156

SANSKRIT GRAMMAR,

BRIEF SKETCH OF SCENIC PRAKRIT.

Prakrit {prakrta
'

original, natural,

vulgar ')

is

the collective

name

of

all

the popular dialects akin to Sanskrit that were

era.

spoken in India at a time preceding our

ordinary Prakrit
is

By

scenic or

meant the vernaculars that women and

inferior persons are

made

to speak in Sanskrit plays.

Except in the Mrcchakatika and the 4th act of the Vikramorva9i, rarely more than two dialects, the closely- united
Malidrdsfrl and ^auraseni, occur in Sanskrit dramas.
rastri
is

Maha-

the dialect used in poetry, and forms the basis of

(^auraseni, distinguished from the former

this brief sketch,

by a more
dialect.

faithful preservation of medial consonants

and by

certain peculiar forms (in

part noted below),

is

the prose-

Grammar.
1.

Introductory.

The
is
I,

general character of Prakrit as

as follows
:

compared with Sanskrit

vowels' ofiCMX save f,
g, s,

I.

All the Sanskrit

di,

and au, and

all

the consonants save

and h; but by an extensive change of etymologically

justified sounds,

and especially by a frequent

loss or assimi-

lation

of consonants, the Prakrit words are

vocalic than corresponding Sanskrit
all,

made
words

far
;

more
to

weak and
end
in

II. the

noun-stems are
a vowel,
all
;

by abbreviation

or extension,
;

made

and they do not occur in the du.

all

III. the

pronouns
in the du.

end in a vowel or anusvara, and do not occur

IV. the verb-stems end in
pi.

a,

and are inflected

only in three Act. tenses, sing, and

BRIEF SKETCH OF SCENIC PRAKRIT.

157

I.

ELEMENTARY SOUNDS.

Vowels
2- Ti f)

^^>

^^^

"^^ ^^^ wanting'.

ri, ov, rarely,

They
i ; I

are supplied as
a,

follows

initial r

by

or
;

medial f by
li ;

or

i,

or (after a labial) u, or, rarely, ri

rarely, i ;
3.
e,

by

ai

by

e, ai,

or,

and au by

o, aii, or, rarely, u.

o are simple vowels, short or long, sometimes corre?',

sponding to Skr.
4.
is

u.
is

A long
is

vowel

shortened before two consonants, or

;

it

saved by the loss of one of them

and, inversely, a short

vowel
to one.

lengthened

if

two sequent consonants are reduced

Consonants
5.
6. 5, s,

h are wanting,
Consonants.

5, s

being supplied by
Prakrit

s.

Initial

No

word

begins

with

more than one consonant.

last,

Of conjunct consonants only the

Single consonants are

reduced acc'g to

7, is retained.

usually the same as in Sanskrit, except that Skr.

is

repren.

sented

by

j,

and Skr.
initial

n, save before dental

mutes, by

In

some words, an

consonant

is

dropped {una=S^v. punar ;

a=Skr.
7.

ca).

Medial Consonants.

Single Consonants.

Sanskrit
gutt.
t,

These are single or conjunct.

y,
v

are

generally lost in
t,

the Prakrit
(esp'ly in

r and unaspirated mutes, save

;

d, are often so

poetry)

and dent, aspirates and hk are

th,
t,

usually supplied hy h;

p, and sometimes ph, are

SANSKRIT GRAMMAR.

158
sonantized
initial

(p^v

ov b)

is

supplied

by

I,

and n, as when

by

n.

Other

letters are usually unaltered.

is

Often a med. cons't

doubled {eika or ea!=eka).

three consonants concur in

Conjunct Consonants.

Where
if

the Sanskrit word, they are in Prakrit reduced to two (always

by the
are

loss of

a semivowel,
less

there be one).

Two

consonants

more or

fully assimilated

with one another, mostly

in such a

way that

gutturals and palatals prevail over other

consonants, mutes over nasals and semi-open sounds (sibilants

being assimilated in the form of aspirates), and sibilants

Pkr.
last,

(in

over semivowels.
r
is

Aspirates and h always come

and

always changed.

The Prakrit conjuncts may,

:

accordingly, be arranged under the following three heads

a.

