Our Language

The history of the Saurashtra language lies in its influences/influencers. That is, this language is thought to be a combination of Maharashtri, Pakrit, Gujarati, Konkani, Sanskrit, and a few dialects from western Rajasthan and Sindh. However, as the Saurashtra culture is so old, the Saurashtra language must be as well. Thus, this language may have influenced at least some of its “combinations.” In fact, early evidence of the Saurashtra language dates back to the Mandasor Pillar Inscriptions of 485 B.C. Therefore, some believe “Saurashtra is as old as Sanskrit.” More so, as the Saurashtrian people were writers, much of their language was preserved with literature up until 1025 A.D. However, since the Saurashtrians were forced to migrate due to some “outside force,” much of the literature and the language’s history got lost in the process.

Sources for further reading: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/52927461.cms?, https://gsatsaurashtri.org/history/, https://in.linkedin.com/in/krishnamoorthy-c-s-20b16b45, and https://www.endangeredalphabets.net/alphabets/sourashtra/

Because the majority of Saurashtrian literature was lost, much of the original script was lost as well. Therefore, a new script was made. As recently as the 1980s, Norihiko Ucida, a Japanese scholar, traveled to Madurai to research this one-of-a-kind language. Living amongst today’s Saurashtrians and avidly learning their language as well, Ucida compiled the first Saurashtra-English dictionary (published in 1990). Later on, a Saurashtrian himself, T.M. Rama Ra[i] reformed this Madurai-specific script and standardized it. In fact, his standardized script for the Saurashtra language is even used today.

From its early origins on a Mandasor Pillar to T.M. Rama Ra[i]’s standardized script, the written Saurashtra language has been abugida, or each letter represents a syllable with the inherent vowel [a]. Furthermore, what makes the written language unique is its diacritics, twelve word-initial vowels, and the vocalic liquid letters r, ru, l, and lu.

Sources for further reading:

https://www.endangeredalphabets.net/alphabets/sourashtra/, https://scriptsource.org/cms/scripts/page.php?item_id=entry_detail&uid=ypnsb92h4z, http://self.gutenberg.org/articles/Saurashtra_language?View=embedded, and http://archive.phonetics.ucla.edu/Language/SAZ/saz_word-list_1984_01.html