Ajay Kumar at 12:58, 22 August 2023

2023-08-22T12:58:46Z

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{{Short description|A stage in the evolution of the Eastern group of the Indo-Aryan languages}}
[[File:Abahattha script.jpg|thumb|A page from the 10th-century work ''Dakarnava'' in Abahattha]]
{{Infobox language
|name=Abahattha
|region=[[India]]
|extinct=14th century
| familycolor = Indo-European
| fam2 = [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
| fam3 = [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]]
| fam4 = [[Eastern Indo-Aryan languages|Eastern (Magadhan)]]
|script=[[Devanagari]], [[Bengali-Assamese script|Bengali-Assamese]], [[Tirhuta]], [[Odia script|Odia]]
|iso3=none
|glotto=none
}}
'''Abahaṭ‌ṭha''', '''Abahatta''' or '''Avahaṭṭha''' ([[Prakrit]]: ''abasaṭ‌ṭa'', ultimately from [[Sanskrit]] ''apaśabda'' 'meaningless sound'<ref>Deshpande, Madhav, ''Sanskrit and Prakrit'', p. 32.</ref>) is a stage in the evolution of the [[Eastern Indo-Aryan languages|Eastern group]] of the [[Indo-Aryan languages]]. The eastern group consists of languages such as [[Assamese language|Assamese]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]], [[Magahi language|Magahi]], [[Maithili language|Maithili]], and [[Odia language|Odia]]. Abahatta is considered to follow the [[Apabhraṃśa]] stage, i.e. those Apabhraṃśas derived from [[Magadhi Prakrit]].

After different business and trading classes such as the [[Jainism|Jains]] gained in power in the end of ninth century, the dominant position of classical Sanskrit waned; Apabhransa and Abahatta became very popular, especially among common people. It functioned as a [[lingua franca]] throughout the northern half of the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=St-Pierre |first1=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S37EdUramu0C&dq=Abahatta&pg=PA163 |title=In Translation: Reflections, Refractions, Transformations |last2=Kar |first2=Prafulla C. |date=2007-01-01 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |isbn=978-90-272-1679-3 |pages=163 |language=en}}</ref>
Abahatta, which existed from the 6th century to the 14th century, was contemporaneous with some Apabhraṃśas as well as the early modern languages such as [[Old Odia]], [[Old Bengali language|Old Bengali]] and [[Kamarupi Prakrit|Old Assamese]]. Many poets composed both in Abahatta and a modern language such as the ''[[Charyapada]]'' poets, who wrote [[Doha (poetry)|dohas]] or short religious verses in Abahatta;<ref>{{Cite book |last=Murshid |first=Ghulam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9o4SEAAAQBAJ&dq=Abahatta&pg=PT15 |title=Bengali Culture Over a Thousand Years |date=2018-01-25 |publisher=Niyogi Books |isbn=978-93-86906-12-0 |language=en}}</ref> the Maithili poet [[Vidyapati]] wrote his poem ''Kirtilata'' in Abahatta. Many works authored in Abahatta were translated into Sanskrit, and some texts were also written using multiple languages, such as Somprabha's "Kumarpala-pratibodha" in 1195 CE.<ref name=":0" />

The Abahattha stage is characterized by:
*Loss of affixes and suffixes
*Loss of grammatical gender
*Increased usage of short vowels
*Nasalisation at the end or in the middle of words
*The substitution of h for s

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{cite book |last=Bhowmik |first=Dulal |year=2012 |chapter=Abahattha |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Abahattha |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}

{{Old and Middle Indo-Aryan}}

[[Category:Eastern Indo-Aryan languages]]
[[Category:Languages attested from the 6th century]]
[[Category:Languages extinct in the 14th century]]

{{IndoAryan-lang-stub}}

Abahattha - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 12:58, 22 August 2023