech. We have a detailed description of only one Apabhrarhfa —the Nagara—the Apabhramsa of the Sauraseni spoken in the neighbourhood of Gujarat, and therefore somewhat mixed with Maharastri. We may, however, conclude that there was an Apabhrarhfa corresponding to each Prakrit, so that we have, in addition to Saurasena, a Magadha, an Ardhamagadha and a Maharastra Apabhra h. a. Native writers describe more than one local A pabhraih a, of which we may mention Vracada, the ancient dialect of See also:

SIND

Sind. There were numerous Prakrit subdialects to which it is not necessary to refer.

Of all these Prakrits, Maharastri is that which is best known to us. It early obtained literary pre-See also:

EMINENCE (Lat. eminentia)

eminence, and not only was the subject of See also:

long See also:

TREATISES

treatises by native grammarians, but became the language of lyric See also:

POETRY

poetry and of the formal epic (kdvya). Dramatic works have been written in it, and it was also the vehicle of many later scriptures of the Jaina religion. We also know a See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good See also:

DEAL

deal about Ardhamagadhi, in which the older Jaina writings were composed. With Magadhi we have, unfortunately, only a partial acquaintance, derived from brief accounts by native grammarians and from See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short sentences scattered through the plays. We know something more about auraseni, for it is the usual See also:

PROSE

prose dialect of the plays, and is also employed for the sacred writings of one of the Jaina sects. The materials extant for the study of the Prakrit are either native grammars or else literary works written in See also:

ACCORD (from Fr. accorder, to agree)

accord with the rules laid down therein. Originally real ver- Language. naculars with tendencies towards certain phonetic changes, the dialects were taken in See also:

hand by grammatical systematizers, who pruned down what they thought was over-luxuriant growth, trained errant shoots in the way they thought PRAKRIT unchanged. In Ap., as before, kh, Eh and ph are usually preserved in gh, dh and bh respectively. 3. T becomes d, d becomes l (often written 1), which when doubled becomes dentalized to ii, as in the See also:

case of the Jaina nn. P and b usually become v.

The Outer languages often cerebralize dental sounds and See also:

CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. «a urmu', to bend)

change to I. 4. N, m, 1 and It remain unchanged. V disappears before u, but otherwise generally remains unchanged. In Ap. m may become a v nasalized by anunasika; thus, Skr. bhramara-, Ap. bhavara-. Final consonants usually disappear altogether, except nasals, which become anusvara. Thus, Skr. samantat, phalam, Pr. samanta, phalarh. The following rules will be found to include the great See also:

MAJORITY (Fr. majorite; Med. Lat. majoritas; Lat. major, greater)

majority of possible cases of See also:

compound consonants. They show clearly the See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character of all! changes from Primary to Secondary Prakrit, viz. the substitution, mainly by a process of assimilation, of a slurred for a distinct See also:

PRONUNCIATION (Lat. pronuntiatio, from pronuntiare, proclaim, announce, pronounce)

pronunciation: I. In Pr. a conjunct consonant cannot consist of more than two elements, and, except in Mg. and Ap., can only be a See also:

double consonant or a consonant preceded by a nasal, a consonant followed by r, or one of the following: nh, nh, mh, lh. The consonants r and Is cannot be doubled. 2.

In Pr. the only conjuncts which can begin a word are nh, nh, mh, and lh. If any other conjunct consonant be initial, the first member of the Pr. form of it is dropped. Thus, in Pr. kr becomes kk, and the Skr. akramati becomes Pr. akkamai. If we omit the initial preposition a- (Pr. a-), the kk becomes initial, and we have kamai, not *kkamai. Similarly, Skr. sthira- becomes Pr. thira- for *tthira-. 3. 'L and v are elided when they stand first or last in a compound, and the remaining See also:

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

letter is doubled, if it admits of doubling. Thus, Skr. ulka, Pr. ukka; Skr. pakva, Pr. pakka-. The same See also:

RULE

rule is followed regarding r, but when it follows a consonant it is sometimes, especially in Ap., retained even when initial. Thus, Skr. arka-, Pr. See also:

AKKA (TIKKI-TI%II)

akka; Skr. priya-, Pr. pia- or (Ap.) pria-. 4. M, n and y are elided when See also:

STANDING

standing last in a compound, and the remaining letter is doubled; thus, Skr. raimi-, Pr. rassi-.

