Wiktionary:About Prakrit

Scripts
See also: Category:Prakrit terms by script

When Prakrit was a spoken language, it is presumed that Brahmi would have been the script that Prakrit speakers were reading and writing in and hence, the main entry for every Prakrit term is in Brahmi, even if the term is not attested in Brahmi and is instead attested in another script. The terms that are attested in Brahmi (from the time when Prakrit was the spoken language of the masses) would be in Category:Epigraphic Prakrit.

Modern-day Prakrit, is, however, much more commonly written in scripts such as Devanagari (in the north) and Kannada (in the south).

The headword line should show the term (in whatever script), with the transliteration in parenthesis. If the script of the page is Brahmi, the Devanagari spelling of the term is automatically shown beside it (using Module:typing-aids/data/sa). The Kannada script form is also shown (using Module:User:SodhakSH/Deva-Knda) if any unnamed parameter in the headword template contains  or   specifying. Example at :

Likewise, in Translations sections, e.g. at vulture:


 * Prakrit: 𑀕𑀺𑀤𑁆𑀥

Transliteration
Standard transliteration system for Prakrit on Wiktionary is the  modified accordingly for transliterating Brahmi and Kannada scripts also. Transliterations shall appear in the headword line in brackets (on the entry) or using l or m. The following modules are used for transliterating Prakrit:
 * : Module:Brah-translit
 * : Module:sa-translit
 * : Module:inc-pra-Knda-translit

Using Prakrit headword-line templates
It is better to Prakrit headword-line templates for headwords instead of inc-pra for many reasons, apart from easier implementation.

Classification by lects
Classification of Prakrit terms by lects is done using label beside the definition or term-label beside the headword-template. inc-pra or inc-pra would categorise the term into Category:Paisaci Prakrit. Using the headword-templates would make it easier. For example, see the headword at :

i automatically labels and gives:

Entering the following in any unnamed parameter of the headword-line templates would generate a label for a particular lect:
 * = Ardhamagadhi
 * = Culikapaisaci
 * or  = Helu
 * = Jain Maharastri
 * = Khasa
 * = Magadhi
 * or  = Maharastri
 * = Paisaci
 * = Sauraseni


 * Note: Multiple labels are supported. For pra-verb, the first unnamed parameter can also contain  (for intransitive verbs),   (for transitive verbs) and  /  (for ambitransitive verbs).

Classification by scripts
These headword templates also classify Prakrit terms by script (e.g. Category:Prakrit nouns in Devanagari script). For this reason, in case inc-pra is ever applied (though it is discouraged), it should have a parameter sccat for categorisation, like: inc-pra.