Prakrit

E51274

Middle Indo-Aryan language ancient language group of languages

Prakrit is a group of ancient Middle Indo-Aryan languages historically used in religious and literary texts, especially in Jain, Buddhist, and early Hindu traditions.

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All labels observed (5)

Label	Occurrences
Prakrit canonical	60
Prakrit languages	6
Prakrit language	1
Prakrits	1
Prākrit	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T407472 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Prakrit
Context triple: [Jainism, scriptureLanguage, Prakrit]

A. Magadhi Prakrit
Magadhi Prakrit is an ancient Middle Indo-Aryan language of eastern India that served as a major linguistic ancestor to several modern languages of the region, including Bengali.
B. Gandhari Prakrit
Gandhari Prakrit is an ancient Middle Indo-Aryan language of northwestern South Asia, known from Buddhist texts and inscriptions written in the Kharoṣṭhī script.
C. Maharashtri Prakrit
Maharashtri Prakrit is an ancient Middle Indo-Aryan language historically used in western and central India, especially in classical poetry and drama, and is a key ancestor of several modern Indo-Aryan languages.
D. Sanskrit
Sanskrit is an ancient Indo-Aryan language of India, foundational to Hindu religious texts and classical Indian literature, and a key source for many modern South Asian languages.
E. Sanskritized Prakrits
Sanskritized Prakrits are Middle Indo-Aryan vernacular languages or dialects that have been heavily influenced and refined by Sanskrit in their vocabulary, grammar, and literary style.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Prakrit
Target entity description: Prakrit is a group of ancient Middle Indo-Aryan languages historically used in religious and literary texts, especially in Jain, Buddhist, and early Hindu traditions.

A. Magadhi Prakrit
Magadhi Prakrit is an ancient Middle Indo-Aryan language of eastern India that served as a major linguistic ancestor to several modern languages of the region, including Bengali.
B. Gandhari Prakrit
Gandhari Prakrit is an ancient Middle Indo-Aryan language of northwestern South Asia, known from Buddhist texts and inscriptions written in the Kharoṣṭhī script.
C. Maharashtri Prakrit
Maharashtri Prakrit is an ancient Middle Indo-Aryan language historically used in western and central India, especially in classical poetry and drama, and is a key ancestor of several modern Indo-Aryan languages.
D. Sanskrit
Sanskrit is an ancient Indo-Aryan language of India, foundational to Hindu religious texts and classical Indian literature, and a key source for many modern South Asian languages.
E. Sanskritized Prakrits
Sanskritized Prakrits are Middle Indo-Aryan vernacular languages or dialects that have been heavily influenced and refined by Sanskrit in their vocabulary, grammar, and literary style.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (52)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Middle Indo-Aryan language ⓘ ancient language ⓘ group of languages ⓘ
associatedWithReligion	Buddhism ⓘ Hinduism ⓘ Jainism ⓘ
characterizedBy	simplified morphology compared to Sanskrit ⓘ simplified phonology compared to Sanskrit ⓘ
contrastedWith	Classical Sanskrit ⓘ linked to: Sanskrit
follows	Old Indo-Aryan ⓘ Vedic Sanskrit ⓘ linked to: Sanskrit
hasVariety	Ardhamagadhi Prakrit ⓘ Jain Maharashtri ⓘ Jain Prakrit ⓘ linked to: Ardhamagadhi Prakrit Jain Shauraseni ⓘ linked to: Shauraseni Prakrit Magadhi Prakrit ⓘ Maharashtri Prakrit ⓘ Paisaci Prakrit ⓘ Shauraseni Prakrit ⓘ
influenced	Bihari languages ⓘ Gujarati ⓘ Hindi ⓘ Marathi ⓘ Rajasthani ⓘ other modern Indo-Aryan languages ⓘ
linguisticStageOf	Indo-Aryan language continuum ⓘ linked to: Indo-Aryan languages
precedes	Apabhraṃśa ⓘ linked to: Apabhramsha New Indo-Aryan languages ⓘ linked to: Indo-Aryan languages
subclassOf	Indo-Aryan languages ⓘ Indo-European languages ⓘ linked to: Indo-European language family Indo-Iranian languages ⓘ
usedBy	Buddhist monks ⓘ Jain monks ⓘ classical Indian dramatists ⓘ
usedFor	drama ⓘ inscriptions ⓘ literary texts ⓘ poetry ⓘ religious texts ⓘ
usedIn	South Asia ⓘ ancient India ⓘ
usedInPeriod	Middle Indo-Aryan period ⓘ linked to: Middle Indo-Aryan circa 3rd century BCE to 4th century CE ⓘ
usedInTextType	Buddhist texts ⓘ Jain canonical literature ⓘ early Hindu texts ⓘ
usedInWork	Gaha Sattasai (Gāthā Saptashatī) ⓘ Jain Agamas ⓘ linked to: Agamas early inscriptions of Indian subcontinent ⓘ
writingSystem	Brahmi script ⓘ Kharosthi script ⓘ linked to: Kharoṣṭhī script various regional scripts ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (69)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Jainism → scriptureLanguage → Prakrit ⓘ

