Prakrit was a bastardized version of Sanskrit. Prakrit is indeed from the Indo European language family.
Also, Ardha - Sanskrit do not exist. There are only two forms, one is classical and another is Vedic otoh there isn't much difference apart from the fact that, Vedic Sanskrit is in raw form and Classical Sanskrit is standardized version and simplified.
I don't agree with
@DarkPrince, you are not Indian you have your own unique culture and customs which differ from West Bengal although you speak the same language. Attracting tourism from India will be the key. You may have some famous Dargas or temples or even Buddhist sites. If given more advertisements in India there will be a lot of visitors given the relaxed visa policy.
What you are positing is the common intellectual notion that Prakrit was some type of derived half-breed Sanskrit.
I will respectfully disagree with this and call this accepted notion among Hindi-speaking scholars to be erroneous.
Please see post no. 129 above by
@Centaur bhai which describes how Bengali scholars such as Pinaki Bhattacharya and
Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah of the 19th and 20th century refuted this erroneous notion.
"What is the origin of Bengali language?
Bangla language does not originate from Sanskrit language in any way. Sanskrit is a different language. However, since Bengali and Sanskrit have emerged from the same language, these Sanskrit-related languages are said to be near relatives of Bengali.
Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah has said that birth of languages are not like the birth of a person, that the history of those births can not be identified in specifics in the long run. Languages flow like rivers. When the character of the language changes from the flow of the previous language , it is named differently. So, today what we know as Bangla language, we must know exactly its earlier exact form. Then we can also know what the previous forms of that were, in this way we can reach the source of the language.
The language that existed before the Bengali language was that of
Gaudiya Apa-bhramsa. The origin episode of this language can be traced sometime before 500th century AD. This
Gaudiya Apa-bhramsa was the origin and mother of
Maithili, Oriya and Banga Kamarupa languages. The latter (
Banga Kamarupa) was the origin of modern
Bangla and
Assamese languages.
Gaudiya Prakrit preceded the existence of the
Gaudiya Apa-bhramsa and dates back at least to 200 AD.
Prachya Prakrit preceded
Gaudiya Prakrit and can be traced back to 500 BC. Gautam Buddha spoke in this language.
Prachya Prakrit is the origin of the modern Sinhalese language.
At the same time, a racial mixture occurred with Aryans coming from West with the Bengali Kohl settlers. We received the '
Haldi' event of our Bengali wedding tradition from this Bengali Kohl culture. In Kohl culture, there was a tradition of applying Sindoor on foreheads of married women. Kohls were huge fish eaters and the Bengali fish eating habits come from that tradition.
'Chawal', 'Larhai' (battle), 'Dhaal' (shield), 'Donga' (dugout canoe), 'Badshee' (fishing whip), 'Boka' (foolish), 'Kana' (blind), 'Mota' (thick, overweight) these are Kohl words that found later use in Bangla. Words such as Dhak-dhol, Golmaal, dhoomdham, chhuri-turi, boka-shoka, etc. all are traced back to Kohl ancient usage.
Prior to ancient
Prachya Prakrit, there was an ancient
Aryan spoken (casual or non-formal) language.
Prachya Prakrit and Sanskrit both descended from this ancient Aryan spoken language.
Sanskrit was the language of aristocrats. That language was used for special needs such as in temples, royal edicts etc. Sanskrit was not a casual spoken language.
In Ramayana, when Hanuman saw Sita in captivity, he considered what language he will speak with her, thinking, "If I say Sanskrit words like two-origin people, then Sita will be afraid of me thinking I am Ravana, therefore I must speak meaningful human words, otherwise I cannot convince and reassure Sita. "
These "human words and sentences" Hanuman refers to are ancient Indian Aryans casual spoken languages.
Seeing how ancient languages were spoken previously, and comparing them to today's Bangla spoken language can prove how similar Sanskrit was to Bangla or if (how some say) Bangla was derived from Sanskrit. In that sense Bengali has almost nothing in common with Sanskrit.
As in today's Bangla we say "Tumi Aacho", it is "Tumhe Aachoh" in ancient Bengali, "Tumhe Achhhoh" in the Middle Prakrit and "Tumhe Ochhoth" in the Prachya Prakrit; See the connection with the previous languages.
In contrast the the equivalent of ""Tumi Aacho"" in Sanskrit is "Yue-Yung Sthaw". There is neither a match nor any connection here. Is there any coincidence? Not there. Then, if some are pushing the idea that Bangla is the son of Sanskrit - what can be said?
Sanskrit scholars offered the erroneous idea that Bengali is some lower class form of Sanskrit. This had quite a bit of legitimate subscription in the scholar community in India. Today with research, this notion has been mostly debunked.
From the attached table, you can see this idea briefly. And clearly understand that Bengali and Sanskrit are two children of the same language, but in no way is Bengali a child form of Sanskrit."