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प्राकृतसर्वस्वम् ।
" Those words which are not derived by grammatical rules nor current in the Sanskrit dictionaries and which also are not derived by metaphorical use of words are discussed here. If they are enumerated according to the usages prevalent in different countries there will be no end to them. Therefore, Deśī is that which denotes Prākṣta words current through ages without beginning”. Quite in a similar tone of the above definition Beams gives the following account of the Deśajas:
- Deśajas are those words which cannot be derived from any Sanskrit word and are therefore considered to have been borrowed from the aborigines of the country or invented by the Aryans in Post-Sanskritic: times ".
From the above definition of Desi it will be seen that Deśī vocables belong to the general rule of being derived from or occurring in Sanskrit (cf. Hemacandra I. 1.).. Desi words therefore, have no reason to be taken under the same class as the other two categories of Prākṣta which are said to be either derived from or identical with Sanskrit words. This is a fact which seems to have been ignored by the grammarians who define Prākrit as. derived from Sanskrit as its basis' origin. Thus we see that Sanskrit is not the origin of all the Prākrit words. Judged from this viewpoint Namisādhu's definition seems to be more justified and hence scientific since it lends the scope of covering the entire vocabulary of Prākrit languages.
The views of GRIERSON on the origin of Prākrit and its different elements deserve mention in this context.
5 A Comparative grammar of the Modern Aryan languages of India, Vol. I, p. 12.
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