Apabhramsha Language

Apabhramsha languages are part of the transitional phase of the Indo-Aryan languages' evolution from ancient Sanskrit to their modern forms. Evidence suggests that Apabhramsha originated between the second century BCE and the third century CE, eventually becoming the primary language used in literary works from about the fifth century CE. Apabhramsha is not a single language but a collection of dialects developed from the Prakrit languages, which themselves descended from ancient Sanskrit. Apabhramsha languages were considered a simplification or corruption of the standardized Prakrit. Eventually, Apabhramsha became widely used among the population, spreading to other parts of India and branching off into different dialects. Variations of Apabhramsha were spoken until about the fifteenth century, when they evolved into the modern forms of Indo-Aryan. In the twenty-first century, the direct descendants of Apabhramsha are used by hundreds of millions of people.

History and Classification

Apabhramsha has its roots in Sanskrit, an Indo-European language along the Indo-Aryan branch and a common ancestor to many modern Indian languages. Sanskrit is considered a holy language used by the three main religions of India: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The earliest known use of Sanskrit comes from the Rigveda, a sacred collection of hymns believed to date from about 1100 BCE to 1500 BCE.

Because Sanskrit was thought of as the "language of the gods," it became known as a pure, or perfect language. Around the fourth century BCE, an Indian philosopher named Pāṇini standardized the language, developing thousands of rules for grammar and word usage. Pāṇini's work became the accepted form of Sanskrit for centuries.

Sanskrit eventually began to branch out and evolve into other forms, which became known as Middle Indo-Aryan languages. The first offshoot to develop was Prakrit, a language considered more common than the divine Sanskrit and one that did not strictly adhere to Pāṇini's rules. This difference was born out by the usage of the language in ancient Indian literature and plays. So-called higher characters, such as kings, nobles, and deities, would speak using Sanskrit. Characters considered lower class, such as demons, servants, and women would use Prakrit.

Prakrit also began to branch off and form its own regional dialects, including Paishachi, Shauraseni, Magadhi, Ardha, and Maharashtri. In written form, both Sanskrit and Prakrit dialects used the Devanagari script, an alphabet read from left to right that utilizes rounded shapes within squared outlines. A horizontal line runs along the tops of full letters.

The Apabhramsha dialects of Prakrit are believed to have developed sometime between the second century BCE and the third century CE. Ancient Indian scholars first used the term Apabhramsha about the second century BCE as an insult referring to speech that strayed from the standards set by Pāṇini. There were two types of common speech: the standardized Prakrit, and a corrupted dialect called Apabhramsha, spoken by the people of the Abhira, a nomadic group from Western India. In Sanskrit, Apabhramsha means "corrupt," or "fallen down."

By the fifth century CE, the term Apabhramsha came to represent the written language used in literature. Dialects during this period were referred to differently depending on whether they were spoken or written. Spoken dialects were called by individual names such as Paishachi Prakrit or Magadhi Prakrit, while the written forms were called Paishachi Apabhramsha or Magadhi Apabhramsha. Much of the early literature written in Apabhramsha comes from the religion of Jainism, a belief system that advocates nonviolence and respect for all life. Most of the surviving texts from the period consist of folk tales, myths, and poems and often bear some connection to the common person and everyday life.

By the tenth to twelfth centuries, Apabhramsha had developed and spread from regional written dialects to a distinct form of Indian language on par with Sanskrit and Prakrit. Eventually, as Prakrit began to diminish in popularity, Apabhramsha flourished, becoming the predominant languages in the region. Apabhramsha dialects were used until about the thirteenth century, when they began to evolve into what would become the New Indo-Aryan languages, which replaced them by the fifteenth century.

Apabhramsha developed several new linguistic features that deviated from the ancient Indo-Aryan languages and passed them on when they evolved into their modern forms. Among these characteristics is a vocalic flexibility, which allows one vowel to be substituted for another, the sounds of consonants to be changed, and the shortening or lengthening of vowel sounds when placed at the end of a sentence. The language also uses inflectional features, such as merging a-, i-, and u-stemmed sounds in feminine or neutral words. Inflection is a linguistic characteristic in which changes in tone or pitch during pronunciation change the meaning of the word.

Geographic Distribution and Modern Usage

Apabhramsha is believed to have originated in Northern India and eventually migrated to other parts of the region. Several classical Indian texts were written in the language, including the eighth-century epic poem, Paumacariu; the Mahapurana, a ninth-century Jain religious text; and a Jain version of the religious epic Ramayana, one of the great works of Indian literature.

After the fifteenth century, Apabhramsha languages developed into the New Indo-Aryan languages, which became the languages spoken in the twenty-first century. Apabhramsha dialects such as Qaurasena Apabhramsha evolved into the modern Western Hindi, Rajasthani, and Gujarati languages. Maharashtra Apabhramsha became Magadha Bengali, Bihari, Assamese, and Oriya. Hindi, the official language of India, spoken by over 600 million people worldwide, evolved from Shauraseni Apabhramsha.

Bibliography

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