Wiktionary:Prakrit entry guidelines

This is a Wiktionary policy, guideline or common practices page. This is a draft proposal. It is unofficial, and it is unknown whether it is widely accepted by Wiktionary editors. Policies – Entries: CFI - EL - NORM - NPOV - QUOTE - REDIR - DELETE. Languages: LT - AXX. Others: BLOCK - BOTS - VOTES.

Scripts

See also: Category:Prakrit terms by script

When Prakrit was a spoken language, it is presumed that Brahmi would have been the script that Prakrit speakers were using natively and hence, the main entry for every Prakrit term is in Brahmi, even if the term is not attested in Brahmi and is instead attested in another script. Modern-day Prakrit, however, is much more commonly written in scripts such as Devanagari (in the north) and Kannada (in the south).

Traditional Western grammar (that preceded modern linguistics) treats terms as being attested in a specific script, since writing is more permanent than spoken words. However, ancient Indian grammar treats words as oral entities, and words in Prakrit are usually attested in scripts long after both Brahmi and the language itself had become extinct.

More information

The original Brahmi-script manuscripts were written on perishable materials, and the ones that survived were either intentionally destroyed or remain unexcavated at archaeological sites. In addition, the scripts used to write the language are in a near one-to-one relationship, so the margin of error for converting between scripts is almost negligible. The difference between the scripts is not in the underlying structure, but in the shapes of the characters.

The terms that are attested in Brahmi (from the time when Prakrit was the spoken language of the masses) would be in Category:Epigraphic Prakrit.

Headword Line And Translations

The headword line should show the term (in whatever script), with the transliteration in parenthesis. If the script of the page is Brahmi, the Devanagari spelling of the term is automatically shown beside it (using Module:typing-aids/data/sa). The Kannada script form is also shown if any unnamed parameter in the headword template contains m or mh specifying Maharastri. Example at 𑀕𑀺𑀤𑁆𑀥 (giddha):

𑀕𑀺𑀤𑁆𑀥 (giddha) m (Devanagari गिद्ध, Gujarati ગિદ્ધ, Kannada ಗಿದ್ಧ) (attested in Māhārāṣṭrī, Ardhamāgadhī, Jain Māhārāṣṭrī, Māgadhī, Śaurasenī)

Likewise, in Translations sections, e.g. at vulture:

• Prakrit: {{t|pra|𑀕𑀺𑀤𑁆𑀥|m}}

Transliteration

Standard transliteration system for Prakrit on Wiktionary is the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration modified accordingly for transliterating Brahmi and Kannada scripts also. Transliterations shall appear in the headword line in brackets (on the entry) or using {{l}} or {{m}}. The following modules are used for transliterating Prakrit:

1. (for Brahmi script): Module:Brah-translit
2. (for Devanagari script): Module:sa-translit
3. (for Kannada script): Module:pra-Knda-translit

References

For reference purposes the following templates are available:

• {{R:inc:Cowell}}
• {{R:pra:Grierson}}
• {{R:inc:Pischel}}
• {{R:pra:Sheth}}
• {{R:inc:Woolner}}
• {{R:inc:CGMIA}}
• {{R:CDIAL}}

For example, the entry on 𑀡𑀸𑀫 (ṇāma) has the following in the ===Further reading=== section:

===Further reading===
* {{R:pra:Sheth|pg=385}}
* {{R:inc:Pischel|287}}
* {{R:inc:Woolner|122}}
* {{R:CDIAL|pg=406}}

Other details

Using Prakrit headword-line templates

It is better to Prakrit headword-line templates for headwords instead of {{head|pra|<part of speech>}} for many reasons, apart from easier implementation.

Classification by lects

Classification of Prakrit terms by lects is done using {{label}} beside the definition or {{term-label}} beside the headword-template. {{label|pra|Paisaci}} or {{term-label|pra|Paisaci}} would categorise the term into Category:Paisaci Prakrit. Using the headword-templates would make it easier. For example, see the headword at Paisaci Prakrit 𑀅𑀓𑁆𑀔𑀇 (akkhaï):

{{pra-verb|i|p}} automatically labels and gives:

𑀅𑀓𑁆𑀔𑀇 (akkhaï) (Devanagari अक्खइ) (intransitive) (attested in Paiśācī)

Entering the following in any unnamed parameter of the headword-line templates would generate a label for a particular lect:

a = Ardhamagadhi

c = Culikapaisaci

e or h = Helu

j = Jain Maharastri

k = Khasa

mg = Magadhi

m or mh = Maharastri

p = Paisaci

s = Sauraseni

• Note: Multiple labels are supported. For {{pra-verb}}, the first unnamed parameter can also contain i (for intransitive verbs), t (for transitive verbs) and it/ti (for ambitransitive verbs).

Classification by scripts

These headword templates also classify Prakrit terms by script (e.g. Category:Prakrit nouns in Devanagari script). For this reason, in case {{head|pra|<part of speech>}} is ever applied (though it is discouraged), it should have a parameter |sccat= for categorisation, like: {{head|pra|<part of speech>|sccat=1}}.