Rajasthani Bhasha Me Prakrit Apbhramsa Ke Prayog

Here is a comprehensive summary in English of the provided Jain text, "Rajasthani Bhasha me Prakrit Apbhramsa ke Prayog" by Prem Suman Jain:

This scholarly article by Prem Suman Jain explores the significant influence of Prakrit and Apabhramsa languages on the development of Rajasthani language. The author asserts that to understand the evolution and ancient form of Rajasthani, a study of its Prakrit and Apabhramsa roots is crucial, as this connection also clarifies the relationship between ancient and modern languages.

Origin and Relationship:

• The consensus among scholars is that modern Indian languages have evolved from various Apabhramsa forms.
• Rajasthani is believed to have originated from Nagar Apabhramsa, the spoken language of Northwest India during the medieval period.
• Due to regional and diverse considerations, some scholars like Dr. Suniti Kumar Chatterjee refer to its progenitor language as Saurashtra-Apabhramsa, while K.M. Munshi calls it Gurjari-Apabhramsa.
• For a long time, Rajasthani and Gujarati were indistinguishable, leading to its origin being linked to different Apabhramsa dialects.
• Essentially, Rajasthani developed from the common spoken language of Northwest India between the 6th and 11th centuries, which scholars also term "Old Hindi".

Rajasthani Language and its Dialects:

• Rajasthani is spoken in Rajasthan and Malwa, as well as parts of Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, and Sindh.
• "Rajasthani" is a generalized term for several dialects, a classification largely attributed to Dr. Grierson. The major divisions include:
  • Eastern Rajasthani: Dhundhari and Hadoti
  • Southern Rajasthani: Malvi and Nimadi
  • Northern Rajasthani: Mewati
  • Western Rajasthani: Marwari and Mewari
• Among these, Marwari is considered the most linguistically rich.
• All these dialects show the influence of Prakrit and Apabhramsa, with many of these influences still observable today.

Prakrit and Apabhramsa Elements in Rajasthani: The influence of Prakrit and Apabhramsa on Rajasthani is evident in two aspects:

1. The language of ancient Rajasthani literature.
2. Modern spoken and literary Rajasthani.

This influence manifests through sound changes and grammatical structures.

Phonological Elements (Sound System): Rajasthani has undergone numerous sound changes. While the exact Apabhramsa or Prakrit origins of some altered forms are hard to pinpoint, some influences are visible through comparative literary analysis.

• Vowels:

  • Vowel Length: Similar to Apabhramsa rules (e.g., Hemachandra's sutra regarding final vowels in inflected words), Rajasthani exhibits instances of:
    • Long vowels becoming short (e.g., dhan < dhanya, reh < rekha).
    • Short vowels becoming long (e.g., dholla < dhol, shamala < shyamaal).
  • 'Ṛ' Sound: The transformation of the 'Ṛ' sound in Prakrit and Apabhramsa into various vowels is preserved in Rajasthani (e.g., riśi < ṛṣi, naach < nacca < nritya, tin < tṛṇa, baḍdho < vṛddha).

• Consonants:

  • Prakrit consonant changes were largely maintained by Apabhramsa, and though less frequent, some elements are found in Rajasthani. Examples include:
    • ner < nayar < nagara
    • sayar < sagara
    • sahi < sakhi
    • koil < kokila
    • jujjha < yuddha
    • ḍola < dola
    • ḍaha < daha
    • bhaṇai < paḍhai < paṭhati
  • Other phonetic phenomena like vowel insertion (swaragam), consonant insertion (vyanjanagam), and metathesis (viparyay) can also be found.

Grammatical Elements: Despite developing new features in word groups, sentence structure, and verbs, Rajasthani grammar retains significant influence from Prakrit and Apabhramsa, alongside Sanskrit.

• Nouns:

  • Singular Nominative: The influence of Prakrit in forming singular nominative nouns ending in '-o' is direct. Prakrit often changed the final '-a' to '-o' in the singular nominative (e.g., ramo < ramaḥ). Rajasthani predominantly uses '-o' ending for singular nouns (e.g., ghodo, chhoro).
  • Some scholars suggest this '-o' ending in Rajasthani developed from the '-u' ending prevalent in Apabhramsa (Hemachandra's rule: syamorasyot). It's possible that the Apabhramsa '-u' tendency reverted to the Prakrit '-o' in Rajasthani.
  • Plural: Rajasthani plural nouns often end in '-a' (e.g., 'i ghoda' - these horses). This aligns with Prakrit and Apabhramsa plurals (e.g., rukkhā, meha).

• Loss of Case Endings:

  • Prakrit merged the dative (4th) and genitive (6th) cases, a trend adopted from vernacular usage.
  • Apabhramsa saw even greater laxity in case usage, primarily retaining nominative, genitive, and locative cases. This is attributed to pronunciation ease for groups like the Ahirs and Gujars.
  • This trend influenced Gujarati and Rajasthani. Hemachandra noted the elision of nominative and accusative case endings in Apabhramsa.
  • In Marwari, the base form of the noun is used for the singular subject, with plural markers added, and no special case endings for the subject.
  • The tendency towards case ending loss in Prakrit-Apabhramsa led to the use of particles and postpositions. Prakrit grammarians noted the use of ḍa and ḍu suffixes for plurals, and Hemachandra mentioned a, ḍaḍ, and ḍulla with nouns. Rajasthani uses forms like dosḍa, divhaḍa, rukkhaḍa, and sandesḍa. The feminine form often becomes 'ḍi' (e.g., goraḍi in folk songs).

