About the Book
This monograph aims to close the gap in our knowledge of the nature and pace of grammatical change during the formative period of today’s Indo-Aryan languages. During the 6th-12th c. the gradual erosion of the synthetic morphology of Old Indo-Aryan resulted ultimately in the remodelling of its syntax in the direction of the New Indo-Aryan analytic type.
This study concentrates on the emergence and development of the ergative construction in terms of the passive-to-ergative reanalysis and the co-existence of the ergative construction with the old and new analytic passive constructions. Special attention is paid to the actuation problem seen as the tug of war between conservative and eliminative forces during their development. Other chapters deal with the evolution of grammatical and lexical aspect, causativization, modality, absolute constructions and subordination.
This study is based on a wealth of new data gleaned from original poetic works in Apabhraṃśa (by Svayaṃbhādeva, Puṣpadanta, Haribhadra, Somaprabha et al.). It contains sections dealing with descriptive techniques of Medieval Indian grammarians (esp. Hemacandra). All the Sanskrit, Prakrit and Apabhraṃśa examples are consistently parsed and translated.
The opus is cast in the theoretical framework of Functional Grammar of the Prague and Amsterdam Schools. It should be of particular interest to scholars and students of Indo-Aryan and general historical linguistics, especially those interested in the issues of morphosyntactic change and typology in their sociohistorical setting.
Table of Contents:
1. Preface, pvii; 2. List of Illustrations, pxiv; 3. Abbreviations of Languages and Dialects, pxvii; 4. Abbreviations of Primary Literature, pxix; 5. Abbreviations of Grammatical Terms, pxxi; 6. Introduction, pxxiii; 7. Part One: Methodology, Sociolinguistic Background and Apabhram sa Literary Corpus; 8. Chapter 1: Methodology and Theoretical Approach; 9. 1.1 Previous studies of the late Middle Indo-Aryan period, p1; 10. 1.2 The scope and aims of the present study, p3; 11. 1.3 Methodology, p5; 12. 1.4 Conceptual framework, p6; 13. Chapter 2: Historical, Social, and Linguistic Background; 14. 2.1 Regional states in Northern India (6th - 12th century A. D.), p13; 15. 2.2 Sociolinguistic impact of foreign invasions and settlements on Northern India, p15; 16. 2.3 Literary languages of Medieval India (Sanskrit, Prakrits, and Apabhram sa), p16; 17. Chapter 3: Evidence from Medieval Indian Grammarians; 18. 3.1 Vararuci's Prakrtaprakasa, p33; 19. 3.2 Descriptive technique of Hemacandra Suri (1088/89-1172/73), p34; 20. 3.3 Eastern grammarians: Kramadisvara and Purus ottama, p44; 21. Chapter 4: Late Middle Indo-Aryan Vernacular Corpus; 22. 4.1 Eastern Apabhram sa: the Dohakos as of Kan ha and Saraha, p50; 23. 4.2 Apabhram sa songs in Kalidasa's Vikramorvasiya, p55; 24. 4.3 Joindu's Paramatmaprakasa and Yogasara, p56; 25. 4.4 Svayambhudeva's Paumacariu and Ritthanemicariu, p56; 26. 4.5 Puspadanta's Harivamsapurana , p58; 27. 4.6 Kanakamara's Karakandacariu, p58; 28. 4.7 Dhanavala's Bhavisattakaha, p59; 29. 4.8 Ramasimha's Pahudadoha, p59; 30. 4.9 Haribhadra's Sanatkumaracarita, p59; 31. 4.10 Somaprabha's Kumarapalapratibodha, p60; 32. 4.11 Addahamana's Samdesa Rasaka, p62; 33. Part Two: Grammatical Change During the Late Middle Indo-Aryan Period; 34. Chapter 5: Restructuring of the Nominal System and the Evolution of the Phrasal Case; 35. 5.1 Erosion of the nominal case system, p65; 36. 5.2 Source, p68; 37. 5.3 Appurtenance, p74; 38. 5.4 Reference, p78; 39. 5.5 Location, p80; 40. 5.6 Accompaniment/Instrumentality, p83; 41. Chapter 6: Restructuring of the Pronominal System and the Evolution of the Phrasal Case; 42. 6.1 Late Middle Indo-Aryan period (Apabhramsa), p88; 43. 6.2 Early New Indo-Aryan period, p99; 44. Chapter 7: Evolution of Grammatical and Lexical Aspect; 45. 7.1 Grammatical aspect, p104; 46. 7.2 Lexical aspect, p111; 47. Chapter 8: The Old Synthetic and the New Analytic Passive; 48. 8.1 Inherited finite (synthetic) passive in -ijja-, p118; 49. 8.2 Inherited analytic be-passive, p124; 50. 8.3 Innovative analytic jana "go"-passive, p125; 51. 8.4 Non-finite passive with the past passive particle, p126; 52. Chapter 9: The Emergence and Development of the Ergative Construction; 53. 9.1 The functional theory of the origins of ergativity, p133; 54. 9.2 The possessive and agentive construction in Middle Indo-Aryan, p136; 55. 9.3 The tug of war between conservative and eliminative forces in the history of Indo-Aryan, p141; 56. 9.4 Ergative interpretation of the constructions with the past passive participle in Apabhram sa, p147; 57. Chapter 10: The Scope of the Causative; 58. 10.1 The functional theory of causativization, p161; 59. 10.2 Finite causatives, p163; 60. 10.3 Non-finite causatives, p164; 61. 10.4 Causativization in Sanskrit and Prakrits, p168; 62. Chapter 11: Mood and Modality; 63. 11.1 Epistemic and deontic modality, p184; 64. 11.2 The gerundive in statements of necessity and possibility, p189; 65. 11.3 The gerundive in the function of inferential mode, p192; 66. 11.4 The gerundive recategorized as future tense, p193; 67. Chapter 12: Absolute Constructions; 68. 12.1 Absolute constructions in Old Indo-Aryan, p197; 69. 12.2 Absolute constructions in Apabhramsa, p199; 70. Chapter 13: Complementation and Relativization; 71. 13.1 The gerund with modal verbs, p206; 72. 13.2 Dative of purpose with verbs of motion, p206; 73. 13.3 The quotative particle ema, p207; 74. 13.4 Relative clauses in Apabhramsa, p209; 75. 13.5 Subordinate clauses introduced by relative pronouns, p210; 76. 13.6 Subordinate clauses introduced by relative adverbs, p212; 77. Chapter 14: Conclusions; 78. 14.1 Grammatical change in Indo-Aryan languages during the Medieval period (6th - 12th century A.D.), p217; 79. 14.2 Sociolinguistic aspects of the history of Indo-Aryan languages during the Medieval period, p221; 80. 14.3 A contribution of the present monograph to general historical linguistics, p223; 81. 14.4 Epilogue, p230; 82. Editions of Primary Literature, p231; 83. References and Select Bibliography, p235; 84. Index of Ancient and Medieval Grammarians, p250; 85. Index of Modern Authors, p251; 86. Index of Quoted Passages, p253; 87. Index of Languages and Dialects, p258; 88. Index of Subjects, p261
Review :
The book is one of the very few studies of the linguistic facts of a far-flung literature and, as such, fills a real lacuna. Not the least of its virtues is to have assembled an Apabhramsa cano, heretofore nonexistent for Western scholars, which can serve as a basis for further studies of many of the syntactic phenomena mentioned here, as well as others.
