There is also a speculation that Tamil was the spoken language and Sanskrit was the literray language. They show the following sloka of Valmiki Ramayanam to support that.
When Hanuman wanted to speak to Sita - He was evaluating various options. He thinks that if i speak in Sanskrit Sita may think thathe isRavana's man. So he decidesto speak in some other language. ( Note that Ravana spoke Sanskrit) Again he thinks how Sita will understand a Monkey Speaking Sanskrit? she will think that some Mayavi is doing this. So i should speak a language which humans speak but not sanskrit. ( Looks Sanskrit was used as a common language by Humans, Devas and Asuras - Assumption only)
In which language did Hanuman finally spoke to Sita is not mentioned but as the only other Language of antiquity, it is speculated as Tamil.
The sloka:
yadi vaacam pradaasyaami dvijaatiH iva samskR^itaam | raavaNam manyamaanaa maam siitaa bhiitaa bhaviShyati || 5-30-18 vaanarasya visheSeNa kathaM syaadabhibhaaSaNamm | 18. pradaasyaami yadi= If I use; samkR^itaam vaacham= Sankrit language; dvijaatiriva= like a brahmin; siitaa= Seetha; bhiita bhaviSyati= well become frightened; masyamaanaa= thinking; maam= me; raavaNam= as Ravana; visheSeNa= especially; vaanarasya= for a monkey; katham= how; syaat= can it be; abhibhaaSaNam= spoken? "If I use Sanskrit language like a brahmin, Seetha will get frightened, thinking me as Ravana. Especially, how can a monkey speak it?" Verse Locator avashyam eva vaktavyam maanuSham vaakyam arthavat || 5-30-19 mayaa saantvayitum shakyaa na anyathaa iyam aninditaa | 19. avashyameva= certainly; arthavat= meaningful words; maanuSam= of a human being; vaktavyam= are to be spoken; mayaa= by me; anyathaa= otherwise; iyam= she; aninditaa= the irreproachable; na shakyaa= cannot be; saantvayitum= consoled. "Certainly, meaningful words of a human being are to be spoken by me. Otherwise, the virtuous Seetha cannot be consoled." http://www.valmikiramayan.net/sundara/sarga30/sundara_30_frame.htm
In the article, the author says thatthe language of Ayodhya, Prakrut. But in comments, she mentions that the language that Sita knew from Ayodhya is said to be Avadh. Other than this, her research on several topics about ancient Indialooks like good and reasonable.
Prakrit is not a single language. Rather, it's a description of the primary languages of different regions. There were several of these, like Magadhi (spoken in Magadha), Sauraseni (the ancestor of modern Hindi), and so on. Avadhi is the prakrit of the Avadh or Ayodhya region. So, this statement is absolutely correct.
On the other hand, it wouldn't have been called Avadhi during the hypothetical time of the Ramayana; the term Avadh came about from some time after the Turkish invasions (that is, the Delhi Sultanate). The region was also called Kosala, so I suppose the correct term for the language would be Kausali, or Kosali.
Yes. And I suppose all these Prakrit 'languages' including Tamil were basically vernaculars while Sanskrit was the scholastic.Guess this is what Mr.KSS is saying in his earliermail too. Would that be so?
I have not siad so. I only mentioned that Hanuman contemplated to speak in a Non Sanskrit language. I mentioned that it might be Tamil ( a speculation)