________________
332
Studies in Jainology, Prakett
by the facts that the basic or standard Paisacī is called Kaikeya Paisací by Purusottama and others, and that Dr. Bagchi has also arrived at the conclusion that Cūlikā Paisací might have been a variety of North-Western Prakrit spoken by Sogdians. The fact that Sogdians were zealous traders would explain the spreading of Paisací over a wider arca”. This indicates that there might have been some Paisācí speaking itinerant tribes or colonists here and there in South India too. But it does not mean that all the provinces of South India had Paisaci as their main language from which the later languages, like Kannada etc., could spring up. There is, however, a possibility of some mutual borrowings of a lexical type, along with which a few phonetic peculiarities might have also come down to us.
At this juncture a few names, current even in the present day Karnatak that have one or two Paisaci features come to my mind : Rācappa (j>c), Rācamalla (j>c); Rācanāyaka (j>c).27 That such change could be spontaneous on the tongue of sonie Kannada community, cannot be denied. But the peculiar name Kiññanna (snññ) does contain a Paisaci feature if not a Pāli or Māgadhi one.28
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
