Wilson Philological Lectures on Sanskrit and the Derived Languages c8.46

c8.46

Having noticed the changes common to the Prâkrits with the Pâli, we will proceed to consider others distinctive of the former. Most of these were due to the continuous operation of processes which come into play in a living language. The Pâli exhibits but few instances of these processes. The changes observable in it are mostly to be traced to one or two vocal peculiarities of the men who spoke it. At the time when the language received the form in which we now find it, the tradition of the original Sanskrit was still distinct; the Pâli had not lived an independent life detached from its mother for a long time. But with the Prâkrits the case is different. They show a great many more instances of the usual processes, and consequently a much greater departure from the parent tongue. We will begin by noticing what may be called the softening process.