Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics v2.c81.s1.9

v2.c81.s1.9

⁴ It is not known what Bhāmaha signifies by the term *apabhraṃśa*, but Daṇḍin gives to it a definite connotation as the language of the Abhīras and others in the *kāvya*, as distinguished from the *śāstra* where it is the name applied to all languages other than Sanskrit. Nami-sādhu sententiously says : *prākṛtam eva apabhraṃśaḥ*. Hemacandra adds to Apabhraṃśa another kind called *grāmyâpabhraṃśa*. Cf Bharata xvii 49, which makes it clear that the Apabhraṃśa was a *jāti-bhāṣā* and not a *deśa-bhāṣā*. The Abhīras were ancient settlers in the land and are mentioned by Patañjali (i 252). See *IA*, 1918, p. 26.