(“formed”) The grammatically simpler vernacular languages that evolved from Sanskrit via natural linguistic change are referred to as a group.
The existence of Prakrits may be traced back to the fifth century B.C.E., when many dialects were spoken.
Sanskrit ("perfected"), the language of temples,
courts, and other elite situations, was subject to rigid grammatical canons and
did not evolve, in contrast to the Prakrits.
Even individuals who were competent in Sanskrit learnt it as
a second language—a static, taught language is fundamentally artificial—and
communicated to lower-status people in Prakrit (such as servants, commoners,
and most women).
Despite their "inferior" standing, Prakrits are historically significant:
Up to the Gupta dynasty (ca.350–550), they were the languages of royal inscriptions, and one of the Prakrits.
Pali on the other hand, is known as the language of the Theravada Buddhist canon.
