Prakrit Bhasha Ka Tulnatmak Vyakaran - Book Summary

Here is a comprehensive summary of the Jain text "Prakrit Bhasha ka Tulnatmak Vyakarana" by K. R. Chandra:

Book Title: Prakrit Bhasha ka Tulnatmak Vyakarana (A Comparative Grammar of Prakrit Languages) Author: K. R. Chandra Publisher: Prakrit Text Society Ahmedabad

Overall Purpose and Scope: This book, now in its second edition (published 2001, first edition 1982), serves as a comparative grammar of Prakrit languages. It aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of these languages for both initial and advanced students of Prakrit. The author, K. R. Chandra, draws upon approximately twenty years of teaching experience to present the material in a structured and accessible manner.

Key Features and Approach:

Comparative and Historical Perspective: The grammar adopts a comparative and historical approach, analyzing Prakrit languages (including Pali, Prakrit, and Apabhramsa) by highlighting their similarities and differences.
Pedagogical Focus: The book is designed as a textbook, making a complex subject like linguistics engaging and understandable.
Inclusion of Various Prakrit Languages: It covers a range of Prakrit languages, including Maharashtri, Sauraseni, Magadhi, Ardhamagadhi, Pali, Paishachi, Chulika Paishachi, and Apabhramsa, detailing their specific characteristics.
Systematic Organization: The content is logically organized, starting with fundamental concepts like phonology and morphology, and progressing to more complex areas like verb conjugations and compound words.
Dedication: The second edition is dedicated to the memory of Professor Dr. Harivallabh Bhayani, who provided continuous inspiration and guidance to the author.

Summary of Content (Chapter-wise Overview):

