Prakrit
The Prakrits are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE.[1][2] The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Indo-Aryan languages, excluding earlier inscriptions and the later Pali.[3]
Prākṛta literally means "natural", as opposed to saṃskṛta, which literally means "constructed" or "refined".[3] Prakrits were considered the regional spoken (informal) languages of people, and Sanskrit was considered the standardized (formal) language used for literary, official and religious purposes across Indian kingdoms of the subcontinent. Literary registers of Prakrits were also used contemporaneously (predominantly by Sramana traditions) alongside Classical Sanskrit of higher social classes.[4]
References
- ↑ Richard G. Salomon 1996, p. 377.
- ↑ Alfred C. Woolner 1928, p. 235.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Woolner, Alfred C. (1986). Introduction to Prakrit. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. pp. 3–4. ISBN 978-81-208-0189-9.
- ↑ Burde, Jayant (2004). Rituals, Mantras, and Science: An Integral Perspective. Motilal Banarsidass Publishe. p. 3. ISBN 978-81-208-2053-1.
The Aryans spoke an Indo-European language sometimes called the Vedic language from which have descended Sanskrit and other Indic languages ... Prakrit was a group of variants which developed alongside Sanskrit.
Sources
- Alfred C. Woolner (1928). Introduction to Prakrit (2 (reprint) ed.). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-0189-9. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
- Andrew Ollett (2017). Language of the Snakes: Prakrit, Sanskrit, and the Language Order of Premodern India. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-29622-0.
- Madhav Deshpande (1993). Sanskrit & Prakrit, Sociolinguistic Issues. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-1136-2.
- Richard G. Salomon (1996). "Brahmi and Kharoshthi". In Peter T. Daniels; William Bright. The World's Writing Systems. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-507993-7.
- Satya Ranjan Banerjee (1977). The Eastern School of Prakrit Grammarians: A Linguistic Study. Vidyasagar Pustak Mandir.
- Muni Pranamyasagar (2017). Paiya Shikha: A Learning book to Prakrit (PDF). Rewari, Haryana.
Further reading
- Pischel, R. Grammar of the Prakrit Languages. New York: Motilal Books, 1999.
- Prakrit (Wikipedia)
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