Shauraseni Prakrit (, ) was a
Middle Indo-Aryan language and a
Dramatic Prakrit. Shauraseni was the chief
language used in drama in northern
medieval India. Most of the material in this language originates from the 3rd to 10th centuries, though it was probably a spoken vernacular around the 2nd century BCE in the ancient state of
Surasena. Among the
Prakrits, Shauraseni is said to be the one most closely related to
Classical Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
in that it "is derived from the Old Indian Indo-Aryan dialect of the
Madhyadeśa on which Classical Sanskrit was mainly based."
Its descendants include the languages of the
Hindi Belt, the Central Zone of modern Indo-Aryan or
Hindi languages, the standard registers of the
Hindustani language based on the
Delhi dialect.
See also
*
Saurashtra language
*
Apabhraṃśa
Apabhraṃśa ( sa, अपभ्रंश, , Prakrit: , ta, அவப்பிரஞ்சனம், , ) is a term used by '' vaiyākaraṇāḥ'' (native grammarians) since Patañjali to refer to languages spoken in North India before the ris ...
*
Prakrit
References
Languages attested from the 3rd century
Languages extinct in the 10th century
Indo-Aryan languages
Medieval languages
Prakrit languages
North India
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