Old Western Rājasthāni (also known as Maru-Gurjari, Old Gujarātī) is the common ancestor of the modern Gujarati and Western Rajasthani languages which developed from

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

and the

Prakrit Prakrit ( ) is a group of vernacular classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 5th century BCE to the 12th century CE. The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Ind ...

Apabhraṃśas, and was spoken around 8-14th centuries in Western India. The literary form of Old Western Rājasthāni, the Dingala language was in use as early as the 12th century. While the spoken Old Western Rajasthani gave way to medieval forms of Western Rajasthani and Gujarati, it flourished in its literary form as Dingala till the 19th century. Early texts of the language display characteristic features such as direct/oblique noun forms, postpositions, and auxiliary verbs. It had three

gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

s, as Gujarati does today, and by around the time of 1300 CE, a fairly standardized form of this language emerged. The belief that modern Rajasthani sporadically expressed a neuter gender was based on the incorrect conclusion that the �that came to be pronounced in some areas for masculine after a

nasal consonant In phonetics, a nasal, also called a nasal occlusive or nasal stop in contrast with an oral stop or nasalized consonant, is an occlusive consonant produced with a lowered velum, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. The vast majo ...

was analogous to Gujarati's neuter �Smith, J.D. (2001) "Rajasthani." ''Facts about the world's languages: An encyclopedia of the world's major languages, past and present''. Ed. Jane Garry, and Carl Rubino: New England Publishing Associates. pp. 591-593. A formal grammar, ''Prakrita Vyakarana'', of the precursor to this language, Gurjar Apabhraṃśa, was written by Jain monk and eminent scholar Acharya Hemachandra Suri in the reign of

Chaulukya The Chaulukya dynasty (), also Solanki dynasty, was a dynasty that ruled parts of what are now Gujarat and Rajasthan in north-western India, between and . Their capital was located at Anahilavada (modern Patan). At times, their rule extended ...

king Jayasimha Siddharaja of Anhilwara (Patan).

Literature

Major works were written in various genres, for the most part in verse form, such as: *'' rāsa'', predominantly

didactic Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasises instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is a conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to explain. ...

narrative, of which the earliest known is Śālibhadrasūri's ''Bhārateśvarabāhubali'' (1185). *'' phāgu'', in which springtime is celebrated, of which the earliest is Jinapadmasūri's ''Sirithūlibadda'' (c. 1335). The most famous is the '' Vasantavilāsa'', of unknown authorship, which is undeterminedly dated to somewhere in 14th or 15th century, or possibly earlier. *''bārmāsī'', describing natural beauty during each of the twelve months. *'' ākhyāna'', in which sections are each in a single metre. Narsinh Mehta (c. 1414–1480) is traditionally viewed as the father of modern Gujarati

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

. By virtue of its early age and good editing, an important

prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...

work is the 14th-century commentary of Taruṇaprabha, the ''Ṣaḍāvaśyakabālabodhavr̥tti''.

References

Works cited

* * *

Literature

References

Works cited

Further reading