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58
प्राकृतसर्वस्वम् ।
several characters in a drama, Bh. enumerates seven Pkt dialects. They are* : i. Māgadhī, ii. Avantijā, iii. Prācyā, iv. Śūrasenī, v. Ardhamāyadbī, vi. Bābliki: and vii. Dākşiņātyā as against seven vibhāṣās such as i. Sabara, ii. Abhira, iii. Cāņdāla, iv. Sacara, v. Drāvida, vi. Odraja and vii, language of foresters. Another work named Gitālankāra attributed to Bh, mentions as many as fortytwo different dialects current probably in the days of the author, either as living speech or known through literature. The 14th chapter of this work entitled Bhāşālakṣaṇa is devoted to the discussion of Pkt dialects. It is curious to note that though the author refers to fortytwo languages, he enumerates actually thirty such languages. The list of dialects enumeretedis given below: 1. Mahārāștrī, 2. Kirāti, 3. Mlecchi, 4............., 5. Somakī, 6. Colokī, 7. Kāñcī, 8. Mālavī, 9. Kāšīsambhavā, 10. Devikā, 11. Kuśāvartā, 12. Śūrasenikā, 13. Vandhī, 14. Gūrjari, 15. Romakī, 16. Mālavi (repeated, see 8 above), 17. Kāņamukhī, 18. Devakī, 19. Pañcapattanā, 20. Saindhavi, 21. Kausikā 22. Bhadrā, 23. Bhadrabhojikā, 24. Kuntalā, 25. Košalā, 26. Pārā, 27. Yāvanī, 28. Kurkurī, 29, Madhyadesi, 30. Kāņvoji and 31.... ...... 34
While illustrating individual dialects, the author gives the following names : 1. Desī, 2. Kirāī, 3 Soraţthiyā, 4. Māgaha, 5. Agolā, 6. doubtful, 7. Pañcaya
2. See NŚ. XVI1. 48 and 49.
3. The verse enumerating these vibhāṣās in NŚ appears in & slightly different form in PS and Pr's Csmm. on Mr. See also Pkt Vibhāṣās, op. cit. p. 489 ff.
4. See Names of Pkt langs. by S. M. KATRE in Vol. of Indian and Iranian studies, Bombay 1939.
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