Kamarupi Prakrit
Middle Indo-Aryan language used in ancient Kamarupa, Indian subcontinent
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The evidence of this MIA exist in systematic errors in the Sanskrit language used in the Kamarupa inscriptions. A distinguishing characteristic of Kamarupa inscriptions is the replacement of ś and ṣ by s, which is contrary to Vararuci's rule, the main characteristic of Magadhi Prakrit, which warrants that ṣ and s are replaced by ś. Linguists claim this apabhramsa gave rise to various eastern Indo-European languages like modern Assamese and felt its presence in the form of Kamrupi and Kamatapuri lects.
Etymology of various names
The speech is known by different names, which generally consists of two words — prefix such as 'Kamrupi', 'Kamarupi', 'Kamarupa' referring to Kamarupa and suffixes 'dialect', 'Apabhramsa', sometimes 'Prakrit'. Suniti Kumar Chatterji named it as Kamarupa dialect (the dialect of Magadhi) as spoken in Kamarupa. Sukumar Sen and others calls it as old Kamrupi dialect; the speech used in old Kamrup. Some scholars termed it as Kamrupi Apabhramsa, Kamarupi language or proto-Kamrupa.
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Characteristics
Though the epigraphs were written in classical Sanskrit in kavya style of a high degree, they abound in forms varying from the standard.
- Loss of repha and reduplication of the remaining concerned consonants.
- Shortening of vowels.
- Lengthening of vowels.
- Substitution of one vowel for another.
- Avoidance and irregularity of sandhis.
- Loss of initial vowel.
- Substitution of Y by i.
- Total loss of medial Y.
- Reduplication of consonants immediately followed by r.
- Absence of duplication where it is otherwise necessary.
- Varieties of assimilation.
- Wrong analogy.
- Varied substitution for m and final m.
- Substitution of h by gh and substitution of bh by h.
- Indiscriminate substitution of one sibilant for another.
- Irregularity of declension in case of stems ending in consonants.
- Absence of visarga even where it is invariably necessary.
Apabhramsa
Xuanzang (or Hiuen Tsang), when he visited Kamarupa in 643 CE mentioned that the language spoken in Kamarupa was a 'little different' from the one spoken in mid-India (Magadha) is provided as evidence that this Apabhramsa existed as early as the 7th century.
Geographical vicinity
Assamese, or more appropriately the old Kamarupi dialect entered into Kamrup or western Assam, where this speech was first characterised as Assamese.
Golockchandra Goswami in his An Introduction to Assamese Phonology writes, "...in early Assamese there seems to be one dominant dialect prevailing over the whole country, the Western Assamese dialect." Similarly Upendranath Goswami says, "Assamese entered into Kamarupa or western Assam where this speech was first characterised as Assamese. This is evident from the remarks of Hiuen Tsang who visited the Kingdom of Kamarupa in the first half of the seventh century A.D., during the reign of Bhaskaravarman."