Wilson Philological Lectures on Sanskrit and the Derived Languages c8.19

c8.19

of dramatic plays in accordance with the rules of Rhetoricians, or if they were, what constituted the exact difference between these various languages, it is impossible to determine so long as we have not got satisfactory editions of the plays. Still in those cases in which we have the assistance of the older Prâkrit grammarians, the characteristics of each can be made out with fulness and certainty. To illustrate his rules about the Mâgadhî, Hemachandra quotes from the speeches of the fisherman and the two poilcemen in Śakuntalâ, of the Kshapaṇaka from the Mudrârâkshasa, and Rudhirapriyâ from the Veṇîsamhâra. The points in which the Mâgadhî chiefly differs from the principal Prâkrit and Śaurasenî are these:—र् and स् of these are changed to ल् and श्; स्थ and थ of Sanskrit to स्त, and ट to स्ट; and स् is not assimilated as in पस्खलदि from प्रस्खलति, the nom. sing. of masc. nouns ends in ए instead of ओ, which is the Prâkrit ending; the gen.