Editing Gujarati language (section)

==History==
[[File:Upadesamala2.jpg|thumb|1666 manuscript of a 6th-century Jain Prakrit text with a 1487 commentary in Old Gujarati]]
Gujarati (sometimes spelled ''Gujerati'', ''Gujarathi'', ''Guzratee'', ''Guujaratee'', ''Gujrathi'', and ''Gujerathi'')<ref name=e25/>{{sfnp|Mistry|2001|pp=274}} is a modern Indo-Aryan (IA) language [[evolutionary linguistics|evolved]] from [[Sanskrit]]. The traditional practice is to differentiate the IA languages on the basis of three historical stages:{{sfnp|Mistry|2001|pp=274}}
#Old IA ([[Vedic Sanskrit|Vedic]] and [[Sanskrit|Classical]] Sanskrit)
#Middle IA (various [[Prakrit]]s and [[Apabhramsha]]s)
#New IA (modern languages such as [[Hindi]], [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Et cetera|etc.]])
Another view postulates successive family tree splits, in which Gujarati is assumed to have separated from other IA languages in four stages:{{sfnp|Mistry|2003|p=115}}
#IA languages split into Northern, Eastern, and Western divisions based on the innovate characteristics such as [[plosive]]s becoming [[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]] in the Northern (Skt. ''danta'' "[[tooth]]" > Punj. ''dānd'') and [[dental consonant|dental]] and [[retroflex consonant|retroflex]] [[sibilant]]s merging with the [[palatal]] in the Eastern (Skt. ''sandhya'' "[[evening]]" > Beng. ''śājh'').{{sfnp|Mistry|1997|pp=654–655}}
#Western, into Central and Southern.
#Central, in Gujarati/[[Rajasthani languages|Rajasthani]], [[Western Hindi]], and Punjabi/Lahanda/Sindhi, on the basis of innovation of [[auxiliary verb]]s and [[postpositions]] in Gujarati/Rajasthani.{{sfnp|Mistry|2001|pp=274}}
#Gujarati/Rajasthani into Gujarati and Rajasthani through development of such characteristics as auxiliary ''ch''- and the [[Possession (linguistics)|possessive]] [[Marker (linguistics)|marker]] -''n''- during the 15th century.{{sfnp|Mistry|1997|p=655}}

The principal changes from the Middle Indo-Aryan stage are the following:{{sfnp|Mistry|2003|p=115}}

=== Phonological changes ===

==== Changes in common with other New Indo-Aryan languages ====
*Reduction of [[Consonant length|geminates]] to single [[consonant]]s with lengthening of previous vowel (sometimes with spontaneous nasalization) (#NIA-1/2){{Sfn|Masica|1991|p=188}}
*Loss of final vowels (#NIA-3)
*Lengthening of vowel in -VNC- sequences and consequent nasalization (#NIA-4)
*Loss of unaccented vowels in non-final positions common (#NIA-5)
*Vowels in direct succession coalesce into long vowels or form diphthongs (#NIA-6)
**Coalescence of vowels of like quality (#NIA-6a)
**With unlike vowels, the first vowel is generally dominant (#NIA-6b)
**aï and aü eventually become ε and ɔ (#NIA-6b-3)
*Retroflextion of lateral approximent: ''-l-'' > ''-ḷ-'' (#SD-1c)
*Exception to #NIA-1 when a long vowel follows the geminate and the word is longer than two syllables (#SD-2)
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! [[Middle Indo-Aryan languages|Middle Indo-Aryan]] !! Gujarati 
!English 
!Rule!! Ref
|-
|''hattha''||''hāth''
||hand
|#NIA1||{{sfnp|Turner|1966|loc=[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.4:1:1221.soas p. 811. Entry 14024.]}}
|-
|''aṭṭha''||''āṭh''
||[[8|eight]]
|#NIA1||{{sfnp|Turner|1966|loc=[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.0:1:728.soas p. 41. Entry 941.]}}
|-
|''akkhi''
|''ā˜kh''
|eye
|#NIA2
|{{Sfn|Masica|1991|p=188}}
|-
|''jibbhā''||''jībh''
||tongue
|#NIA3||{{Sfn|Masica|1991|p=188}}{{sfnp|Turner|1966|loc=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/soas_query.py?qs=jihv%C4%81%CC%81&searchhws=yes&matchtype=exact}}
|-
|''gaṇṭhi''
|''gā˜ṭh''
|knot
|#NIA4
|{{Sfn|Masica|1991|p=188}}
|-
|''cittaāra''
|''citāro''
|painter
|#NIA-6a
|{{Sfn|Masica|1991|p=189}}
|-
|''*khava''
|''kho-''
|lose
|#NIA-6a
|{{Sfn|Masica|1991|p=190}}
|-
|''ghia''
|''ghī''
|ghee
|#NIA-6b
|{{Sfn|Masica|1991|p=190}}
|-
|''caükkiā''
|''cɔk''
|courtyard, square
|#NIA-6b-3
|{{sfnp|Turner|1966|loc=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/soas_query.py?qs=catu%E1%B9%A3ka&searchhws=yes&matchtype=exact}}
|-
|''phala''
|''phaḷ''
|fruit
|#SD-1c
|{{Sfn|Masica|1991|p=193}}
|-
|''kappūra''
|''kapūr''
|camphor
|#SD-2
|{{Sfn|Masica|1991|p=195}}
|}

