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Glite Dictionary
Prakrit language

Prakrit language

9.9
Old everyday languages spoken in northern and central India that are different from Sanskrit
  • noun
  • /ˈprɑːkrɪt ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/
  • Specialized
: lengua prakrit
  • Jain scriptures were often composed in the Prakrit language rather than in Sanskrit.

Examples

  • The spread of Buddhism contributed to the literary development of several Prakrit languages.

  • Scholars have studied texts written in Prakrit language to understand ancient Indian society.

  • The Prakrit language has a rich literary tradition.

  • Many ancient texts were written in Prakrit languages.

  • Jain scriptures were often composed in the Prakrit language rather than in Sanskrit.

  • Scholars have studied texts written in the Prakrit language to understand ancient Indian society.

  • The Prakrit language has a rich literary tradition.

Synonyms

Prakrit
vsPrakrit language
  • Specialized
1 9.9

Old everyday languages from northern and central India used long ago

is the longer phrase form naming the same ancient vernacular Indic languages

Surface Forms

Prakrit language singular
Prakrit languages plural

Morphology

Prakrit + language

The phrase is fully compositional: 'Prakrit' names a class of ancient Indic vernaculars and 'language' denotes a spoken/written system, so 'Prakrit language' straightforwardly means a language of the Prakrit group. This noun-noun/nominal modifier pattern is cross-linguistically regular and would be immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Prakrit language comes from an old word meaning 'natural' or 'ordinary' speech, so Prakrit refers to the everyday languages people actually spoke rather than the formal Sanskrit. That's why the name now refers to the group of ancient local languages used across parts of India.