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518
Amrita
the linguistic environment is stated in the form of classifications based on common sense, with no pretence of making them scientifically or philosophically very accurate. The labelling of meanings as literal, metonymical or figurative, which is generally followed in the dictionaries of the classical languages of Europe, is not followed here. But all the necessary evidence in the form of quotations is given in ample measure, and the reader is free to draw his own conclusions based on them. So also the classification of meanings as expressive, indicative and suggestive which is done by the writers of rhetorics in Sanskrit is not explicitly stated. Stylistic differences and usage labels are mostly confined to the passages taken from the dramatic works, whether in Sanskrit and Prākrit or wholly in Prākrit (the Sattakas). Here the name of the speaker or an indication of his status is always given at the beginning of each quotation from the dramas.
6. Arrangement of Quotations and Mode of Reference
The justification of the meanings assigned to a word lies in the quotations from the Prākrit literature supplied in the entry after each meaning. To keep the bulk of the work as small as possible, only selected quotations are given, which are necessary to determine the meanings. When the word occurs in a long passage as can be seen from the varņakas of the AMg. canon, only such portion of it is quoted as is essential to understand it. The portion which is dropped is indicated by using three dots (...) in its place. As the dictionary is using all the Prākrit languages, it is necessary to represent all of them, at least with one quotation from each Prākrit if the word occurs in it. This will mean that if a Prākrit language is not represented by any quotation, one can conclude that the word does not occur in that language and if no passage is quoted under a particular meaning it means that that meaning is not found in it. Very often a given word with a given sense may occur in different phonetic shapes in different languages. In such a case it will occupy different places in the Dictionary. In view of these and similar considerations a purely chronological arrangement for quotations from all the languages taken together is not possible.
It is found convenient to put the seven Prakrits which have a sizable literature into three groups based on their linguistic and semantic affinities. A word having a religious, a philosophical or a technical meaning is likely to occur in AMg, JM and JŚ. but may not occur in M., s., Mg. and vice versa. Moreover a word may be found in any two languages within a group. There are a large number of words which are peculiar to Apa. having formal and semantic features not found in other Prākrits. Hence for the arrangement of the quotations these languages are divided into three groups : (1) AMg., JM.,