Dictionary of Prakrit for Jain Literature Vol 01 Fasc 01

Author(s): A M Ghatage
Publisher: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

Page 17

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krits by the Prakrit grammarians in conformity with a definite plan has left some traces on their present form, the most important of which is the tendency to form wide generalisations on the basis of a few examples. With due consideration of all such points, the man task of the student of the MIA. is to ascertain the local distribution of these Prakrit dialects and to arrange them in a chronological sequence so as to mark the various stages of their growth.
In spite of the meagreness of the evidence, its conflicting nature and the theoretical difficulty of distinguishing between regional and chronological features, it is possible to arrive at some broad conclusions. To the North-West can be assigned the Mansehra and Shabhazgarhi versions of Asokan inscriptions, the dialect of the Kharosthi Dhammapada and possibly Paisaci and its sub-dialects. To the East lie the Asokan inscriptions of Gangetic basin and the mouth of Mahanadi, the Ramgarh inscription and the Dramatic Magadhl with its sub dialects. To the West are found the Girnar version of Asoka, the Pali of the Buddhist canon, the inscriptions of the Satavahanas and Western Kṣatraps and the Mähäräṣtrī Prakrit. To the Midland belongs Sauraseni and to the east of it Ardha-Mag dhi, while a similar d'alect is seen in the inscriptions of Agoka in the Deccan. Of course, this distribution neglects some amount of conflicting facts and leaves some dialects out of consideration. Attempts have been made to reconstruct the features of the earlier stages of some of the Prakrit languages available to us in their present forms. Such has been the case with Pali as it is known to us at present, with Ardba-Magadhi as it is handed down by the tradition and for Mähäraṣṭri which is regarded as being closer to Sauraseni or even identical with it. But the results in this direction have been very meagre and pertain to a few phonetic features and grammatical forms. These remain mostly speculative in nature and do not justity rewriting the traditional texts.
The classification in time is based on a firmer foundation and is more comprehenaive. To the older stage belong the various inscriptions, Pali, ArdhaMagadbi and Paisaci. A later stage is formed by Sauraseni, Magadhi, Jain Mahārāsṭrī and on the threshold of the NIA. are found the Apabhramsa dalects and Avahaṭṭhā.
The NIA. languages cover the whole of the Northern India and parts of the North-Western region, Deccan and Shri Lanka Thev naturally admit of a ready geographical distribution. Their relation with the various MIA dialects. however, is not easy to settle; nor can we group them in cognate grouns with equal. Most of them date from a nearly identical period, ease. though the first avail ble documents in them belong to different centuries from the 10th to the 16th, while many have no written literature. Having continuous areas to cover. there are naturally many border dialects like Bhojapuri, Kachi. etc., the affinities of which are bound to remain doubtful. Some of the languages of NIA. form distinct groups either on account of isolation, Thus Simbaseparation or other historical incidents lese is separated from the main body of the IA. by the Dravidian tongues and follows its individual line of development. The Dard languages (including the Kafir dialects, the Khowar of Chitral, the Kohistanī dialects and the Shina group) are found to the extreme NorthWest and my owe their peculiarities either to an independent origin on par with Old Indian and Old Iranian or may be the result of a strong Iranian influence. Out of them only Kashmiri came under the influence of Indo-Aryan civilization On account of the nomadic life of the speakers, another of the Midland or a NorthWestern dialect assumed different forms in different countries. These are known as Gypsy dialects (Roman).
In contrast with the OIA, the MIA. group shows quite a different appearance on account of a drastic change in its phonetic structure. In grammar and syntax, the older synthetic mode of expression continues
nearly to the end of the period, although the richness of forms of the older stage is lost and now and then, especially in the Apabhramsa dialects, we see the rise of the analytical mode of expression. In their voca. bulary, the MIA. dialects are mostly dependent on the OIA. but with a few additions of the socalled Desi words of uncertain origin. The percentage of these depends both on the date and the nature of the work in which they are found.
The Indo Aryan languages proper are usually grouped into an inner and an outer band with a few intermediate languages, a classification which is much disputed but to which new support is sought in the treatment of the aspirates in the different NIA. languages. It is. however, more convenient and safer to follow a much more limited type of classification based on both geographical and historical considerations. To the North-West are found Lahnda and Sindhi, to the South we have Marathi, to the centre belong Panjabi, Rajasthānī, Gujarati and Western Hindi, to the East of it the Eastern Hindi dialects, to the North of the Midland the Pahari group and to the East belong the Bibarī dialects, Criya, Bengali and Assamese.