Everything about Prakrit totally explained
Prakrit (also transliterated as
Pracrit) (
Sanskrit:
prākṛta प्राकृत (from
pra-kṛti प्रकृति): according to one interpretation, "original, natural, artless, normal, ordinary, usual", interpreted as indicating the "
vernacular", in contrast to the literary and religious [orthodoxy] of
[[sanskrit|]]; both adjectives
elliptically referring to
vāk "speech"; according to another interpretation, "derived from an original", for example derived from Sanskrit) refers to the broad family of the
Indic languages and
dialects spoken in ancient
India. The Prakrits became literary languages, generally patronized by kings identified with the
Kshatriya caste, but were regarded as illegitimate by the
Brahmin orthodoxy. The earliest extant usage of Prakrit is the corpus of inscriptions of
Asoka, emperor of Northern India. While the various Prakrit languages are associated with different patron dynasties, with different religions and different literary traditions, none of them were at any time an informal "mother tongue" in any area of India.
Forms
Prakrit is foremost a native term, designating "vernaculars" as opposed to
Sanskrit. Some modern scholars follow this classification by including all
Middle Indo-Aryan languages under the rubric of "Prakrits", while others emphasise the independent development of these languages, often separated from the history of Sanskrit by wide divisions of
caste,
religion, and
geography.
The three
Dramatic Prakrits -
Sauraseni,
Magadhi,
Maharashtri, as well as
Jain Prakrit each represent a distinct tradition of literature within the history of India. Other Prakrits are reported in historical sources, but are no longer spoken (for example,
Paisaci).
Ardhamagadhi ("half Magadhi"), an archaic form of Magadhi which was used extensively to write Jain scriptures, is often considered to be the definitive form of Prakrit, while others are considered variants. For this reason, courses teaching "Prakrit" often teach
Ardhamagadhi.
Pali (the language of
Theravada Buddhism) tends to be treated as a special exception, as classical (Sanskrit) grammars don't consider it as a Prakrit
per se, presumably for
sectarian rather than linguistic reasons.
Etymology
According to the dictionary of
Monier Monier-Williams, the most frequent meanings of the Sanskrit term, from which our "prakrit" is derived, are "original, natural, normal" and the term is derived from, "making or placing before or at first, the original or natural form or condition of anything, original or primary substance". In linguistic terms, this is used in contrast with, "refined".
Traditional accounts
Virtually every
Sanskrit student is taught that refinement of Sanskrit (to reverse much of middle-Indic influence from the standard language) was a process spanning many generations (traditionally more than a thousand years) until it was considered complete and perfect.
Some scholars restrict the Prakrits to the languages used by
Hindu and
Jain writers; others include the Buddhist languages, such as Pali and
Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, and the inscriptional Prakrits. Other Prakrits include the
Gāndhārī, and Paisāci, which is known through grammarians' statements. The modern languages of northern India developed from the Prakrits, after the intermediary stage of the
Apabhramsa language.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Prakrit'.
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