Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics.pdf

A-Z 555language of India and Pakistan respectively), Bengali (approx. 150 million speakers,official language of Bangladesh), Panjabi (approx. 45 million speakers), Marathi(approx. 52 million speakers), Bihari (a group of languages, approx. 37 million speakers),Gujarati (approx. 33 million speakers), Rajasthani (approx. 25 million speakers),Assamese (approx. 12 million speakers), Sindhi (approx. 12 million speakers, Pakistan),Singhalese (approx. 11 million speakers, official language of Sri Lanka), Nepali (approx.9.5 million speakers, official language of Nepal). The oldest known form of Indo-Aryanis Sanskrit (richly attested since about 1200 BC in its oldest stage, Vedic, the languageof the religious hymns of the Vedas); the older IndoAryan languages have developedfrom the corresponding everyday language, Prakrit. ‘Middle Indo-Aryan’ is used to referto the state of the language between the third century BC and the fourth century AD; themost important documents are the Buddhist writings in Pali, the Ašoka inscriptions.Characteristics: unusual voiced aspirated plosives such as [b h ], as well as retroflexesin the sound system.GeneralBloch, J. 1965. Indo-Aryan from the Vedas to modern times, trans. by A.Master. Paris.Gonda, J. 1971. Old Indian (Handbuch der Orientalistik 2, vol. 1: Die indischen Sprachen, 1).Leiden.Masica, C.P. 1991. The Indo-Aryan languages. Cambridge.Sebeok, T. (ed.) 1969. Current Trends in Linguistics, vol. 5: Linguistics in South Asia: Part I: Indo-Aryan languages. The Hague and Paris. 3–306.Old Indo-AryanMacDonell, A.A. 1910. Vedic grammar. Strasburg.Middle Indo-AryanElizarenkova, T.Y. and V.N.Toporov, 1976. The Pali language. Moscow.Hinüber, O.von. 1986. Das ältere Mittelindoarische im Überblick. Vienna.Mishra, M. 1986. A comparative and historical Pali grammar. New Delhi.Pischel, R. 1900. Grammatik der Prakrit-Sprachen. (Trans. as: A grammar of the Prakritlanguages, by S.Jha. (2nd rev. edn). Delhi, 1981.)Sen, S. 1960. A comparative grammar of Middle Indo-Aryan. Poona.Warder, A.K. 1991. Introduction to Pali, 3rd edn. London.Woolner, A.C. 1928. Introduction to Prakrit, 2nd edn. (Repr. Delhi 1975.)New Indo-AryanBahl, K.C. 1972. On the present state of Modern Rajashthani grammar. Jodhpur.Barua, P.N.D. 1980. An intensive course in Assamese. Mysore.