Prabodh Bechardas Pandit (23 June 1923 – 28 November 1975) was an Indian

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

from

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He published a total of ten books in the Gujarati language, along with many research papers published in various journals. In 1967, he received the

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

, and in 1973, the

Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak, also known as the Ranjitram Gold Medal, was founded by Gujarat Sahitya Sabha and is considered the highest literary award in Gujarati literature. The award is named after renowned Gujarati writer Ranjitram Mehta. It is a ...

, for his contribution to the study of Gujarati language and linguistics.

Biography

Pandit was born on 23 June 1923, in Vala, a village in the Bhavnagar district of Gujarat. He studied at various institutions, including Pritamnagar municipal school of

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

and

Amreli Amreli is a city and a municipality in Amreli district in Indian state of Gujarat. History It is believed that during 534 AD Amreli existed was formerly known as Anumanji, Amlik and then Amravati. The city is named in ancient Gujrati as ''Amar ...

. He matriculated in 1939 from the Navchetan High School, Ahmedabad. He initially missed out on graduate studies due to participating in the Indian independence movement of 1942, which led to him being jailed for six months. He later completed his Bachelor of Arts in 1944 in the

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

Ardhamagadhi Ardhamagadhi Prakrit was a Middle Indo-Aryan language and a Dramatic Prakrit thought to have been spoken in modern-day Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and used in some early Buddhist and Jain dramas. It was likely a Central Indo-Aryan language, related ...

languages, then attained his Master of Arts at

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is an Indian educational trust. It was founded on 7 November 1938 by K.M Munshi, with the support of Mahatma Gandhi. The trust programmes through its 119 centres in India, 7 centres abroad and 367 constituent institut ...

in 1946 in Sanskrit and

Linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

. Later, he went to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and joined the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

, where he worked under the guidance of linguist

Ralph Lilley Turner Sir Ralph Lilley Turner (5 October 1888 – 22 April 1983) was a British philologist of Indian languages and a university administrator. He is notable for composing an Indo-Aryan comparative dictionary. He is also the author of some publicati ...

for his doctorate. There, he obtained his Ph.D. in 1950 for his research on ''Shadavashyak-balavabodhvritti''. His interest in linguistics brought him into contact with

Jules Bloch Jules Bloch (May 1, 1880 in Paris – November 29, 1953) was a French linguist who studied Indian languages, and was also interested in languages in their cultural and social contexts. Doctor of Letters in 1914, he was director of studies at the � ...

, who inspired him to study various Indian dialects. After returning to India, Pandit joined the L.D. Arts College, Ahmedabad, as a lecturer in Sanskrit. In 1957, he transferred to the

Gujarat University The Gujarat University is a public state university located at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The university is an affiliating university at the under-graduate level and a teaching university at the post graduate level. It is accredited A+ by NAAC ...

as a Reader in the Linguistics department. From 1964 to 1965 he taught at the Deccan College,

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

. In 1967, he went to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

and joined

Delhi University The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

as a lecturer of Linguistics where he remained until 1975. During this time he taught as a visiting lecturer at several academic institutions including the

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

, and Cornell's respective

universities A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

Works

Pandit is considered to be one of the pioneers in Gujarati linguistics and

sociolinguistic Sociolinguistics is the descriptive, scientific study of how language is shaped by, and used differently within, any given society. The field largely looks at how a language changes between distinct social groups, as well as how it varies unde ...

studies in India. He published a total of ten books in the Gujarati language along with many research papers published in various journals. His most significant works are ''Prakrit Bhasha'' (1954), ''(/ɛ/) and (/ɔ/) in Gujarati'' (1955), ''Nasalization, Aspiration and Murmur in Gujarati'' (1957), ''Historical Phonology of Gujarati Vowels'' (1961), ''Borrowing: A Study of Linguistic Expression of Social Distance'' (1961), ''Gujarati Bhashanun Dhvaniswarup ane Dhvani-Parivartan'' (1966), ''Phonemic and Morphemic Frequencies of the Gujarati Language'' (1968), ''Some Observations Studies in Speech Analysis'' (1971) and ''Language in Plural Society'' (1976). Prabodh Pandit also wrote a book on India, ''India as a sociolinguistic area''.

Awards

His book ''Gujarati Bhashanun Dhvaniswarup ane Dhvani-Parivartan'' received the

in 1967. He also received

in 1973 for his contribution to the study of Gujarati language and linguistics.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pandit, Prabodh Writers from Gujarat Gujarati-language writers 1923 births 1975 deaths 20th-century Indian linguists Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Gujarati People from Bhavnagar district Recipients of the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak Scholars from Gujarat Linguists from India

Biography

Works

Awards

See also

References

Further reading

External links