Das ältere Mittelindisch im Überblick

The first edition, which was published in 1986 and which intended to supplement the comprehensive grammars of Prakrit by Richard Pischel (1900) and Pali by Wilhelm Geiger (1916), has been out of print for more than a decade. Consequently, it seems useful and necessary to present a revised text by including the impressive progress of research on Middle Indic achieved during the past fifteen years. Although the overall arrangement of the material has not been changed, the individual paragraphs have been thoroughly checked and were, in many cases, also rewritten. Aim and purpose of this survey continues to be an introduction into the history and development of the grammar of the early Middle Indic languages. For this reason, first of all Pali and Ardhamagadhi, the old languages of Buddhism and Jainism respectively, are taken into consideration. In contrast to the grammars by Pischel and Geiger, Middle Indic inscriptions have also been adduced. Lastly, the rich finds of new material written in Gandhari, the Northwestern Prakrit, have been included as far as the present state of knowledge allows. In addition to a description of the grammar, the survey also offers a brief introduction into the literary and epigraphical source material most important for the study of Middle Indic languages.