Pali and its dialects:A study
Generally its stated Buddha was preaching in Pali and that canon in Pali Nikayas are transmission of Buddha's teachings,as well as the Orthodox theravadins have equated Pali language with language of Maghada( Modern Bihar in India). But is Pali really a variant or dialect showing traits of Maghadism ? One of the most foremost authority in Middle Indo Aryan Philology K.R Norman has this to state: In Pali nikayas there are words which have characteristics which were typical of Magadhi,i.e s,l and the nominative ending -e( Note: such words are called anomalous words for ex Bhikkave is classical Maghadism) The evidence from Pali(je jantaghara and the hyperform Yamataggi) shows that there was also a dialect which changed initial y- > j-,and the last of these three examples gives additional evidence for the voicing of -t- > -d- The puns in the Sabhiya-sutta in the Sutta-nipata show that the sutta was composed in a dialect where intervocalic consonants had become -y-, which supports...