APABHRAMSA LANGUAGE

literary, primarily poetic language that reflects a late stage of Middle Indo-Aryan, immediately prior to Modern Indo-Aryan (c. 12th century). Apabhramsa literature includes major Jaina works. Though a literary language, Apabhramsa shows developments that must have taken place in spoken dialects. In early times, the term Apabhramsa referred to usage considered corrupt, including Middle Indo-Aryan usage (Apabhramsa is Sanskrit for departure from correct speech). Some authorities class Apabhramsa as a Prakrit language (q.v.). Moreover, as has been recognized by various authorities, including the prosodist Rudrata (c. 800), Apabhramsa showed dialectal differences.