Prakrit language
| Prakrit | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution: |
Northern and western India |
| Linguistic classification: |
Indo-European
|
| ISO 639-2 / 5: | |
| Glottolog: |
None midd1350 (Middle Indo-Aryan) |
A Prakrit (Sanskrit: प्राकृत prākṛta, Shauraseni: pāuda, Magadhi Prakrit: pāua) is any of several Middle Indo-Aryan languages.
The Ardhamagadhi ("half-Magadhi") Prakrit, which was used extensively to write the scriptures of Jainism, is often considered to be the definitive form of Prakrit, while others are considered variants thereof. Prakrit grammarians would give the full grammar of Ardhamagadhi first, and then define the other grammars with relation to it. For this reason, courses teaching "Prakrit" are often regarded as teaching Ardhamagadhi.Pali, the Prakrit used in Theravada Buddhism, tends to be treated as a special exception from the variants of the Ardhamagadhi language, as Classical Sanskrit grammars do not consider it as a Prakrit per se, presumably for sectarian rather than linguistic reasons. Other Prakrits are reported in old historical sources but are not attested, such as Paiśācī.
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. While Prakrits were originally seen as "lower" forms of language, the influence they had on Sanskrit – allowing it to be more easily used by the common people, as well as "Sanskritization" of Prakrits – gave Prakrits progressively higher cultural cachet.
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