Grammar Of Apabhramsa

Author(s): Madhusudan Mishra
Publisher: Vidyanidhi Prakashan

Page 71

Appendix
Post-Apabhramśa vernaculars
Though the Apbh language has been described in the preceding chapters, the description should not be taken to be comprehensive. It has touched all the important items of the Apbh language, but it has no reference to the dialectal variations. It should, however, be borne in mind that Apbh had several dialects, each going back to the respective Prakrits and each being the parent of the different vernaculars.
The dialect of Apbh which has been described by Hemacanda and which is the basis of the present grammar, is more or less the parent of Awadhi. The language of the Ram Carit Mānas of Tulsi too is said to be Awadi, but Tulsi did not write in the language he spoke. It was about hundred years older than him, which is clear by his use of the numerous duplicates. It was rather a kavi-bhāṣā or sant-bhāṣā, which was more widely understood than spoken. It was a proto-type of the Ardhamāgadhi of the Jaina canons.
The central structure of Apbh was what one is likely to see in the present grammar, but showing the dialectal variations in Apbh was not my target, While showing the evolution of some modern Hindi forms a certain dialect of Apbh spoken around Delhi and Agra has been reconstructed whenever needed. But that dialect is not known to Hemacanda. The identification of this dialect of Apbh may be a good piece of research.