The Prakrits (; ; ; ) are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Indo-Aryan languages, excluding earlier inscriptions and the later Pali. Prākṛta literally means "natural", as opposed to saṃskṛta, which literally means "constructed" or "refined". Prakrits were considered the regional spoken (informal) languages of people, and Sanskrit was considered the standardized (formal) language used for literary, official and religious purposes across Indian kingdoms of the subcontinent. Literary registers of Prakrits were also used contemporaneously (predominantly by śramaṇa traditions) alongside Classical Sanskrit of higher social classes. Etymology The dictionary of Monier Monier-Williams (1819–1899), and other modern authors however, interpret the word in the opposite sense: "the most frequent meanings of the term , from which the word "prakrit" is derived, are "original, natural, normal" and the term is derived from , "making or placing before or at first, the original or natural form or condition of anything, original or primary substance". Most native prākrit grammarians identify prākṛta to be named so because they originate in the source language (prakṛti) According to the Prākrṭa Prakāśa, an ancient Prakrit grammar, "Saṃskṛtam is the prakṛti (source) - and the language that originates in, or comes from, that prakṛti, is therefore called prākṛtam." Hemacandra (a Jain grammarian of the 10th century who lived in Gujarat) in his grammar of Sanskrit and Prākrit named Siddha-Hema-Śabdanuśāsana, defines prākṛt's origin to be sanskṛt: "prakṛtiḥ saṃskṛtam, tatrabhavaṃ tata āgataṃ vā prākṛtaṃ"[Sanskrit is the prakṛti (source) - and Prākṛta is so called because it either 'originates-in' or 'comes-from' Sanskrit.] Another prākṛt grammarian, Mārkaṇḍeya, writes in his grammar Prākṛtasarvasva - "prakṛtiḥ saṃskṛtaṃ, tatrabhavaṃ prākṛtam ucyate“ [Sanskrit is called the prakṛti (origin), and from there prākṛtam originates]. Dhanika, in his 'Daśarūpakāvaloka' commentary on Daśarūpaka (one of the most important treatises explaining the 10 types of Indian Drama), says: "prakṛter āgataṃ prākṛtam, prakṛtiḥ saṃskṛtam" [from the prakṛti (source) comes prākṛtam, and that prakṛti is Sanskrit] Siṃhadevagaṇin while commenting on Vāgbhaṭālaṅkāra writes: "prakṛteḥ saṃskrtād āgataṃ prākṛtam" [from Sanskrit (which is the source i.e. Prakṛti) - comes Prākṛt] The Prākṛtacandrikā (a grammar of Prākṛt) says: "prakṛtiḥ saṃskṛtaṃ, tatrabhavatvāt prākṛtaṃ smṛtam" [Sanskrit is the prakṛti, it is remembered that prākṛtam originates from that (prakṛti)] The Prākṛtaśabdapradīpikā of Narasiṃha says: "prakṛteḥ saṃskṛtāyāstu vikṛtiḥ prākṛtī matā"