Indian Antiquary Vol 60

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 335

JUNE, 1931]
GENERAL VIEW
[§§ 23-28
23. The preceding Intermediate languages all lie to the west of Hindi. To its east, separating it from Bihāri lies another Intermediate language, Eastern Hindi (EH.). While the western Intermediate languages are on the whole more nearly related to Hindi than to the Outer languages, only showing prominent traces of the latter as we go farther from the centre of dispersion. Eastern Hindi is a fairly uniform language which bears on its face clear marks of connexion both with the Midland and with the Outer languages. As a rule, we may say that in declension it agrees most closely with the Outer languages to its east. In the conjugation of the verb, it is more eclectic, sometimes showing forms connected with the Midland, and at other times other forms which are typical of the Outer band. Eastern Hindi has three main dialects, viz., Awadhi (Aw.) which may be taken as the standard, spoken in Audh, Bagheli (Bgh.) spoken in Baghelkhand, and Chattisgarhi (Ch.) spoken in Chattisgarh, i.e., the plain lying to the south-east of Baghelkhand and forming the upper basin of the Mahanadi river. Awadhi is often called Baiswari, or the language of the Baiswaṛ Rājputs, but this name properly belongs to that form of Awadhi which is spoken in the southwest of the dialect area. Another name for Awadhi is Kōsali from Kōsala, the ancient name of the country in which it is spoken. Awadhi and Bagheli hardly differ and form practically one dialect. Chattisgarhi, which is isolated by a range of mountains, is more independent. Eastern Hindi is generally written and always printed in the Nagari character, but for less important or less formal documents, the Kaithi character is generally employed. Some of the oldest MSS. of Hindi poetry were also written in Kaithi. Eastern Hindi pos. sesses a great literature, dating from at latest the fifteenth century. Tulasi Dasa, the greatest poet of medieval India and author of the so-called Hindi Rāmāyaṇa, wrote in an old form of Awadhi, and since his time this has been the dialect most employed for poetry dealing with the history of Rama, while the Braj Bhakha form of Hindi has been reserved for poetry dedicated to Kṛṣṇa.
1 See LSI, VI, 2 ff.
24. We now come to the Outer languages. Besides differences in matters of detail we may here draw attention to one characteristic in which they all agree in showing a marked contrast to the language of the Midland. This is that while Hindi has a grammar that is essentially analytic, the Outer languages are passing from that stage and are now again becoming synthetic like their Sanskritic ancestors. It is true that in most of them the declension of nouns is still analytic, but in all, the conjugation of the verb, owing to the use of pronominal suffixes, is strongly synthetic. As regards the Intermediate languages, we may say that the western ones (P. R. G. and Ph.) agree in this respect with the Midland, while EH. agrees with the Outer languages.
The Outer languages fall, as shown in the list in § 3, into three groups. The first, or north-western group, consists of Lahnda and Sindhi. The character of both these languages is complicated by the fact that they are strongly influenced by the Dardic or Modern Pisaca languages lying immediately to their north.
25. Lahnda1 (L.) is the language of the western Panjab. As explained under the head of Panjabi (§ 10), there is no distinct boundary line between it and Lahnda, which, more even than elsewhere in India, insensibly merge into each other, 74° E. Long. being taken as the conventional boundary line. The influence of Dardic (Modern Pisaca) languages on Lahnda will be understood when we consider that the country in which it is spoken includes the ancient land of Kekaya, and that while the Prakrit grammarians give extremely contradictory lists of the localities in which Paiśāci Prakrit was spoken, they all united in agreeing about one, and only one, locality,-Kekaya. Lahnda is known by several other names, such as Western Panjabi, Jatki, Ucci, and Hindki. The word 'Lahnda' itself means
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