Contents: Introduction. 1. Profile of Buddhist languages. 2. Pali language. 3. Prakrit language. 4. Buddhist hybrid Sanskrit. Bibliography. Index.

The original Buddhist teachings have been compiled in a language called Pali, a kind of "Prakrit" or the people's language, which in turn was the lingua of a large part of the Indian sub-continent and thrived in juxtaposition with the Sacred Vedic Language or perhaps, even prior to the compositions of the Vedic texts. Needless to state that the people's languages, collectively called "Prakrit", eventually evolved into most of the modern day vernacular languages of our nation. Further, it would be preposterous to think that there existed no language across the subcontinent when the Vedic language was in use. (jacket)