5. K, g, t, d, t, d, p, i, s and s are elided when standing first in a compound, and the remaining letter is doubled as before; thus, Skr. bhakta-, Pr. bhatta-; Skr. skhalita-, Pr. khalia- for *kkhalia-(see rule 2). 6. The above rules hold in the See also:

order given above; that is to say, rule 3 holds in preference to rules 4 and 5, and rule 4 in preference to rule 5. Thus, in the Skr. compound kr, the r is elided under rule 3, and not the Is under rule 5, so that the Pr. form is kk. 7. See also:

SPECIAL

Special Rules for Mg.—In this form of Pr. there are several See also:

PECULIAR

peculiar changes. Dy, rj, ry, all become yy; ny, ny, become nn; medial cch becomes ic; lt, 4, .nth become sl; and rth, slh become st. Other changes also occur, besides See also:

DIALECTIC, or DIALECTICS

dialectic See also:

variations of those given above. Declension.—Pr. has preserved the three genders of Skr., but has lost the dual number. As a rule, the gender of a noun follows that of the Skr. original, though in AMg. there is already a tendency to substitute the masculine for the neuter, and in Ap. these two genders are frequently confused, if the distinction is not altogether neglected. In the formation of cases, the phonetic rules just given are fully applied, but there are also other deviations from the Skr. original.

The consonantal stems which form an important part of Skr. declension are frequently given vocalic endings, and there is a See also:

general tendency to assimilate their declension to that of a-bases, corresponding to the first and second declensions in Latin. This tendency is strongly helped by the See also:

FREE

free use of pleonastic suffixes ending in a, which are added to the See also:

BASE

base without affecting its meaning. Of these the most common are -ka-, -See also:

ea, and -alla-, or -calla-. The first of these was also very common in Skr., but its use became much extended in Pr. In accordance with the general rule, the Is is liable to elision; thus, Skr. ghota-ka-, Pr. ghoda-a-. It may even be doubled, as in Skr. bahu-, much, Pr. bahu-a-a-, for bahu-ka-ka-. -pa- is confined to Ap., and may be used alone or together with the other two, as in Skr bahubala-, strength of See also:

ARM (a common Teutonic word; the Indo-European root is ar, to join or fit; cf. the Lat. armus, shoulder, and the plural word arma, weapons, Gr. apphs, joint, and the reduplicated apapilKSV, to join)

arm, Ap. bahubal-ullada-(k)a-. Illa- is most common in the Outer languages, and especially so in AMg. and M.; thus, Skr. Pura-, M. pur-illa-. All the Skr. cases are preserved except the See also:

DATIVE (Lat. dativus, giving or given, from dare, to give)

dative, which has altogether disappeared in the Midland, but has survived in the singular number in the Outer languages. Everywhere the genitive can be employed in its place. Most of the case-forms are derived from Sanskrit according to the phonetic rules, but Ap. has a number of dialectic forms which cannot be referred to that language (cf. the remarks above about -hi =et).

It also rarely distinguishes between the nominative and the See also:

ACCUSATIVE (Lat. accusativus, sc. casus, a translation of the Gr. aletartKI vrrwves, the case concerned with cause and effect, from atria, a cause)

accusative. As an example, we may give the commoner forms of the declension of the Skr. putra, Pr. putta-, a son (see next See also:

page). It should be understood that numerous other forms were also in use, but the ones given here are selected because they are both common and typical. The declension of neuter a-bases closely resembles the above, differing only in the,nominative and accusative singular and plural. Ap. has almost lost the neuter termination in the singular. Feminine a-stems are declined on the same lines, but the cases have run more into each other, the instrumental, genitive and locative singular they ought to have gone, and too often generalized tendencies into universal rules. Subsequent writers followed these rules and not the living speech, even though they were See also:

writing in what was meant to be a vernacular. Moreover, at an early date, the Prakrits, qua literary languages, began to lose their characteristics as local forms of speech. A writer composed in Maharastri, not because it was his native language, but because it was the particular Prakrit employed for lyrics and in formal epics. In the same way, in dramatic literature, SaurasenI and Magadhi were put into the mouths of characters in particular walks in See also:

LIFE

life, whatever the nationality of the dramatist might have been. There was thus a tendency for these literary Prakrits to adopt forms from the vernacular dialects of those who wrote them, and, en revanche, for the very popular lyric poetry of Maharastri to influence the local dialects of the most distant parts of India. On the other hand, although to a certain extent artificial, the literary Prakrits are all based on local vernaculars, a fact entirely See also:

BORNE, KARL LUDWIG (1786–1837)

borne out by a comparison with the modern Indian languages, which closely agree with them in their mutual points of difference.

We now proceed to consider the general points in which the Prakrits differ from Sanskrit and from each other.

End of Article: PRAKRIT (prakrta, natural)

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