Double consonants
;

(of

any kind save

dy, ry,
;

SUr. tk,kt, ky, rk, kr,

cy, ty, re

Ik, kl,
j'l.,

kn;

gg = dg, dg,

aspirates, rr,

and i^)
tt = r

Pkr. kk =
;

become
Ip, kin;

dd)

dd =

jj

=hj,

rt

tt=kt, pt,

bb=d6, = (rarely)
;

in, tm, tr, r, rt

I'b,

ll

iy, rl, {Ir,

or rarely rd nn =/, mm, nn, ny, ny, nv, nr dd = M, dt; W=tp> PS> fi br inm=n?n, nm, nm, my, rm, Im; 77=Ty, rj = ry); 77=vy, TV; fm, fm,
rn,
;

jr, rj, jv,

yy (rarely);

gn,

gm

gy, rg, gr, Ig

cc =
'T'l pl^

(which alBO

dr, rd,

vr,

SB

r,

qy, fr, ft,

y, 8T, sy, sr, sv

b.

Unaspirated consonants with corresponding aspirates

{t)ks,

tkh, khy,

(ksy), ak, sk,

{l)ka,

(akh),

skh,
ts,

kkh;

gg'il = dgh,

Pkr. kkh = Skr.

ghn, ghr, rgh

cch = (A^,
fth;

iih = dhy; tth=i(A,

sjjh, ap,

rch, chr, ka,

kam,

tsy,

pa, 5c;
sth;

pph=(j>A, apk, hph,

c.

tp

tr, rth, st,

Ai'ii=gdh, bdh, rdh, dht

;

jjb=dAy,

hy;

tth =

8f,

bbli=c;6/(, dbh, bhy, bhr, rbh;

Nasals with kh, d,

kan, fn, an, sn, lin;

{T, {r, av
;

lh=Ai.

ni = nd

h, or a

and

with h
;

.-

(in prose)

mh = $m, kam,

Pkr. fikll=Skr.

ttkf ;
;

atn, Jim

= ns=rf,
nli

8.

Final Sounds.

Prakrit
(of. 9,

allows

no other

finals

than

pure or nasalized vowels

10, etc.).


BRIEF SKETCH OP SCENIC PRAKEIT.

159

II,

NOUNS.

9.

Formation of Stems.

The

nominal steins

all

end

in

a vowel.
lost

The

final

consonants of a Sanskrit word are either

(ara

= Skr.

sdras 'pond', hliavaihlia/oant 'being'), in

which

case,

however, they usually reappear before an added

:

vowel-ending (bhava

Inst, bhavad-d) , or they are saved

by

an added a or a [sarada
occur in Prakrit.

Skr. garad

'

autumn ').
ilia,

Note. Some new stem-suffixes

such

as ulla,

dia, inta (inda),

etc

10. Inflection.
inflection

The

essential

features
in

of the Sanskrit
It
is

are

also

recognizable

Prakrit.

to

be

noticed only that the case-forms of the various

largely assimilated with each other, that
influences are discernable, that there are
in pi., viz. one in -hinto in
(fr.

stems are

some pronominal
cattsalis,

two new Abl. forms

and one

bhis

+ tas),

Abl.

sunto

(fr.

su

+ tas),
is

Abl. localis, and finally that the Dat.

ease

and the du. number are wanting.

often

At

the end of a

case-form, anusvara
or dropped at option.
11.

(chiefly in I., G.,

L.

pi.)

added

a-Stems
n.,

ajja

(Skr. arya)

'honored person';

vana

(Skr. vdna),
Sing.
:

'forest'.
u. PI.

m.

m.

n.

N.

160
12.

SANSKRIT 6RAMMAB.

BRIEF SKETCH OF SCENIC PRAKEIT.

in a pure or nasalized vowel.

IGl
tum,

They

are
(of.

Pers. ahain,

Dem.

ta, eda,

ima

(ef.

Skr. iddm)
ta,

amu

Skr. adds), Rel._;c^,

ti,

Int. ha.

Instead of

ya,

lea,

the forms

ji, hi also

occur

in the fern, and exceptionally elsewhere.

16.

The vowel-stems being

inflected alike

(almost

like

nouns), only one example, the Rel.^'a, needs be given.

N(^.
(

= t(is7Bat,

Shortened

or irregular forma

like nam,

{=enam, enum),
etc.)

to

or

ello

etdsmdt), le {=tdsya,
is

tasyas),

sim (=tesdm, tdsdm),

are

not

uncommon, and the masc.

17.
Sing.

sometiniea used for the fem.

Personal Pronouns

N.

'

]62
Plur.;

SANSKRIT GRAMMAR.
m.
jehiim)
jdhinto, jisunto
n.
i.