=== Morphology and Syntax ===
*[[Morphology (linguistics)|Morphological]]
**Reduction in the number of [[Compound (linguistics)|compound]]s
**Merger of the [[Dual (grammatical number)|dual]] with [[plural]]
**Replacement of [[Grammatical case|case]] [[affix]]es by postpositions
**Development of [[Periphrasis|periphrastic]] [[Grammatical tense|tense]]/[[Grammatical voice|voice]]/[[Grammatical mood|mood]] constructions
*[[Syntax]]
**[[Split ergativity]]
**More complex [[Agreement (linguistics)|agreement]] system
Gujarati is then customarily divided into the following three historical stages:{{sfnp|Mistry|2001|pp=274}}

===Old Gujarati===
{{main|Old Gujarati}}

Old Gujarātī ({{lang|gu|જૂની ગુજરાતી}}; 1200 CE–1500 CE), which descended from prakrit and the ancestor of modern Gujarati and Rajasthani,<ref name="Dalby">{{Harvnb|Dalby|1998|p=237}}</ref> was spoken by the [[Gurjars]], who were residing and ruling in [[Gujarat]], Punjab, [[Rajputana]], and central India.<ref>{{Citation|title=Revealing India's past: recent trends in art and archaeology|author=Ajay Mitra Shastri |author2=R. K. Sharma |author3=Devendra Handa |publisher=Aryan Books International|year=2005|page=227|quote=It is an established fact that during 10th-11th century ... Interestingly the language was known as the Gujjar Bhakha.|isbn=8173052875}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Medieval Indian literature: an anthology, Volume 3|author=K. Ayyappapanicker|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|year=1997|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KYLpvaKJIMEC&pg=PA91|page=91|isbn=9788126003655}}</ref> The language was used as literary language as early as the 12th century. Texts of this era display characteristic Gujarati features such as direct/oblique noun forms, postpositions, and auxiliary verbs.<ref name="M2">{{Harvnb|Mistry|2003|p=115}}</ref> It had three [[Grammatical gender|gender]]s, as Gujarati does today, and by around the time of 1300 CE, a fairly standardized form of this language emerged. While generally known as Old Gujarati, some scholars prefer the name Old Western Rajasthani, based upon the argument that Gujarati and Rajasthani were not yet distinct. Factoring into this preference was the belief that modern Rajasthani sporadically expressed a neuter gender, based on the incorrect conclusion that the [ũ] that came to be pronounced in some areas for masculine [o] after a [[nasal stop|nasal consonant]] was analogous to Gujarati's neuter [ũ].<ref>Smith, J.D. (2001) "Rajasthani." ''Facts about the world's languages: An encyclopedia of the world's major languages, past and present''. Ed. Jane Garry, and Carl Rubino: New England Publishing Associates. pp. 591-593.</ref> A [[formal grammar]], ''Prakrita Vyakarana'', of the precursor to this language, [[Gurjar Apabhraṃśa]], was written by [[Jainism|Jain]] monk and eminent scholar [[Hemachandra|Acharya Hemachandra Suri]] in the reign of [[Chaulukya dynasty|Chaulukya]] king [[Jayasimha Siddharaja]] of [[Anhilwara]] (Patan).<ref name="Kothari2014">{{cite book|author=Rita Kothari|title=Translating India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2-xQAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA73|access-date=5 August 2014|date=8 April 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-64216-9|pages=73–74}}</ref>

=== Middle Gujarati ===
[[Middle Gujarati|MIddle Gujarati]] (AD 1500–1800) split off from Rajasthani, and developed the phonemes ɛ and ɔ, the auxiliary stem ''ch''-, and the possessive marker -''n''-.<ref>{{Harvnb|Mistry|2003|pp=115–116}}</ref> Major phonological changes characteristic of the transition between Old and Middle Gujarati are:<ref name="CardonaSuthar661">{{Harvnb|Cardona|Suthar|2003|p=661}}</ref>

* i, u develop to ə in open [[syllable]]s
* [[diphthong]]s əi, əu change to ɛ and ɔ in initial syllables and to e and o elsewhere
* əũ develops to ɔ̃ in initial syllables and to ű in final syllables

These developments would have grammatical consequences. For example, Old Gujarati's instrumental-locative singular in -i was leveled and eliminated, having become the same as Old Gujarati's nominative/accusative singular in -ə.<ref name="CardonaSuthar661" />

===Modern Gujarati (1800–present)===
[[File:A Page from the Gujarati translation of 'Dabistān-i Mazāhibm' prepared and printed by Fardunji Marzban (1815).jpg|thumb|A page from the Gujarati translation of ''Dabestan-e Mazaheb'' prepared and printed by [[Fardunjee Marzban]] (25 December 1815)]]
A major phonological change was the deletion of final ''ə'', such that the modern language has consonant-final words. Grammatically, a new plural marker of -''o'' developed.{{sfnp|Cardona|Suthar|2003|p=661}} In literature, the third quarter of the 19th century saw a series of milestones for Gujarati, which previously had verse as its dominant mode of literary composition.<ref>Yashaschandra, S. (1995) "Towards Hind Svaraj: An Interpretation of the Rise of Prose in 19th-century Gujarati Literature." ''Social Scientist''. Vol. 23, No. 10/12. pp. 41–55.</ref> In 1920s, the efforts to standardise Gujarati were carried out.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=SEBASTIAN|first=V|date=2009|title=Gandhi and the Standardisation of Gujarati|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25663396|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=44|issue=31|pages=94–101|jstor=25663396|issn=0012-9976}}</ref>