Abstract
1. The classical Prakrit vowel system has been chosen as a starting point to study the history of the vowel system of Gujarati.l The evidence for the intervening stages is supplied by documents, and it is proposed to show how many phonemic systems have to be postulated for these intervening stages. The changes in the phonemic systems have, in turn, been followed by significant changes in the grammatical systems, thus providing us with more reliable data on the stages in the history of the Gujarati language. Statements about changes in the consonants have been excluded mainly because they are relatively few, and do not play a significant role in the changes in the grammatical system. Where the changes in consonant and vowel systems are interdependent, statements about consonant changes have been made. 2. The transition from OIA to MIA has been already described by Pischel, Bloch, Chatterji, and others. The most significant features of this change are merging of the OIA sonant r with MIA a, i, and u; reduction of OIA diphthongs ai and au to MIA e and o; and shortening of vowels under certain conditions. Thus, OIA r > MIA a, i, or u: krta> kaya 'performed', vrsabha> vasaha 'bull', vrsti> vutthi 'rain', drsti> ditthi 'vision'; OIA z > MIA z: vtra> vmro 'brave', szma > stma 'boundary', vtna > vzna 'a musical instrument'; OIA X > MIA i: parzksa > parikkha 'examination', jfrna> jinna 'tattered', vist1rya> vitthi .a 'spread'; OIA i > MIA i: dhigjwvita> dhijjfviya 'wretched life',
Published Version
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