N.A.
I.

jm{n)

jao, jdu, jio, jiu

jdhim,jlhim
juhinto, jasunto, Jihinto, jisunto

Ab.
G.
L.

jdna{m) , jeiUm]
jesu(m)

jdna{m), jdtim,jina{m),jitm
}dsu{th), jisa[m]

IV.
19.

VERB.
all

With
(or,

a few scattering exceptions, the verbal stems

end in a
stems,

by contraction of ay a or
a(ya-) stems

ava, in e or o).

Root-

stems are extended, no and a-stems changed to na or na-

and

preserved

with usual phonetic

changes.
20.

The verbs
is

are inflected almost exclusively in the Act.,

;

but only in the Pres., Impv., and Fut. Ind.

and the dual

is

number

wanting.
:

For past time the Pass. Part,

used.

Example
Sing.
1
:

Aas

'

smile
Imperat.
Fut.
hasiasatii,

Pres.

hatimi, 'am(li)i
hasasi

hasamu
hasalsu), sdhij osassa

"stdmi

hasissaii

hasa[d)i

haiissa(d)i

Plur.:
1

hasdmo, m(a),
"in{u},

<>ma, simn,
iitka

hasdmo, ma,

hasissdmo

"ma, "samJw,

hasamha
hasalia, 'sadha(iii)
hatissalta, "asadha

kasalia [in prose oadha(m)'\

liasittka

hasanti

hasantu
tlie

hcmtsanti
ss

Sometimes

Fut. has cch instead of

(soccham=^ro>ya)Hi), and Ai instead

of Sid [has-i-hi-ini)^

21.

Of

as

'he' the

following forms

occur:

Pres. sing.

163
2. ttha,

BRIEF SKETCH OF SCENIC PRAKRIT.

1. (!i)m/d,

2.

{a)si,

3.

{a)tfM

pi.

I.

{^a)mho, ka,

3. santi.

Ipf. sing. asi{m), 2. 3. asi.

22. Passive.

The

suffix

yd becomes

ta or ijja, or

is
is

assimilated

with the

inflected as in Act.:

preceding consonant.

The stem

sing. j)adhla[d)i or jaad}iijja[d)i=-

Skr. pathydte {s/path

(y/ffom 'go').

'recite');

gam.ma{d)i=^kx. gamydie

Verbal Nouns.
2:i.

TAe Pres. and Fuf. Participles

(f. ti,

in the Acf.

end

in

anta or enta

or it

is

formed by adding ai to the root),

(f.

and

in the

Midd. in mana

ni or na).

In the Pass, both

anta and mana occur.

{\/path
'
'

Thus:

padhanta

B^x. pdtkant

recite

')

rakkhiamana

Skr.

raksydmdna {raks
'

guard')

karljjanta for Skr.

is

kriydmdna (\/kar make

formed as
in Sanskrit,

').

24. The Pass. Participle

observing

usual

phonetic laws:

su(d)a-=B)ix. c^rntd {^/qru 'hear'),

luddha

= labdhd

{\/Labli 'take').

25. The Gerundive in

ya usually assimilates y

to the pre:

ceding consonant or vice versa {koppa

'be angry';

= S\ir.

kop-ya

s/ kiqi
repres/jjuj

^a;j'a=Skr. hurya)
or
anijja

the suffix auiya

is
:

sented
'

by ania

{puanla=Skr. pvjaniya

honour'; karanifJa

= S^T. karanlya).
or, rarely,
is

26. The Gerund ends in (t)i/na

dna (Skr.

trd),

and in

ia (Skr. ya).

The
; '

latter

in prose used even

in

simple verbs.

Thus

kama

(kadua)

= SkT. hrtvu
fr.

gerihia

Skr. gfhya {\/grah

take': Pkr. genh,

the Pres. grhnd-).

164
27. Causativks.
I

SANSKRIT GRAMMAR.

me

in e

= Skr.

The

Causative stems have two forms

(

aya), the other in dve

= Skr.

apa/yd):

Ldredi or kdrdvedi=B\x. kdrdyati.

V.
28.
'ilio ;

INDECLINABLES.
a=St. ca
(6); am}/io=

Among more
avi, vi, biy

disguised forms are to be noticed:

;

pi=api; idha=:iha ; in=i8at

or
tti,
ti,

una=punar ;

evra, va,

jema,

irva=cva; ctaiH=erram; o=apa

l.halu:
h't
;

ava; kaid; kdhe=kadd; kku, kkhu =

niitit

= nanu

ia^iti; ddva = tuvat; pati=prati; to. Tea, Tia=-

ca

= zd.