520 M. M. Chakravarti— Language and Literature of Orissa. [No. 4, 
Language during its development is acted upon and more or less 
modified by other forces ; and Oriya, in spite of its isolation, is no excep¬ 
tion. Though based on the Magadhi, the Oriya has been more or less 
modified by— 
(1) Post-Vedic Sanskrit; 
(2) Aboriginal speeches; 
(3) Telugu ; 
(4) Urdu and Hindi; 
(5) English. 
(1) . The Post-Vedic Sanskrit had the largest influence on the 
Oriya. It influenced directly through its religious works, and indirectly 
through its numerous poems, dramas, &c. In all religious and social 
ceremonies the Brahmin is a sine qua non ; and the Brahmins, a Sanskrit 
speaking caste, constantly quoted and referred to the (gratis and Smptis. 
In this way a large number of social and religious words came to be 
borrowed from Sanskrit. Then again the reading classes and generally 
the upper classes studied Sanskrit Puranas, epic poems, dramas, 
grammar, &c. ; or read Oriya works translated or adapted from them. 
In either way their vocabulary got enriched with innumerable Sanskrit 
words; and many tatsamas or derivations gradually came into current 
use. Sometimes the Sanskrit derivatives ran in opposition to the 
older Prakft derivatives ; and in the struggle for existence the older 
words were either driven out of the field, or had their meaning res¬ 
tricted to a special significance. As examples of the latter, I may 
Oriya. 
TTO or (part of a compound 
in word meaning 
and king) 
^CT^rr (king) 
•TOT (palace) 
•HIT (town) 
^fPTT (festivals in which fasts 
are kept). 
(fasting) 
(inscribe) 
(write) 
(leaf used as plate for 
food). 
*HfT (any leaf) 
(2) . The influence of the other languages is connected with the 
occupation of the soil. First of all come the aboriginal speeches. 
mention the following :— 
Sanskrit. 
Prakrfc. 
ti^tt 
TTC 
*tot 
f*rof»cr 
Vff* 