• Pronouns:

  • The number of Prakrit pronouns decreased, and they were simplified in Apabhramsa.
  • Many Apabhramsa pronouns have been adopted directly into Rajasthani with minimal changes.
  • The pronoun for "I" (haum) from Apabhramsa is extensively used in Rajasthani literature and speech.
  • Apabhramsa also influenced interrogative pronouns. Hemachandra's rule (kimah kaīkavaṇī vā) shows that 'kaī' and 'kavaṇ' replaced 'kim'. Rajasthani dialects have various forms like kaī (Dhundhari), kaṇḍ (Mewari), and kaī hao (Marwari). The Hindi word 'kaun' also evolved from Apabhramsa kavaṇ.
  • Forms like Gujarati kem and em also derive directly from Apabhramsa.
  • The Gujarati pronoun amhe comes from Apabhramsa amhe or amhai. Rajasthani first-person plural pronouns like mhe and mhā are also derived from similar Apabhramsa pronouns.

• Verb Forms:

  • Many Rajasthani verbs are borrowed from Prakrit and Apabhramsa (e.g., kāḍh < kaḍḍha, khā, chaḍh < chaḍha, jān, jāg, ḍūb < buḍḍa < ḍubba, bol < bolla, bhūl < bhullai, sun < suṇa, bhaṇ < paḍhai).
  • The "Dingal Git" collection shows verbs like karai, basai, and ha'i, which are direct forms of Prakrit karai, vasai, and havai.
  • Some Rajasthani verbs show a change where Prakrit's ending 'i' (e.g., katha'i) becomes 'ai' in Rajasthani (e.g., kathai).
  • The article provides a table comparing Rajasthani verbs with their Prakrit and Hindi equivalents, highlighting borrowings like ghaḍ (to make), jāncai (to check), khaṇḍai (to break), dhārai (to bear), bīhai (to fear), pūrai (to fulfill), and jampai (to speak).
  • The form kīdhau (did) in Rajasthani is a variation of Prakrit kido (kṛtaḥ). The word dīdhau (gave) is also used similarly. These forms are also found in the Kutchhi dialect of Sindh.
  • The influence extends to future tense verbs. Hemachandra's rule (vayanti-syasya sah) indicates the use of 's' for 'sy' in Apabhramsa for future tense. Thus, Prakrit hohi'i (will be) becomes Apabhramsa hosai. Rajasthani forms like hosī, jāsī, karasī (and plural hāsyaṁ, jāsyāṁ, karsyāṁ) are derived from Apabhramsa hasai. The form hoisauṁ is also found in Rajasthani literature.
  • Regarding past participial forms, Hemachandra mentions that in Apabhramsa, ktvā is replaced by i, iḍ, ivi, and avi. Rajasthani uses the 'i' form, which aligns with Apabhramsa (e.g., jāi ne āūṁ - having gone, I will come; meḷhī kari - having left). The 'i' form in kari is the source of the Hindi suffix '-kar'.

Vocabulary (Shabd-Samuh): Beyond the grammatical and phonological elements, Rajasthani has adopted numerous words from Prakrit and Apabhramsa with minor sound changes. These include adverbs, suffixes, and numerals.

• Examples of borrowed words: āgalō < agala, ūkhāṇaŭ < āhāṇaŭ < ābhāṇaka, acharij < achariyaṁ < āścharya, khuḍiyā < khuḍia < trutita, āpaṇī < āphaṇī < appṇīyam < ātmīyam, ghaḍā < ghaṇo (ghaṇā), uṇahīj < usī kā, chheḍī < chheḍi < chheri < chagala, unho < uṇho < uṣṇa, chhoro < chhoro, uṇḍā < uṇḍā (deep), jevaḍī < jevaḍī (rope), jauhar.
• The word 'Jauhar': While Dr. Vasudev Sharan Agrawal derives it from jatugṛha, the author suggests an Apabhramsa origin from yamagṛha (house of death), evolving through stages like yamagṛha > jamagṛha > jamaghara > jamahra > jambhara > jauhar > jauhar. The word jamhar (meaning related to death) is found in other Rajasthani texts and supports this derivation.
• Other examples: pelo < pahiḷā, pātar < pātra (dancer), pāchhalo < pichhalo, bahanevī < bahinīvaī < bhaginīpati, bārahṭṭ < bārahṭṭa < dvārabhaṭa, bārāṁ < bāra < dvādaśa, sagaḷā < sagaḷo < sakala, sāīṁ < sāmi < svāmi, haluā < lahuā < laghuka.

Conclusion: The author concludes that Rajasthani language, in both its phonological and grammatical aspects, bears a significant influence from the medieval Indian Aryan languages (Prakrit and Apabhramsa). The article acknowledges that while efforts have been made to study Prakrit elements in regional languages (like at the Pune Prakrit Seminar), not all research has been published. The author emphasizes the need for further extensive research in this area.