STRUCTURE OF VERBAL STEMS. 25
is softened to tf , and the following vowel is weakened to .^, producing as characteristic the syllables ihi. Thus —
y/^& "laugh," S. 1. ffafffa- 2. ffafffa, 3. ^faff^, etc.
By a forgetf ulness of the origin of such forms as ^ft^ij, the ordinary future terminations may be added to them too, just like dakkhissati in Pali (§ 4), so that we find *fff^^fa> and
The various tenses which in Sanskrit indicate past time have alread} r in Pali and the earlier Prakrits been fused down into one. In scenic Prakrit a further step is taken, and the syllables ia, erroneously written ia in some MSS., are added to the root for all persons of the past tense (Tar. vii. 23, 24. Lassen, Inst. Pr., 353). This is probably the neuter of the p.p.p. in Sanskrit, and its use is due to the frequency of the construction with the instrumental. Instead of saying " I saw, I went, I heard," the people said, "by me seen, gone, heard.". This point is one of great importance in modern Hindi and Gujarati.
§ 8. "While the Maharashtri and Qauraseni dialects are con- sidered the principal ones in the dramas, there are yet others of great importance, such as the Hagadhi, with its sub-dialects. Among these, however, it is necessary only to notice that called Apabhranca. I do not wish here to touch upon the question whether the dialect called by this name in the dramas really represents the speech of any particular Indian province or not. 1 assume, for the sake of convenience, that Apabhranca is really a vulgar speech further removed from the classical idiom than Maharashtri or Qauraseni. There may have been half a dozen Apabhrancas, probably there were. In this section I am merely seeking to put together examples of verbal forms in a dialect one step nearer to modern times than the principal scenic Prakrits, and having done so, shall go on to my own special subject.
