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The legacy of Apabhramśa is not confined to the linguistic struciures on these languages alone; heir literature-literary forms, meirical forms, stylistic and rhetorical nuances are also drawn freely from Apabhsamsa.
It is for this reason that the early scholars of Gujarati philology like the late D.B. K. H. Dhruva and N. B. Divatia were inclined to consider the Early or Proto-Gujarati of 11th century as just a form of later Apabhramśa.5
II
Apabhramsa is basically a Middle Indo-Aryan or Prakrit speech; but it has imbibed, due perhaps to some extraneous influence, several novel phonetic features like the occasional retention of OIA 5#, shortening of g and 371 into 7 and 891, reduction of the labial nasal # to the nasalized semi-vowel , and the reduction of the sibilant or spirant a sound of words and terminations to mere aspiration - This has, in turn, resulted in a massive upheaval in 4. Cf. Bhāyāni, op cit., p. 137 : 624141241 31131r El, $10422
અને સાહિત્યસ્વરૂપનાં મૂળ અપભ્રંશ સાહિત્યમાં છે. અપભ્રંશ રાસાબંધ કાવ્ય અને સંધિબંધ મહાકાવ્ય આપણું પ્રાચીન રાસાઓ અને આખ્યાન જેવાં સાહિત્યસ્વરૂપનાં પૂર્વજ છે. એટલે ખાસ કરીને ગુજરાતી, રાજસ્થાની અને હિંદી માટે તો અપભ્રંશ ભાષા તેમજ સાહિત્ય અભ્યાસની અણમોલ સામગ્રી 42 413 9.” Also cf. Modi, op. cit., p. 21 : “....3776 eta IFR TATT 319 atsit पश्चिम हिन्दुस्ताननी देश्य भाषाओनो आत्मा तो अपभ्रशनो ज रह्यो. अपभ्रंशे गुजराणीने कडवाबद्ध काव्यशैली आपी; छप्पा, दोहा, चोपाई इत्यादि छंदो आप्या; आख्यानशलीना रूढिप्रकार आप्या; पोताना अल कार आप्या; गद्यनो एक प्रकार आप्यो. गुजरातीनी भाषाबांधणीए पण अपभ्रंश भाषानु स्तन्यपान कर्यु छे. गुजरातीनो अने अपभ्रंश भाषानो दीकरी अने मानो संबंध छे." Dr. T. N. Dave too has considered Apabhramba as the earlier
form of Gujarati. 5. Dhruva calls it ‘Apabhramśa', while Divatia names it as
'Gurjara Apabhramśa' (11th to 14th century), which later evolved into Old Gujarati. Cf. Bhāyāni, op. cit. (Vāgvyāpāra), p. 137.
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