Shauraseni Prakrit | |
---|---|
Śaurasenī Prākṛta | |
𑀰𑁅𑀭𑀲𑁂𑀦𑀻 (Brahmi) | |
Region | Indian subcontinent |
Era | c. 3rd to 10th centuries AD |
Indo-European
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | psu |
Glottolog | saur1252 |
Shauraseni Prakrit (Sanskrit: शौरसेनी प्राकृत, romanized: Śaurasenī Prākṛta) was a Middle Indo-Aryan language and a Dramatic Prakrit. Shauraseni was the chief language used in drama in medieval northern India. Most of the material in this language originates from the 3rd to 10th centuries, and represented a regional language variety with minor modifications to the same linguistic substratum as other Dramatic Prakrit varieties.[1]
Among the Prakrits, Shauraseni is said to be the one most closely related to Classical Sanskrit in that it "is derived from the Old Indian Indo-Aryan dialect of the Madhyadeśa on which Classical Sanskrit was mainly based."[2]: 3–4 Its descendants include Punjabi, Lahnda, Sindhi[3] Gujarati, Rajasthani, and Western Hindi.[4]
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The outer languages descend from various sources: The Eastern group from Magadhi Prakrit, Marathi from Maharastri Prakrit (which was a sub-division of Ardha-Māgadhi Prakrit, leaning more towards Māgadhi than Sauraseni), while Sindhi and Lahnda, whose early histories are not entirely clear, seem to be derived from Apabhramsas which show Sauraseni influence .