Prakrit Languages
Prakrit languages are a group of Middle Indo-Aryan dialects that evolved from Sanskrit, representing a significant transitional phase in the linguistic history of the Indian subcontinent. They were used primarily by ordinary people as vernaculars and are distinct from the more formal Sanskrit, which is considered a sacred language in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The Prakrits include several notable dialects, such as Maharastri, Shauraseni, Magadhi, and Ardhamagadhi, each of which played a role in literature and drama during their time.
While Prakrit languages were once widely spoken and used in various cultural contexts, they gradually fell out of use by the first millennium CE, giving way to Apabhramsha languages and later New Indo-Aryan languages. Though no longer spoken, Prakrit continues to be studied in academic settings, similar to how Latin is treated today. These languages are characterized by their inflectional nature, which involves using prefixes and suffixes to convey grammatical relationships, and they adhere to a typical subject-object-verb sentence structure. Understanding Prakrit is essential for appreciating the historical development of modern Indo-Aryan languages and the rich literary tradition of ancient India.
Prakrit Languages
The Prakrit languages are Middle Indo-Aryan languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, and part of a transitional phase of Indian speech from ancient Sanskrit to its modern forms. The Indo-European languages include several hundred languages used in Europe, parts of Western, Central, and South Asia. Indo-Aryan languages are spoken by people in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and parts of the Himalayas.
Prakrit is not a single language; it is a collection of dialects developed from Sanskrit; these dialects were considered a common or ordinary form of the sacred Sanskrit.
Prakrit and Indo-Aryan languages are distinguished from other Indo-European languages by a number of elements. For example, they are inflective in that they use prefixes and suffixes to indicate grammatical relations. They distinguish between long and short vowel sounds and do not use vowel sequences. Nouns are inflected for number, gender, and case. Verbs are marked for person, number, tense, aspect, and mood. Sentence order in Prakrit is usually subject-object-verb.
History and Classification
Prakrit 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 the oldest known Indo-Aryan language and one of the oldest known human languages. The earliest documented use of Sanskrit comes from the Rigveda, a sacred collection of hymns believed to date from about 1100 BCE to 1500 BCE.
Sanskrit is considered a holy language and means "perfected" or "refined." It is the liturgical language of the three main religions of India—Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. There are two forms of Sanskrit—Vedic Sanskrit and Classical Sanskrit—which are very similar and differ on points of grammar and vocabulary. Originally, Sanskrit was not considered a distinct language but was viewed as a refined way of speaking, and denoted status and education. The vernaculars, or dialects spoken by ordinary people in a particular region, were called Prakrits. The Sanskrit name for Prakrit comes from the word for "original," "ordinary," or "usual." These Prakrits later evolved into modern languages.
The exact origin of modern Prakrit languages is unknown. In the early twentieth century, the Irish historian Sir George Grierson described the history of Prakrit in three distinct stages. The first stage, Primary Prakrit, consisted of the Vedic language and Sanskrit. The second stage, Secondary Prakrit, gave rise to the Pali language. The third stage, Tertiary Prakrit, resulted in modern vernaculars.
Four early forms of Prakrit languages included Maharastri, Shauraseni, Magadhi, and Ardhamagadhi. The first three of these were Dramatic Prakrits, languages used in dramas and literature. They began as spoken languages but continued to be used as literary or written languages even after the spoken language was no longer used. These three were the most prominent Dramatic Prakrits, but there were many others. Characters in Sanskrit plays would each speak a different Prakrit language based on their role in a play. 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.
Maharastri Prakrit was the language spoken in ancient and medieval India for about a thousand years and was the most popular of all the Prakrit languages. Used in many works of literature, it was made famous by the Sanskrit playwright Kālidāsa, who lived about the fifth century CE. Maharastri Prakrit became the official language of the Satavahana dynasty, which ruled from about the third century BCE to the third century CE. This form of the language was characterized by the loss of consonants and transposing the letter h with the Sanskrit s. It later developed into other Indo-Aryan languages such as Marathi, Sinhala, and Maldivian.
Shauraseni Prakrit was used in north-central India, including the holy city of Mathura. It was characterized by replacing d and th with the Sanskrit t, and the dh for the Sanskrit h. Shauraseni Prakrit later evolved into Hindi languages, including Hindustani and Punjabi.
Magadhi Prakrit was common throughout the eastern half of the Gangetic Valley. It is believed to have been spoken by important religious figures, such as Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism. This language was characterized by the use of a single sh, the replacement of l for r, y for j, and d/d for t along with the loss of middle consonants. Magadhi Prakrit evolved into eastern Indo-Aryan languages, such as Magadhi, Bengali and Odia.
Ardhamagadhi Prakrit is considered to be the classic or definitive form of Prakrit. It was used extensively to write scriptures in Jainism. Traditionally known as the Jina sāsana, or Jain dharma, Jainism is an ancient Indian religion that prescribes nonviolence to all living beings. It teaches that the path to spiritual purity can be achieved through a disciplined life.
Geographic Distribution and Modern Usage
Prakrit languages are no longer spoken. In the first millennium CE, Prakrit began to be replaced by the Apabhramsha languages, which later developed into the New Indo-Aryan languages. These languages eventually became the languages spoken in the twenty-first century. Although some universities provide instruction in Prakrit, the languages are much like Latin and are used primarily in academics.
Bibliography
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