Epigraphical Hybrid Sanskrit

Epigraphical Hybrid Sanskrit
Region	India
Era	ca. 1 CE to 400 CE
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Epigraphical Hybrid Sanskrit
Early forms	Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-Iranian Proto-Indo-Aryan
Writing system	Kushana Brahmi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	None

Epigraphical Hybrid Sanskrit (EHS) was a hybridized dialect of Prakrit and Sanskrit used in Indian inscriptions from the 1st century CE to the 4rd century CE. ^{[1] [2]}

It expanded out of Mathura, particularly in areas of Indo-Scythian and Kushana rule, and exhibited progressively increasing degrees of Sanskritization before giving way to Sanskrit proper, with which it previously coexisted along with Monumental Prakrit. ^[1]

Characteristics

Epigraphical Hybrid Sanskrit inscriptions exhibited a spectrum of hybridization, from "Prakrit influenced by Sanskrit" on the one hand to "Sanskrit influenced by Prakrit" on the other. ^[1]

Generally, it exhibited Sanskritic orthography / phonology (including unassimilated consonant clusters) together with Prakritic morphology and syntax.

Typical morphology:

• Nominative singular masculine ending for a-stems in -o instead of Sanskrit -aḥ ^[1]
• Genitive singular masculine ending in -sya instead of Prakrit -ssa (or Sanskrit -oḥ for non-a-stems) ^[1]
• Nominative singular masculine ending in -i for -in-stems ^[3]
• Instrumental plural suffix -ehi instead of Sanskrit -bhis ^[4]

Sample

A sample inscription from the Kankali Tila torana in Mathura:

bhadata-jayasenasya āṃtevāsinīye dhāmaghoṣaye dān[o] pāsādo ^[1]

See also

• Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit

References

1. Salomon, Richard (1998). Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages. Oxford University Press. pp. 81–86. ISBN   978-0-19-509984-3.
2. Damsteegt, Th. (1978). Epigraphical Hybrid Sanskrit: Its Rise, Spread, Characteristics and Relationship to Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit. Orientalia Rheno-Traiectina. Vol. 23. Leiden: E. J. Brill. ISBN   9789004057258.
3. Strauch, Ingo (2012). "The inscriptions from Hoq: texts and contexts". In Strauch, Ingo (ed.). Foreign Sailors on Socotra: The inscriptions and drawings from the cave Hoq. Bremen: Hempen Verlag. pp. 262–266. ISBN   978-3-934106-91-8.
4. Hock, Hans Henrich (2024). "Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit: How Did It Originate?". Bhasha: Journal of South Asian Linguistics, Philology and Grammatical Traditions. 3 (2). Edizioni Ca’ Foscari: 179–180. doi:10.30687/bhasha/2785-5953/2024/02/001.