Ardha Magadhi

Ardhamagadhi (literally "half Magadhi") was an archaic form of Magadhi Prakrit. It was spoken in the Magadha region (present-day Bihar) of ancient India, before the 12th century BC.

Ardhamagadhi was prominently used by Jain scholars.[1] It developed into a full-fledged language by 300 BC, and standard books of grammar began to be written on the language.

The language gradually develop into an Apabhramsa, a vernacular dialect. This dialect later evolved into various modern languages of eastern India, such as Bihari, Maithili, Bengali, Assamese, and Oriya.

References

  1. ↑ Constance Jones; James D. Ryan (2006). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Infobase Publishing. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-8160-7564-5.


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