Ashokan Pali (or Aśokan Dhammalipi) is the
Middle Indo-Aryan
The Middle Indo-Aryan languages (or Middle Indic languages, sometimes conflated with the Prakrits, which are a stage of Middle Indic) are a historical group of languages of the Indo-Aryan family. They are the descendants of Old Indo-Aryan (OIA; ...
dialect continuum
A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varie ...
used in the
Edicts of Ashoka
The Edicts of Ashoka are a collection of more than thirty inscriptions on the Pillars of Ashoka, as well as boulders and cave walls, attributed to Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire who reigned from 268 BCE to 232 BCE. Ashoka used the exp ...
, attributed to Emperor
Ashoka
Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...
of the
Mauryan Empire who reigned to .
The Edicts are inscriptions on monumental pillars and rocks throughout South Asia that cover Ashoka's conversion to
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...
and espouse Buddhist principles (e.g. upholding
dhamma
Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...
and the practice of non-violence).
The Ashokan Prakrit dialects reflected local forms of the Early Middle-Indo-Aryan language. Three dialect areas are represented: Northwestern, Western, and Eastern. The
Central dialect of Indo-Aryan is exceptionally ''not'' represented; instead, inscriptions of that area use the Eastern forms.
Ashokan Prakrit is descended from an
Old Indo-Aryan
The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated in India, Pa ...
dialect closely related to
Vedic Sanskrit
Vedic Sanskrit was an ancient language of the Indo-Aryan subgroup of the Indo-European language family. It is attested in the Vedas and related literature compiled over the period of the mid- 2nd to mid-1st millennium BCE. It was orally preser ...
, on occasion diverging by preserving archaisms from
Proto-Indo-Aryan
Proto-Indo-Aryan (sometimes Proto-Indic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Indo-Aryan languages. It is intended to reconstruct the language of the Proto-Indo-Aryans. Being descended from Proto-Indo-Iranian (which in turn is descended f ...
.
Ashokan Prakrit is attested in the
Dhammalipi and the
Kharoshthi script
The Kharoṣṭhī script, also spelled Kharoshthi (Kharosthi: ), was an ancient Indo-Iranian script used by various Aryan peoples in north-western regions of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely around present-day northern Pakistan and ...
(only in the Northwest).
Classification
Masica classifies Ashokan Prakrit as an Early Middle-Indo-Aryan language, representing the earliest stage after
Old Indo-Aryan
The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated in India, Pa ...
in the historical development of Indo-Aryan.
Pali
Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...
and early Jain
Ardhamagadhi
Ardhamagadhi Prakrit was a Middle Indo-Aryan language and a Dramatic Prakrit thought to have been spoken in modern-day Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and used in some early Buddhist and Jain drama. It was likely a Central Indo-Aryan language, related to ...
(but not all of it) also represent this stage.
Dialects
There are three dialect groups attested in the Ashokan Edicts, based on phonological and grammatical idiosyncrasies which correspond with developments in later Middle Indo-Aryan languages:
* Western: The inscriptions at
Girnar
Girnar is an ancient hill in Junagadh, Gujarat, India.
Geology
Mount Girnar is a major igneous plutonic complex which intruded into the basalts towards the close of the Deccan Trap period. The rock types identified in this complex are ga ...
and
Sopara
Nala Sopara or Nallasopara (Pronunciation: aːla sopaɾa formerly known as Sopara or Supara, is a town within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The town lies in the Palghar district of Maharashtra, India and is governed by Vasai-Virar Municipal ...
, which: prefer ''r'' over ''l''; do not merge the nasal consonants (''n'', ''ñ'', ''ṇ''); merge all sibilants into ''s''; prefer ''(c)ch'' as the reflex of the Old Indo-Aryan thorn cluster ''kṣ''; have ''-o'' as the nominative singular of masculine a-stems, among other morphological peculiarities. Notably, this dialect corresponds well with
Pali
Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...
, the preferred Middle Indo-Aryan language of Buddhism.
* Northwestern: The inscriptions at
Shahbazgarhi
Shahbaz Garhi, or Shahbazgarhi, is a village and historic site located in Mardan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is at an altitude of 293 metres (964 feet).
It is about 12 km from Mardan city. It has mountains, green trees, ...
and
Mansehra
Mansehra is a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and the headquarters of Mansehra District. It is the 71st largest city of Pakistan and 7th largest city in the province.
The name of the city (written in Hindko, Urdu and Gojr ...
written in the
Kharosthi script
The Kharoṣṭhī script, also spelled Kharoshthi (Kharosthi: ), was an ancient Indo-Iranian script used by various Aryan peoples in north-western regions of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely around present-day northern Pakistan and e ...
: retain etymological ''r'' and ''l'' as distinct; do not merge the nasals; do not merge the sibilants (''s'', ''ś'', ''ṣ''); metathesis of liquids in consonant clusters (e.g. Sanskrit ''dharma'' > Shahbazgarhi ''dhrama''). These features are shared with the modern
Dardic languages
The Dardic languages (also Dardu or Pisaca) or Hindu-Kush Indo-Aryan languages, are a group of several Indo-Aryan languages spoken in northern Pakistan, northwestern India and parts of northeastern Afghanistan.
The term "Dardic" is stated to b ...
.
* Eastern: The standard administrative language, exemplified by the inscriptions at
Dhauli and
Jaugada and used in the geographical core of the Mauryan Empire: prefer ''l'' over ''r'', merge the nasals into ''n'' (and geminate ''ṁn''), prefer ''(k)kh'' as the reflex of OIA ''kṣ'', have ''-e'' as the nominative singular of masculine a-stems, etc. Oberlies suggests that the inscriptions in the Central zone were translated from the "official" administrative forms of the Edicts.
Sample
![Dhrama Dipi inscription in the Shahbazgarhi First Edict in the Kharosthi script](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Dhrama_Dipi_inscription_in_the_Shahbazgarhi_First_Edict_in_the_Kharosthi_script.jpg)
The following is the first sentence of the
Major Rock Edict 1, inscribed in many locations.
* Girnar:
* Kalsi:
* Shahbazgarhi:
* Mansehra:
* Dhauli:
* Jaugada:
The dialect groups and their differences are apparent: the Northwest retains clusters but does metathesis on liquids (''dhrama'' vs. other ''dhaṃma'') and retains an earlier form ''dipi'' "writing" borrowed from Iranian.
Meanwhile, the l ~ r distinctions are apparent in the word for "king" (Girnar ''rāña'' but Jaugada ''lājinā'').
References
{{Old and Middle Indo-Aryan
Indo-Aryan languages
Languages of India
Extinct languages of Asia
Prakrit languages
Ashoka