A Comprehensive and Critical Dictionary of the Prakrit Languages with Special Reference to Jain Literature, vol. 1.

• Author: Salomon, Richard

This volume is the first fruit of a project begun in 1987 with the intention to bring out within "about ten years" (p. v) a complete dictionary of Prakrit in three volumes. Though this may sound ambitious, it is encouraging and impressive that the first fascicle has been published within six years of the commencement of the project, especially in view of the extraordinary difficulty and complexity of compiling a Prakrit dictionary. "Prakrit," after all, is not a language at all, but a broad rubric under which are gathered several literary dialects of the Middle Indo-Aryan family, more or less closely related to each other but different enough in their phonetic and grammatical structure and in the nature and contents of their literary testimonia to present formidable problems to the lexicographer. Thus it is hardly surprising that previous attempts at Prakrit dictionaries such as the Abhidhanarajendra and Paiasadda-mahannavo have been less than completely successful, as is convincingly argued by the editor in his introductory discussion (pp. *3-*6).

The editor, A. M. Ghatage, whose lexicographical accomplishments are already well known to Indologists from his labors on An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Sanskrit on Historical Principles (or "The Poona Sanskrit Dictionary," as it has come to be known), has wisely approached this daunting task by clearly defining and delimiting his range. The dictionary, it is stated from the outset (p. *1), does not attempt to cover all of the Middle Indo-Aryan languages, but to concentrate on the Prakrits proper, i.e., Ardha-Magadhi, Jaina Maharastri, Jaina Sauraseni, Maharastri, Sauraseni, Magadhi, and Apabhramsa, while not ignoring the scanty remains of the vibhasas or sub-dialects of Prakrit. Not covered are Pali, the extra-Indian Prakrits, and "some of the early inscriptions in MIA like those of Asoka" (though as a matter of fact no citations to inscriptional Prakrit at all were noticed in the present fascicle). The concentration on Jaina texts indicated in the title is dictated by the "extensive material ... available here" (ibid.), and is not at the expense of other non-Jaina Prakrit literature, such as the dramatic Prakrits (both independent and as part of Sanskrit dramas) and the Prakrit kavyas.

The first fascicle of the dictionary comprises the following sections:

A general "Introduction" (pp. *1-*25), discussing the scope, intention, and justification of the project (pp. *1-*6), the Prakrit languages...