Old Malay → lexicalInfluenceFrom → Prakrit ⓘ

Brahmi script → usedFor → Prakrit languages ⓘ

linked to: Prakrit

Gandhari Prakrit → subclassOf → Prakrit language ⓘ

linked to: Prakrit

Shravikas → languageOfTerm → Prakrit ⓘ

Tirthankaras → languageOfEarlyTradition → Prakrit ⓘ

Shauraseni Prakrit → partOf → Prakrits ⓘ

linked to: Prakrit

Kawi language → influencedBy → Prakrit languages ⓘ

linked to: Prakrit

Ellora Caves → inscriptionsLanguage → Prakrit ⓘ

Indian literature → hasLanguage → Prakrit ⓘ

Bindusara → language → Prakrit ⓘ

Languages of India → influencedBy → Prakrit languages ⓘ

linked to: Prakrit

Ashoka → inscriptionsLanguage → Prakrit ⓘ

Pallava Grantha → usedForLanguage → Prakrit ⓘ

Shunga Empire → language → Prakrit ⓘ

Taxila → languageHistoricallyUsed → Prakrit ⓘ

Brahmi → usedForLanguage → Prakrit ⓘ

Amaravati sculptures → languageOfInscriptions → Prakrit ⓘ

Apabhramsha → follows → Prakrit ⓘ

Trishala → languageOfPrimarySources → Prakrit ⓘ

Samvatsari → languageOfGreeting → Prakrit ⓘ

Pratikraman → languageUsed → Prakrit ⓘ

Murtipujaka → languageOfScripture → Prakrit ⓘ

Shravika → languageOfTerm → Prakrit ⓘ

Upangas → language → Prakrit ⓘ

Paisaci → hasRelationTo → Prakrit languages ⓘ

linked to: Prakrit

Nagari → usedForWriting → Prakrit languages ⓘ

linked to: Prakrit

Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves → hasInscriptionLanguage → Prakrit ⓘ

Indian mathematics → usedLanguage → Prakrit ⓘ

Kosala → language → Prakrit ⓘ

Agathocles of Bactria → languageUsedOnCoins → Prakrit ⓘ

Shunga period → languageOfAdministration → Prakrit ⓘ

Niya site → languageEvidence → Prakrit ⓘ

Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit → developedFrom → Prakrit ⓘ

Neminatha → languageOfPrimaryTexts → Prakrit ⓘ

Gorkhali → hasLexicalInfluenceFrom → Prakrit ⓘ

Lou-lan → hasLanguageEvidence → Prakrit ⓘ

Bharhut → language → Prakrit ⓘ

Proto-Indo-Aryan language → hasDescendant → Prakrit languages ⓘ

linked to: Prakrit

Tosali → hasLanguageHistorical → Prakrit ⓘ

Gandhari → subclassOf → Prakrit ⓘ

Xuanzang → sourceLanguages → Prakrit ⓘ

Gommatsara → language → Prakrit ⓘ

Niyamasara → language → Prakrit ⓘ

Pancastikayasara → language → Prakrit ⓘ

Mulachara → language → Prakrit ⓘ

Bhaktamara Stotra → hasCommentariesIn → Prakrit ⓘ

Gupta and post-Gupta scientific culture → hasLanguageOfScholarship → Prakrit ⓘ

Amaravati → languageHistoricalInscriptions → Prakrit ⓘ

Hemachandra → languageOfWorks → Prakrit ⓘ

All labels observed (5)

How this entity was disambiguated Show

Statements (52)

How these facts were elicited Show

Referenced by (69)

How this entity was disambiguated

How these facts were elicited