Amrita Collected Papers by A M Ghatage

SR No.: 006968
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jitendra B Shah
Publisher: Kasturbhai Lalbhai Smarak Nidhi Ahmedabad
Total Pages: 530
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 10 MB

Page 16

A Basic Tendency of Prakrit Languages
consonants preserved their long quantity. Thus in a word like vestana or ostha the vowels of the first syllables were necessarily long and were so pronounced. But these words were in no way different as regards quantity from words with the vowels -- and -u- with a following group of consonants as in mitra or ustra. The qualities of the vowels were no doubt different but the metrical value of the words was the same in spite of the difference of quantity of the vowels in the first syllables. Now the difference between the two can only be about the length of the following conjunct consonant. If -eand -- were pronounced long in the first two words and -- and -u- were pronounced short in the other two and yet the words had the same metrical scheme, it follows that in the first group the first member of the group was of a shorter duration than in the second set of words. This was possible because the first member of the group in Sanskrit was able to show some amount of variation in its length to preserve the quantity of the preceding vowels distinct. With the assimilation of the groups in the Prākrit stage no such possibility existed and the natural result was that the preceding long vowels were shortened. They, however, preserved their distinctive quality and resulted in short -ě- and -Õ-.
A host of other changes will be found to confirm this principle. Thus cases of anaptyxis like śrī = siri, sūksma = suhuma, gemination of consonants like taila = tella, khāta = khatta, duküla = dugulla, simplification of groups like varsa = vāsa, gātra = gāya and most of the Sandhi rules can be taken to illustrate this principle.
One such change based on this principle is of greater importance in the explanation of the morphology and syntax of the Prākrit languages. It is the regular alternance between a long vowel and a short vowel with an anusvāra after it. Both have the same metrical value and both appear to alternate with each other as a purely phonetic variant. Cases of spontaneous nasalization like vayasya - vayassa, aśru = aṁsu and changes like vimsati = vīsā, simha = sīha fall under this alternance.
This alternance would explain a number of individual words which are otherwise obscure. So in Pāli akamsu for akārsuh, bādh- in the sense of bandh- 'to bind', siyam for siyā as potential third person singular of as-, sirimsapa for sarīsspa, niramkatvā for nirakrtvā, the proper name vaṁgisa which may be the same as vāgūša, the form caṁki probably Sanskrit cakrī, khaluñka from Sanskrit khaloksa, bhimsanakam for bhisanaka, sanamtano for sanātano and in Ardha-Māgadhī vikanthayai for vikatthate, sambali for salmali,