The Relation between Pali and Ardhamagadhi
By P. V. Bapat
Summary
In this linguistic study the author evaluates competing hypotheses about the relationship between Pāli and Ardhamāgadhī. Some scholars argued that Pāli was merely a literary variety of Ardhamāgadhī; others held that both languages evolved independently from Vedic. The article reviews the views of Keith, Geiger and Lüders and notes that Pāli contains certain phonological and morphological features that appear earlier than those in Ardhamāgadhī. For instance, Pāli retains intervocalic ‘t’ and ‘d’ where Ardhamāgadhī shows lenition, and its nominal inflections often preserve Sanskrit endings lost in the Jaina Prakrits. The author examines Buddhist canonical texts to demonstrate that Pāli was a koine used by monks from various regions and not the vernacular of Magadha alone. Epigraphic evidence from Ashokan edicts indicates that regional dialects co‑existed, and the Pāli of the canon represents a compromise between them. The article concludes that Ardhamāgadhī developed later, influenced by vernacular speech in eastern India, whereas Pāli preserves an older stage of Middle Indo‑Aryan. Hence Pāli should be treated as an independent linguistic system rather than a derivative of Ardhamāgadhī.
AI-assisted summary, not yet checked. Consult the original PDF before citing.
Conclusion
The author convincingly argues that Pāli is not a dialect derived from Ardhamāgadhī but an earlier literary koine blending features from various Prakrits. Ardhamāgadhī represents a later evolution influenced by eastern vernaculars. This conclusion invites scholars to reassess the chronology of Middle Indo‑Aryan languages and to view Pāli as preserving archaic linguistic forms.