Dhvani-Parivartan (Sound Changes):
- Vowel Changes: Discusses changes in vowels like ॠ, ऐ, औ, and quantitative/qualitative changes in other vowels. It also covers vowel elision and the phenomenon of vowel insertion (svara-bhakti).
- Consonant Changes: Details extensive consonant transformations, including:
  - Changes in single consonants (initial, medial, and final).
  - Transformations of consonant clusters (initial and medial), including assimilation and dissimilation.
  - Sandhi (euphony) and its relatively relaxed application in Prakrit.
  - Specific changes like ś/ṣ to s, initial y to j, medial n to ṇ, and the elision of medial consonants.
  - The development of 'h' from medial aspirated consonants.
  - The phenomenon of gemination (dvittva-karaṇa).
  - Changes within the 'c' class and dental to retroflex conversions.
  - The treatment of nasal consonants and the change of consonants to 'h' before nasals.
  - The impact of vowel length on adjacent consonants, especially in clusters.
  - The frequent elision of final consonants or their assimilation.
  - The treatment of initial consonant clusters, often involving simplification or vowel insertion.
  - Assimilation of consonant clusters (purōgāmī and paścāgāmī).
  - The impact of aspirated consonants on preceding ones.
  - The change of kṣ to cch.
Vividh Prakrit Bhashayen (Various Prakrit Languages):
- Maharashtri: Serves as the base for comparison, generally representing common Prakrit features.
- Sauraseni: Highlights specific changes like the retention of medial 'd', 'dh', 't'/'th' becoming 'd'/'dh', and characteristic verb endings and pronoun forms.
- Magadhi: Details features like the absence of y > j, r > l, s/ṣ > ś, and specific changes in consonant clusters and nominal endings.
- Ardhamagadhi: Discusses its position between Magadhi and Sauraseni, its use in Jain Āgama literature, the frequent elision of medial consonants with 'y' or 't' insertion, and its "a"-car-ending nature. It also notes the tendency towards 'e' and the retention of medial consonants.
- Pali: Compares its features to Prakrit, noting the general similarity in vowel changes but differences in consonant cluster treatment, the presence of 'ḷ', and the absence of 'y' > 'j' and medial consonant elision.
- Paishachi: Describes its proximity to Sanskrit and Pali, and specific changes like the absence of y > j, retention of medial consonants, and changes in 'ṇ', 'ś', 'ṣ', 'd', 't', and 'l'.
- Chulika Paishachi: Presents it as a variant of Paishachi, characterized by the devoicing of voiced consonants.
- Apabhramsa: Characterizes it as the final stage of Middle Indo-Aryan, marked by significant changes in case, tense, and participle endings, a prevalence of 'u' and 'h' sounds, reduction in case endings, and the transition towards postpositions, leading to analytic structures in modern Indo-Aryan languages.
Pad-rachana: Naam-Prakaran (Morphology: Noun Declension):
- General Principles: Notes the loss of the dual number, the existence of three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) with some gender shifts, and the frequent elision of final consonants or their conversion to vowels, leading to predominantly vowel-ending words. The simplification of case endings and the dominance of 'a'-ending declensions are highlighted.
- Declensional Patterns: Provides detailed declensional paradigms for masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns ending in vowels ('a', 'i', 'u', 'ṛ', 'ā', 'ī', 'ū', 'ṛ').
- Consonant-Ending Words: Discusses how consonant-ending words often become vowel-ending through elision or vowel insertion, with some residual consonant-ending forms.
- Apabhramsa Declensions: Details the significant variations and changes in Apabhramsa noun declensions, highlighting its movement towards an analytic structure.
Pad-rachana: Sarvanam-Prakaran (Morphology: Pronoun Declension):
- First Person (Asmad): Compares the forms of 'I/we' in Prakrit, Pali, and Apabhramsa, showing the evolution and variations.
- Second Person (Yushmad): Similar to the first person, it compares the forms of 'you'.
- Third Person (Tad & Etad, Idam, Adas): Details the declensions of demonstrative and third-person pronouns across the languages.
- Interrogative and Relative Pronouns: Briefly mentions the common patterns for pronouns like 'kim' (what) and 'yad' (who/which).
- Numerals: Provides examples of numeral forms.
Pad-rachana: Kriya-Prakaran (Morphology: Verb Conjugation):
- General Changes: Explains that verbs underwent more significant changes than nouns, with verbs becoming vowel-ending. The distinction between parasmaipada and atmanepada blurred, and passive voice often used active endings.
- Tenses and Moods: Discusses the reduction in the number of tenses (e.g., the disappearance of the perfect and remote past) and the prevalence of present, future, imperative, and conditional moods. The present tense often served for future meanings, and the conditional covered various aspects.
- Verb Roots: Describes how Sanskrit verb roots were adapted into Prakrit, often becoming vowel-ending.
- Conjugation Paradigms: Provides examples of present, future, imperative, and conditional conjugations for key verbs in Prakrit, Pali, and Apabhramsa.
- Past Tense: Explains that the past tense was primarily expressed through passive past participles (karmaṇi bhūta kṛdanta) in later Prakrit and Apabhramsa.
- Causal Verbs (Prayeṇak Prayog): Details the formation of causative verbs.
- Denominative Verbs (Nam Dhatu): Explains how nouns were converted into verbs.
Kṛdant evam Prayog (Participles and Voice):
- Present Participle: Discusses the formation of present participles (e.g., ending in -anta, -māna).
- Future Participle: Explains the formation of future participles (e.g., ending in -iṣya).
- Gerunds/Adverbial Participles (Hetvartha Kṛdanta): Details the various forms used to express purpose or reason.
- Absolutive Participles (Sambandhak Bhūta Kṛdanta): Covers the various forms derived from Sanskrit 'tvā' and 'ya', which function as absolutive participles, and their evolution in Prakrit and Apabhramsa.
- Adjectival Participles (Vidhyartha Kṛdanta): Explains the formation of participles expressing obligation or fitness.
- Passive Past Participles (Karmaṇi Bhūta Kṛdanta): Describes the formation and usage of these participles, which became crucial for expressing past actions.
- Active Past Participles (Kartṛ Bhūta Kṛdanta): Explains forms that function as adjectives describing the agent of a past action.
- Passive Voice (Karmaṇi Prayog): Details the formation and usage of the passive voice, including impersonal passive constructions (bhāve prayog).
- Causative Voice (Prayeṇak Prayog): Explains the formation of causative verbs.
- Denominative Verbs (Nām Dhatu): Discusses the formation of verbs from nouns.
Shabd Rachana (Word Formation):
- Adjectives: Describes how adjectives are formed, often from pronouns using suffixes.
- Abstract Nouns: Discusses the formation of abstract nouns using suffixes like 'tva', 'tvaṇa', 'ima', 'ppana'.
- Diminutives (Svarthē Pratyaya): Explains the extensive use of diminutive suffixes in Apabhramsa.
- Feminine Suffixes: Details changes in feminine suffixes.
- Compounding (Samas): Explains the types of compounds (Dvanda, Digu, Avyayībhava, Karmadharaya, Bahuvrīhi, Tatpurusha) and their characteristics in Prakrit, noting the occasional inversion of word order and the simplification of Sanskrit compounds.
Avyaya, Parasarga evam Deshya Shabd (Indeclinables, Postpositions, and Indigenous Words):
- Indeclinables (Avyaya): Discusses adverbs, conjunctions, exclamations, and fillers, noting similarities and differences between Prakrit and Pali.
- Postpositions (Parasarga): Highlights the development of postpositions in Apabhramsa as the language became more analytic.
- Indigenous Words (Deshya Shabd): Categorizes these words into:
  - Tadbhavas: Words derived from Sanskrit with sound changes.
  - Words with Semantic Shifts: Words whose meanings evolved.
  - Words with Prakrit Suffixes: Words that are fundamentally Sanskrit but have Prakrit affixes.
  - Similar Formations: Words formed by analogy.
  - Words from Lexicons: Words found in Prakrit dictionaries.
  - Words with Estimated Ancient Sources: Words whose origin can be traced but are not clearly Sanskrit.
  - Onomatopoeic Words: Words imitating sounds.
  - Loanwords: From Dravidian and Persian languages.
  - Purely Indigenous Words: Words not traceable to known Indo-Aryan sources.
  - Words Classified as Tadbhavas: Words that might appear indigenous but have traceable Sanskrit origins.
Parishishta (Appendix):
- New Features of Ardhamagadhi: Presents recent findings on Ardhamagadhi, emphasizing its similarities to Pali and its tendency towards 'e'-vocalization, distinct from Maharashtri. It notes the preservation of medial consonants and its unique vocabulary.
- Vocabulary from 'Isibhasiyai': Includes a vocabulary list from the ancient Jain Āgama text 'Isibhasiyai' that remained unaffected by Maharashtri Prakrit influence, further highlighting Ardhamagadhi's distinctiveness and proximity to Pali.

Significance of the Book: "Prakrit Bhasha ka Tulnatmak Vyakarana" is a valuable resource for anyone studying Prakrit languages. It provides a clear, systematic, and comparative understanding of the phonetic, morphological, and lexical developments across these ancient Indo-Aryan languages, tracing their evolution from Old Indo-Aryan and laying the groundwork for understanding the emergence of modern Indo-Aryan languages. The second edition's inclusion of updated research on Ardhamagadhi further enhances its scholarly value.