Most of the responses take for granted that “Prakrit” is Sanskrit that is (a) incorrect, or (b) at a further stage of linguistic development, and interesting sociolinguistic and historical-linguistic insights come from this definition.

But one way to reframe Dr. Paturi's question is: what are the schemas under which “Prakrit” (or “the Prakrits”) was classified in ancient and medieval India?

Regarding the use of the word prākṛta- in reference to a language (or dialect), one can consult Pischel's grammar (§§1ff.), and V. Pisani, “On the Origin of Prākṛtam and Pāli as Language Designations,” pp. 185–191 in Felicitation Volume Presented to Professor Sripad Krishna Belvalkar, Benares: M.B. Dass, 1957 (completely outdated when it comes to Pali). And my dissertation, eventually. As far as I know, the earliest such uses, which are still difficult to date reliably, are in the Nāṭyaśāstra (of pāṭhyam), in the Gāthāsaptaśatī (of kāvyam), and in the Sthānāṅgasūtra (of bhaṇitī). Dr. Paturi might be interested in the classification found in the Eastern Prakrit grammarians, viz. bhāṣā, vibhāṣā, apabhraṃśa, and paiśācika. Acharya’s ed. of the Prākṛtasarvasva has some discussion of this.

On Mon, Dec 29, 2014 at 7:51 AM, Michael Witzel <witzel@fas.harvard.edu> wrote:

In addition see the detailed discussions:

* Tracing the Vedic dialects. in: Colette Caillat, Dialectes dans les litteratures indo-aryennes. Actes du Colloque International organise par UA 1058 sous les auspices du C.N.R.S avec le soutien du College de France, de la Fondation Hugot du College de France, de l'Universite de Paris III, du Ministre des Affaires Etrangeres, Paris (Fondation Hugot) 16-18 Septembre 1986. 

Paris (College de France, Institut de Civilisation Indienne) 1989; 97-264

[where you can see that a particular local dialect feature (widely) spreads in the subsequent text levels] 

* Notes on Vedic dialects, 1.  Zinbun, Annals of the Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University, 67 (1991) Kyoto 1991, 31-70

 

* Notes on Vedic Dialects, 2. In : G. Schweiger (ed.), Indogermanica. FS für Gert Klingenschmitt. Indische, iranische und indogermanische Studien dem verehrten Jubilar dargebracht zu seinem fünfundsechigsten Geburtstag. Taimering: Schweiger VWT-Verlag 2005, 733-743.   

Cheers,

Michael

On Dec 27, 2014, at 1:18 PM, Hock, Hans Henrich wrote:

Language periodization, just like many aspects of textual periodization, is a perennial problem and only further complicates the picture. There are Prakritic forms as early as the Rig Veda (such as vikaṭa beside vikṛta, or kitava for expected kṛtavat). 

Regarding Vedic “dialects”, there is an interesting paper by Emeneau: The dialects of Old Indo-Aryan. In: Ancient Indo-European dialects, ed. by Henrik Birnbaum and Jaan Puhvel, 123–138. Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1966.

Cheers,

Hans Henrich Hock

On 27-Dec-2014, at 3:38, Oleg Bendz <oleg.bendz@yahoo.com> wrote:

2014-12-27

Dear All:

The "prakrit" of Gandhara (the Kushans) had an army, but maybe not a navy.

Language periodization may be an important consideration.

The problem of language and dialect may reside in the terminology itself.

I should stop here.

O.Bendz

On Friday, December 26, 2014 5:48 PM, Matthew Kapstein <mkapstei@uchicago.edu> wrote:

>Ultimately, a clear distinction between “language” and “dialects” eludes even modern linguistics, in spite of long discussions of this issue.

As Max Weinreich elegantly put it: "A language is a dialect with an army and navy."


Matthew Kapstein
Directeur d'études,
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes

Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies,
The University of Chicago

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Michael Witzel
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Wales Prof. of Sanskrit,
Dept. of South Asian Studies, Harvard University
1 Bow Street,
Cambridge MA 02138, USA

phone: 1- 617 - 495 3295, fax 617 - 496 8571;
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