खरोष्ठी
Sanskrit
Alternative forms
- खरोष्टी (kharoṣṭī)
Etymology
Sometimes written as खरोष्टी (kharoṣṭī), possibly a corrupted form of an older खरोष्ट्री (kharoṣṭrī, “the script of Kharoshtra”), which is itself derived from खरोष्ट्र (kharoṣṭra), the name of the region in Northwest India where the script was used to write some of the edicts of Ashoka . Both the name of the script and of the region should be considered as a dvandva compound of खर (khara, “donkey”) + उष्ट्र (uṣṭra, “camel”), meaning “ donkeys and camels”.
A folk etymology recorded in Chinese Buddhist literature attributes the name to a rishi whose name means "donkey-lips" or "having lips like the donkey's", 驢脣 (Salomon, 1998: 50-51). However, खर (khara) + ओष्ठ (oṣṭha, “the lip”) would have yielded *खरौष्ठ (*kharauṣṭha) by vowel sandhi, rather than -o-.
Noun
खरोष्ठी • (kharoṣṭhī) stem, f
- (Can we verify(+) this sense?) Kharoshthi script
- c. 200 CE, Lalitavistara Sūtra:
- ब्राह्मी खरोष्ठी पुष्करसारिं अङ्गलिपिं वङ्गलिपिं मगधलिपिं
- brāhmī kharoṣṭhī puṣkarasāriṃ aṅgalipiṃ vaṅgalipiṃ magadhalipiṃ
- Brahmi, Kharoshthi, and Pushkarasari; Anga script, Vanga script, and Magadha script...
- ब्राह्मी खरोष्ठी पुष्करसारिं अङ्गलिपिं वङ्गलिपिं मगधलिपिं
Declension
| singular | dual | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | खरोष्ठी (kharoṣṭhī) | खरोष्ठ्यौ (kharoṣṭhyau) | खरोष्ठ्यः (kharoṣṭhyaḥ) |
| accusative | खरोष्ठीम् (kharoṣṭhīm) | खरोष्ठ्यौ (kharoṣṭhyau) | खरोष्ठीः (kharoṣṭhīḥ) |
| instrumental | खरोष्ठ्या (kharoṣṭhyā) | खरोष्ठीभ्याम् (kharoṣṭhībhyām) | खरोष्ठीभिः (kharoṣṭhībhiḥ) |
| dative | खरोष्ठ्यै (kharoṣṭhyai) | खरोष्ठीभ्याम् (kharoṣṭhībhyām) | खरोष्ठीभ्यः (kharoṣṭhībhyaḥ) |
| ablative | खरोष्ठ्याः (kharoṣṭhyāḥ) | खरोष्ठीभ्याम् (kharoṣṭhībhyām) | खरोष्ठीभ्यः (kharoṣṭhībhyaḥ) |
| genitive | खरोष्ठ्याः (kharoṣṭhyāḥ) | खरोष्ठ्योः (kharoṣṭhyoḥ) | खरोष्ठीनाम् (kharoṣṭhīnām) |
| locative | खरोष्ठ्याम् (kharoṣṭhyām) | खरोष्ठ्योः (kharoṣṭhyoḥ) | खरोष्ठीषु (kharoṣṭhīṣu) |
| vocative | खरोष्ठि (kharoṣṭhi) | खरोष्ठ्यौ (kharoṣṭhyau) | खरोष्ठ्यः (kharoṣṭhyaḥ) |
Descendants
- ⇒ Chinese: 佉盧文 / 佉卢文 (qūlúwén)
- → English: Kharoshthi (learned)
References
- Salomon, Richard (1998) Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Language, Oxford University Press.
- Monier Williams (1899) “खरोष्टी”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, , new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 337/3.