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Some Interrogative Particles in Prākrit
L. A. SCHWARZSCHILD
NTERROGATIVE particles, such as words meaning 'why' are not
subject to many of the semantic influences that bring about the loss of words, and yet such particles are very liable to change. They are constantly overshadowed by the interrogative pronoun and may often be replaced by more specific and intense expressions such as 'for what reason'. Such expressions are generally emphatic and may even border on slang, as for instance English 'why on earth ?' and
whatever for?' and they are therefore particularly prone to change with linguistic fashions and even with the taste of individual authors. This can be illustrated from Middle Indo-Aryan.
In Sanskrit the sense of why?' was conveyed usually by kasmāt, the ablative singular of the interrogative pronoun; a reason was asked for more specifically by kena käranena 'for what reason ?'. A rather more vague inquiry for a cause could be introduced by the neuter of the interrogative pronoun, kim, which was often strengthened by the addition of the particles u, nu, Ichalu etc. Of these expressions kismát has survived occasionally as kamhā, the ablative singular of the interrogative pronoun in Prakrit, but it was no longer generally used in the sense of 'why?'. In the Svetām bara Jain canon the other two expressions of Sanskrit, kena karañena and kim maintain their popularity, but they are often used in fixed locutions peculiar to the
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