Maharashtra HSC Maharashtri Prakrut key terms

The Prakrit language once used in the Maharashtra region and widely cultivated in classical Indian drama and poetry; the best-attested literary Prakrit and the ancestor of Marathi according to traditional accounts.

The Middle Indo-Aryan vernacular languages that developed from Old Indo-Aryan and coexisted with Sanskrit; used for Jain scriptures, drama dialogue, and secular lyric poetry.

A Middle Indo-Aryan language used as the scriptural language of Theravada Buddhism; often grouped with the Prakrits in histories of Indo-Aryan speech.

A Prakrit associated with the Jain canon, so named because it was thought to share features of Magadhi and other regional Prakrits; the language of early Shvetambara scriptures.

The late Middle Indo-Aryan literary languages that followed the Prakrits; used in narrative and lyric poetry and regarded as a bridge toward the modern Indo-Aryan languages.

A didactic Prakrit text on the conduct and duties of a Jain lay follower (shravaka); traditionally attributed to Amitagati and studied for its ethical and linguistic content.

A celebrated anthology of seven hundred Prakrit love lyrics compiled under the name of the king Hala; the central poetic text of the Maharashtri tradition.

The traditional compiler-king credited with the Gathasaptashati anthology of Maharashtri verses; his name is attached to the collection in its transmitted form.

A Prakrit stanza type, especially the Arya-type metre used for single-verse lyrics; also the general word for a verse in Prakrit and later vernacular poetry.

A syllabic-verse metre of uneven feet measured in morae, standard for Prakrit and Sanskrit lyric verse; its Prakrit form underlies the stanzas of the Gathasaptashati.

A metrical unit of time used to measure verse quantity; a short vowel counts as one mora and a long vowel or closed syllable as two.

A metrical foot made of three syllables classified by their light or heavy quantity; combinations of ganas describe the patterns of quantitative metres.

A single, self-contained stanza poem, typically on love or nature; the dominant form of Prakrit lyric anthologies such as the Gathasaptashati.

The aesthetic flavour or emotional relish that a well-wrought poem or drama evokes in the cultivated audience; classical poetics recognises several such sentiments, such as love and heroism.

An emotional state or feeling that a poem depicts; in poetics, the transient and enduring feelings that, when developed, contribute to the relish of a rasa.

The theory that the highest poetic meaning is suggested rather than stated directly; the term names both this doctrine and the suggested sense itself.

The power of suggestion by which words convey an implied meaning beyond their literal sense; a central concept in the poetics of suggested meaning.

The secondary or figurative function of a word, by which it indicates a meaning other than its primary one; distinguished from direct denotation and from suggestion.

A figure of speech or poetic ornament that beautifies expression; classical treatises classify many such figures, including simile, metaphor, and hyperbole.

The figure of simile, in which one thing is likened to another through an explicit word of comparison such as 'like' or 'as'.

The figure of metaphor, in which the subject is identified with an image without an explicit marker of comparison; the identification is stated as if it were literal.

The figure of alliteration, the deliberate repetition of the same or similar consonants in close succession to create euphony.

A poetic figure in which a word or group of syllables is repeated in the same or a different sense within a verse; a favourite device of Prakrit and Sanskrit court poetry.

A grammatical case ending in the nominal system; Prakrit preserves a case system that is historically related to the Sanskrit declension.

The grammatical number of a noun or verb, distinguishing singular, dual, and plural; Prakrit retains a dual in some paradigms.

The grammatical gender of a noun, classified as masculine, feminine, or neuter; gender determines agreement with adjectives and verbs.

The phonological combination of sounds at word or morpheme boundaries, producing changes such as vowel coalescence or consonant assimilation.

A compound word formed by joining two or more stems into a single grammatical unit; classified by the relation between the members.

A secondary nominal suffix added to a stem to form a derivative word such as a patronymic or abstract noun; one of the main word-formation categories.

A word formed by adding a primary suffix to a verbal root, producing participles and verbal derivatives; a major category of Prakrit word formation.

A verbal root, the basic unit from which verbs and many derived nouns are formed; roots are grouped into classes with characteristic patterns of conjugation.

A finite verb form carrying a personal ending that marks person, number, and tense or mood; contrasted with participial and other non-finite forms.

A nasal sound represented in writing by a dot above the syllable; its pronunciation and assimilation vary according to the following consonant.

A Sanskrit rendering or paraphrase of a Prakrit passage; the term is also used for the Sanskrit version accompanying a Prakrit text in bilingual editions.

The metrical system of Prakrit verse, including quantitative metres and mora-counted metres such as the Arya; a required area for reading prescribed poems.

A classical Indian play, typically in several acts; Sanskrit drama uses Prakrit, including Maharashtri, for the speech of many characters.

A regional variety or dialect of Prakrit recognised in grammatical and dramaturgical tradition; Maharashtri is one such named variety.