{ka-li-da-tha.}, when Pururava asks the animals in the forest about his beloved
who had disappeared.Magadhi-wiki.htm
from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magadhi download 070902
Downloaded and edited by U Kyaw Tun (UKT) for staff and students of TIL (Tun Institute of Learning, http://www.tuninst.net ). Not for sale.
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Magadhi language
UKT Notes
• Apabhramsha • Dramatic Prakrits •
Magadhi Prakit
मगही magahī
Spoken in: India / Region: Bihar / Total speakers: 11,362,000
Language family: Indo-European > Indo-Iranian > Indo-Aryan > Eastern Group > Bihari > Magadhi
Writing system: Devanagari, Kaithi
Official language of Bihar state in India
The Magadhi language (also known as मगही Magahi) is a language spoken by 17,449,446 people in India. An earlier form of Magadhi, known as Magadhi Prakrit, is believed to be the language spoken by The Buddha, and the language of the ancient kingdom of Magadha. Magadhi is closely related to Bhojpuri and Maithili and these languages are sometimes referred to as a single language, Bihari. These languages, together with several other related languages, are known as the Bihari languages, which form a sub-group of the Eastern Zone group of Indo-Aryan languages. [UKT: Magadhi Prakrit is known as one of the three Dramatic Prakrits.]
UKT: I remember seeing in one of the Myanmar-to-Myanmar dictionaries in my collection a connection made between {ba.ma} and {bram~ma}. Since my collection is spread out in three places, Canada, Myanmar and Singapore, a particular book may not available to me at a particular time, and as of today (080731) while I am in Myanmar, I am unable to trace the particular book I have in mind. And when I see the mention of a language known as Apabhramsha at the end of Wikipedia article on Magadhi Prakit, I became curious and have downloaded the referred article and have included it in my notes.
Magadhi has approximately 13 million speakers. It is spoken primarily spoken in the Magadh area of Bihar state. This area includes Patna, Gaya, Aurangabad, Jehanabad, Nalanda, and other surrounding districts. It is also spoken in some areas of Hazaribagh, Giridih, Palamau, Munger, and Bhagalpur, with some speakers in the Malda District of West Bengal. It is generally written using Devanagari script.
It was once mistakenly thought to be dialects of Hindi, but has been more recently shown to be descendant of and very similar to Eastern Group of Indic languages, along with Bengali, Assamese, and Oriya. It has a very rich and old tradition of folk songs and stories. It is spoken in 8 districts in Bihar, 3 in Jharkhand and has some speakers in Malda, West Bengal
External links:
•
Magadhi at The Rosetta Project
•
Jain Scriptures
•
मगही-विकिपीडिया
This page was last modified 17:55, 15 August 2007.
From: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apabhramsha 080731
Apabhramsha (apabhraṃśa) is a term used by Sanskrit grammarians since Patanjali to refer to dialects of North India that deviate from the norm of Sanskrit grammar. The term apabhraṃśa literally means "corrupt" or non-standard language. It is used as a cover term for the dialects forming the transition between the late Middle Indic and early Modern Indic languages (e.g. Brij Bhasha), spanning the period between the 6th and the 13th centuries, though some scholars use it more narrowly to refer primarily to the transition period (apabhram-fn01), leaving the earlier part to the Middle Indo-Aryan languages.
The term Prakrit (which includes Pali) is used for the popular dialects of India which were spoken until the 4th - 8th century, but some scholars use the term Prakrit throughout the Middle Indo-Aryan period. Middle Indo-Aryan languages gradually transformed into Apabhramshas which were used until about the 15th century. Apabhramshas evolved into modern languages which are equally today spoken by millions of people. Languages such as Hindi (337 million speakers), Bengali (232 million speakers), Marathi (90 million), Urdu (160 million speakers), Gujarati (46 million speakers), Sinhala (15 million speakers) are all representative languages of large modern day states, unlike Sanskrit (>50 thousand speakers) which has fallen out of modern day use. The boundaries of these periods are somewhat hazy, not strictly chronological. The modern north Indian languages are often considered to have begun to develop a distinct identity around the 11th century, while the Apabhramshas were still in use, and became fully distinct by the end of the 12th century.
A significant amount of Apabhramsha literature has been found in
Jain libraries. While
Amir
Khusro and Kabir
were writing in a language quite similar to modern Hindi, many poets, especially
in regions that were still ruled by Hindu kings, continued to write in
Apabhramsha. The Apabhramsha authors include Sarahapad of Kamarupa, Devasena of
Dhar (9th c. CE),
Pushpadanta of
Manyakheta
(9th c. CE), Dhanapal,
Muni Ramsimha,
Hemachandra of
Patan, Raighu
of Gwalior
(15th c. CE). An early example of the use of Apabhramsha is in Vikramorvashiyam
of
Kalidasa
{ka-li-da-tha.}, when Pururava asks the animals in the forest about his beloved
who had disappeared.
Wikipedia references
apabhram-fn01
Shapiro, Michael C. Hindi. Facts about the world's languages: An
encyclopedia of the world's major languages, past and present. Ed. Jane
Garry, and Carl Rubino: New England Publishing Associates, 2001.
apabram-fn01b .
Go back Apabhram-note-b
From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramatic_Prakrit 080731
The Dramatic Prakrits are the three main dialects of Prakrit, used extensively in Ancient Indian literature. The term "dramatic" is used because the main record of these languages is in the speech of minor characters in the Sanskrit drama. These are always accompanied by Sanskrit translations, and are therefore a useful resource in tracing the history of the Indo-Aryan languages.
Maharashtri Prakrit was used in the southwestern regions of Ancient India, later evolving into the Southern Indo-Aryan languages, including Marathi and Konkani.
Sauraseni Prakrit was used in north-central India, later evolving into the Central Indo-Aryan languages, including Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, and Gujarati, among others.
Magadhi Prakrit was used in eastern India, later evolving into the Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, including Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, and the Bihari languages (Bhojpuri, modern Magadhi, Maithili, etc.), among others.
Go back drama-prak-note-b
From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magadhi_Prakrit 080731
Magadhi Prakrit is of one of the three Dramatic Prakrits, the written languages of Ancient India after the decline of Sanskrit as an official language. Magadhi Prakrit was spoken in the eastern Indian subcontinent, in a region spanning what is now eastern India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. It is believed to be the language spoken by Gautama Buddha, and the language of the ancient kingdom of Magadha.
Theravada Buddhist tradition has long held that the Pāli language was synonymous with the ancient Magadha language; and indeed, there are many remarkable analogies between Pāli and an old form of Magadhi Prakrit known as Ardhamagadhi ("Half Magadhi"), which is preserved in ancient Jain texts. (Both the Buddha and the Jain Mahavira preached in ancient Magadha ).
Ardhamagadhi differs from later Magadhi Prakrit on similar points as Pāli. For example, Ardhamagadhi preserves historical l, unlike later Magadhi Prakrit, where l changed into r. Additionally, in the noun inflection, Ardhamagadhi shows the ending -o instead of Magadhi Prakrit -e at least in many metrical places.
Magadhi Prakrit later evolved into the Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, including Bengali, Oriya, Assamese, and the Bihari languages (Bhojpuri, Maithili, and Magahi, among others).
See also :
•
Apabhramsha
• Prakrit
End of Wikipedia article.
Go back Magadhi-Prak-note-b
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