Ardhamagadhi Prakrit


Ardhamagadhi Prakrit was a Middle Indo-Aryan language and a Dramatic Prakrit thought to have been spoken in modern-day Bihar & Eastern Uttar Pradesh and used in some early Buddhist and Jain drama. It was likely a Central Indo-Aryan language, related to Pali and the later Sauraseni Prakrit and is thought to be an ancestor of Awadhi, Bhojpuri including Caribbean Hindustani, and Fiji Hindi.
It was originally thought to be a predecessor of the vernacular Magadhi Prakrit, hence the name.

Pali and Ardhamāgadhī

tradition has long held that Pali was synonymous with Magadhi and there are many analogies between it and , literally 'half-Magadhi'. was prominently used by Jain scholars and is preserved in the Jain Agamas. Both Gautama Buddha and the tirthankara Mahavira preached in Magadha.
Ardhamāgadhī differs from later Magadhi Prakrit on similar points as Pāli. For example, Ardhamāgadhī preserves historical , unlike later Magadhi, where changed into . Additionally, in the noun inflection, Ardhamagadhi shows the ending instead of Magadhi Prakrit in many metrical places.
Pali: Dhammapada 103:
Ardhamagadhi: Saman Suttam 125: