On the Paiśācī Origin of Kannada Language

Paisac is one of the very archaic Prakrit dialects. It is in Paijaci that Gunadhya composed his great Brhatkatha which could stand in rank with. the Ra nayana and the Mahabharata. But unfortunately the Bṛhatkathā is irrecoverably lost; no other literary work in Paišaci has come down to us; and we have to depend mainly

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खड़बडी मुलिय तिम्मप्पय्या और वी. आर. उमरजी के इस मत की परीक्षा करते हैं कि कन्नड़ की उत्पत्ति पैशाची से हुई। वेंगी तथा बेल्नुडि की उनकी व्युत्पत्तियाँ वे अप्रमाणित बताते हैं, कोई सामान्य कन्नड़ शब्द व्युत्पन्न न होने की ओर संकेत करते हैं और सिद्धान्त अस्वीकार करते हैं। Khadabadi tests the claim of Muliya Timmappayya and V. R. Umarji that Kannada descends from Paisaci. He finds their etymologies of Vengi and belnudi unsupported, notes that no common Kannada word is derived, and rejects the theory while allowing Paisaci-speaking settlers in the south.

Written by the archive’s cataloguers, not by the author.