Re: Indian Linguistics

 

The earliest written record is the Piprawa vase inscription which was discovered by Col Claxton  Peppe. This inscription is written in Brahmi character and is in a language which does not conform to any of the standard Prakrits. Some of the case endings tend towards Magadhi. No compound consonant has been written. They have been either simplified or divided by epenthesis. No long vowel, excepting two 'e's have been used. The inscription has been differently interpreted. This certainly belongs to the early part of 5^th c. bce.

 

However, this view is opposed by Herbert Hartel.

 

Kishore patnaik

 

From:

A Concise History of Classical Sanskrit Literature

 By Gaurinath Shastri, Gaurinath Bhattacharyya. Shastri, Bhattacharyya Shastri