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44
प्राकृतसर्वस्वम् ।
Indian grammarians in whose philosophy the existence of such ancient dialects was not dreamed of. These Deśya words were local dialectic forms, and as might be expected, are found most commonly in literary works hailing from countries like Gujarat, far away from the natural home of classical Sanskrit, the Madhyadeśa'. For our purpose they may be considered as identical with Tadbhavas ”.?
12. Keeping in view the above observation of the learned scholar, let us take into account some important opinions on Deśya' given by traditional authors. Rudrata ( 900 A. D. ) understands by desya those words which do not have derivation in the manner of root and affix as in Sanskrit:प्रकृतिप्रत्ययमूला व्युत्पत्तिर्नास्ति यस्य देश्यस्य ।
Rudrața's Kävyālankāra, VI. 27 Caņda uses the word desi-prasiddha for a class of non-Sanskrit words and not for a dialect whereas Bharata ( NŚ, XVII. 46 ) uses the term Desībhāṣā' to include all Prākrit dialects including Apabhraņía (vibhraşta ) although the last was assigned a lower status. Bh. also uses the term Deśīmata to connote those words which are not derivable from Sanskrit..
3. Sanskrit Origin of Prākrit. 13. There is no clear evidence as to how and when Prakrit came into being as a language or a group of languages. The earliest reference to Prakrit as a language we find in the Natyasāstra, XIV, 5 and XVII. 1 and 2. In XVII. I he states that after describing Sanskrit briefly ( which is to be employed in drama ) he will now define
7 Ibid, pp. 127-128. Also Languages of India in the Census Report of India, 1901, pp. 159-60.
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