ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Apabhraṃśa

Hey kiddo, do you know that just like different languages, there are also different versions of the same language? Yes? Good! So, apabhraṃśa is one of those versions of the Sanskrit language, which used to be spoken in ancient India a long, long time ago.

Now, apabhraṃśa was spoken around 600-1200 AD, which is way before you were born. This language developed because people in different parts of India spoke their own dialects, which were slightly different from each other. In order to communicate with each other, they needed a common language, so they developed apabhraṃśa.

Apabhraṃśa is a mix of different dialects, so it's not exactly like Sanskrit. It sounds a little different and has its own grammar rules. It's also different from modern-day Hindi or any other language that we speak today.

Nowadays, we don't speak apabhraṃśa anymore, but it played an important role in the development of many other languages, like Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, and Gujarati. Pretty cool, right?
Related topics others have asked about: