Buddhist Gems 71
Dharmadeva
In eastern India the spoken language was Ma'gadhii Pra'krta. (In the
past India was comprised of several countries and Magadh was one of
them). The speciality of Ma'gadhii Pra'krta is that in pronunciation
instead of three "sa" -- that is, "sha," "sa" and "s'a" -- only one
"sa" -- that is, "sa" -- is pronounced.
In central northern India the peoples' language was Shaurasenii
Pra'krta. Shu'rasena was the country between the Ganga and the Jamuna
-- it was known as "Brahmavarta" in ancient times. During the time of
the Mahabharata it was called "Shu'rasena" and Mathura was the
capital. During the Pathan and Mughal periods, it was called "Doa'b"
or "the land between two rivers." In the west of Shaurasenii,
Paesh'achii Pra'krta was spoken and in the west of Paesha'chii,
Pa'shcha'tya Pra'krta was spoken. In Sind and Baluchistan, Saendhavii
was the language of the people. In the west of Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan and Gujarat, it was Ma'lavii Pra'krta. In Mahara's't'ra, Goa
and parts of Karnataka, Mahara's't'rii Pra'krta was spoken.
The Pra'krta languages were "petticoat languages," that is, they were
the languages of the kitchen. The Pra'krta languages underwent further
transmutation. From Ma'gadhii Pra'krta came Eastern Demi-Ma'gadhii and
Western Demi-Ma'gadhii. From Western DemiMa'gadhii Chattisgarhii,
Nagpuria, Bhojpurii and Magahii evolved, and from Eastern Demi-
Ma'gadhii Asamia, Bengali, Angika, Maethili and Oriya evolved. All
these nine languages come from Ma'gadhii Pra'krta.
Buddha' spoke in Pa'li, that is, Ma'gadhii Pra'krta. "Palli" means
"village" and "Pali" means "language of the village". From Shaurasenii
came Avadhii, Bundelii, Baghelii, Brajabhas'a and Hariya'navii. From
Hariya'navii (which had Persian and Turkish vocabulary) came Urdu, the
language of people who wear "vardii" or military dress. From
Paeshachii Pra'krta came Multa'ni, Eastern Punjabi, Western Punjabi,
Pahar'ii (Sirmaurii -- a dialect of Nahan) and Dogrii. From
Pa'shcha'tya came Pashto, Afghanii, Peshavarii, Kashmirii, Tazakii,
Kurdis and the languages of South Russia. From Saendhavii Pra'krta
came Sindhi, Kacchi, Bahici and Brulii. The last two are Dravidian and
not Indo-Aryan languages. Several languages emerged from Ma'lavii
Pra'krta in the east and were spoken in Bhopal, Vidisha and nearby
places, Gujrati and Kathiavari or Saurashtri. To the western side
Marwarii, Mewar'ii, Harautii, Dhudha'rii and Mewati were spoken. From
Maha'ra's't'rii Pra'krta came Varad'i, spoken in Vidarbha, and
Debastha Merathi, spoken in Pune and Konkon. In Paesha'chii Pra'krta
the use of diphthong is rare. In Pa'shcha'tya, as in `Padam Pos'a',
diphthongs are occasionally found. Kulu is a blending of Pahar'ii
Punjabi and eastern Dogrii.
I once said that all the languages of this universe are mine, but you
know only 5,7 or 10 of them. Suppression of the mother tongue is
suppression of human sentiment and suppression of human expression.
Such a thing is not only bad, it is nasty!
Shrii Shrii Anandamurti
The Languages of India
A SCRIPTOLOGICAL AND LINGUISTIC SURVEY OF THE WORLD
Nutshell Part 17
20 February 1989, Calcutta
---
Since the dawn of human civilization Tripura has been a part of
Bengal.
During the ancient Hindu, Buddhist, Pathan and Mughal periods, and
even in the British period, Tripura was economically self-sufficient,
but Tripura's economy received a severe set back with the partition of
Bengal in 1947.
Shrii Shrii Anandamurti
PROUTIST ECONOMICS
TRIPURA
July 1986, Calcutta