Apabhraṃśa

Common card · No. 361428

Apabhraṃśa (Sanskrit: अपभ्रंश, IPA: [ɐpɐbʱrɐ̃ˈɕɐ], Prakrit: अवहंस Avahaṃsa) is a term used by vaiyākaraṇāḥ (native grammarians) since Patañjali to refer to languages spoken in Northern India before the rise of the modern languages. In Indology, it is used as an umbrella term for the dialects forming the transition between the late Middle and the early Modern Indo-Aryan languages, spanning the period between the 6th and 13th centuries CE. However, these dialects are conventionally included in the Middle Indo-Aryan period. Apabhraṃśa in Sanskrit literally means "corrupt" or "non-grammatical language", that which deviates from the norm of Sanskrit grammar. Apabhraṃśa literature is a valuable source for the history of Northern India for the period spanning the 12th to 16th centuries.

Read on Wikipedia · Image बडा काजी, Public domain