Dramatic Prakrit

Dramatic Prakrits were those standard forms of Prakrit dialects that were used in dramas and other literature in medieval India. They may have once been spoken languages or were based on spoken languages, but continued to be used as literary languages long after they ceased to be spoken.[1] Dramatic Prakrits are important for the study of the development of Indo-Aryan languages, because their usage in plays and literature is always accompanied by a translation in Sanskrit.[2]

  1. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Sanskrit" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 172. As regards these dialectic varieties...
  2. ^ Woolner, pg. v.