Page:The history of the Bengali language (1920).pdf/239

Rh If really the Mahārāṣṭri প্রাকৃত was based upon a living vernacular, we must say, that either the old ethnic element has disappeared from the Mahārāṣṭra country, or that by virtue of a serious revolution, a new ethnic element of dominating nature has come into the composition of the people of the country. I am aware that one or two scholars have tried to show on the strength of a few examples of word-forms, that the modern Mārāṭhi can be affiliated to the old Prākṛta of the same name. Referring to this unscientific procedure, I can simply say, that if the scholars under review, choose to collect an equally good number of words from the literary Māgadhi Prākṛta, they will find that they may equate them as well with some words of the modern Mārāṭhi speech. It will be interesting to the aforesaid scholars to note this anomaly, that many so-called Mārāṭhi and Sauraseni forms of old are conspicuous by their absence alike in Mārāṭhi and W. Hindi, and by their presence in Bengali and Oriya, which are directly connected with old Māgadhi (as has been demonstrated before) and are not at all connected either with Mahārāṣṭri or Sauraseni. Here are a few illustrative examples:

(1) অচ্চব্ভুদ—অপভ্রংশ of this very so-called Sauraseni form became current in Bengal and Orissa; Oriya still retains the early form অচ্চাভুআ and in old Bengali we get it as আচাভুআ. (2) কণ্ডারেই (Mahārāṣṭri) = Carving stone, etc., into statues. This form unknown in the literary Māgadhi of the artificial classification, is in existence in Oriya; we get the অপভ্রংশ of it as কণ্ঢেই, to signify a doll. (3) The Mahārāṣṭri form কহম্ and not the Sauraseni form কধম্ as derived from কথম্ is traceable in Hindi and Oriya. (4) কোড্ড (Mahārāṣṭri) = strong desire; its অপভ্রংশ কোট্, signifying strong persistent desire, is in use in Bengali only. (5) খিড়ক্কি দুআর (Mahārāṣṭri) = back-door; খিড়্‌কির