• Latest

Pāli

January 30, 2023
Investec Cape Town Art Fair

Investec Cape Town Art Fair

March 3, 2023
Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

March 3, 2023
DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

March 3, 2023
A Walk Down Cobblers’ Street

A Walk Down Cobblers’ Street

March 3, 2023
The Colombo Cultural Show: A Soiree into Sri Lanka’s Heart

The Colombo Cultural Show: A Soiree into Sri Lanka’s Heart

February 7, 2023
Kandy Central Market: The epitome of local ambiance

Kandy Central Market: The epitome of local ambiance

February 7, 2023
The Art of Local Writing

The Art of Local Writing

February 7, 2023
Carnival Magic

Carnival Magic

February 7, 2023
Ponniyin Selvan 1: Leveraging the Lure of History and the Power of Storytelling

Ponniyin Selvan 1: Leveraging the Lure of History and the Power of Storytelling

January 11, 2023
Rumination and Emotional Process

Rumination and Emotional Process

January 13, 2023
Segar Represents Sri Lanka in Asia Art Bienniale in Dhaka

Segar Represents Sri Lanka in Asia Art Bienniale in Dhaka

January 11, 2023
Good Conversations Start with Mlesna

Good Conversations Start with Mlesna

January 11, 2023
Retail
Sunday, March 19, 2023
Subscription
Advertise
  • Home
  • Issues
    • 201_
      • 2010
        • January 2010
        • February 2010
        • March 2010
        • April 2010
        • May 2010
        • June 2010
        • July 2010
        • August 2010
        • September 2010
        • October 2010
        • November 2010
        • December 2010
      • 2011
        • January 2011
        • February 2011
        • March 2011
        • April 2011
        • May 2011
        • June 2011
        • July 2011
        • August 2011
        • September 2011
        • October 2011
        • November 2011
        • December 2011
      • 2012
        • January 2012
        • February 2012
        • March 2012
        • April 2012
        • May 2012
        • June 2012
        • July 2012
        • August 2012
        • September 2012
        • October 2012
        • November 2012
        • December 2012
      • 2013
        • January 2013
        • February 2013
        • March 2013
        • April 2013
        • May 2013
        • June 2013
        • July 2013
        • August 2013
        • September 2013
        • October 2013
        • November 2013
        • December 2013
      • 2014
        • January 2014
        • February 2014
        • March 2014
        • April 2014
        • May 2014
        • June 2014
        • July 2014
        • August 2014
        • September 2014
        • October 2014
        • November 2014
        • December 2014
      • 2015
        • January 2015
        • February 2015
        • March 2015
        • April 2015
        • May 2015
        • June 2015
        • July 2015
        • August 2015
        • September 2015
        • October 2015
        • November 2015
        • December 2015
      • 2016
        • January 2016
        • February 2016
        • March 2016
        • April 2016
        • May 2016
        • June 2016
        • July 2016
        • August 2016
        • September 2016
        • October 2016
        • November 2016
        • December 2016
      • 2017
        • January 2017
        • February 2017
        • March 2017
        • April 2017
        • May 2017
        • June 2017
        • July 2017
        • August 2017
        • September 2017
        • October 2017
        • November 2017
        • December 2017
      • 2018
        • January 2018
        • February 2018
        • March 2018
        • April 2018
        • May 2018
        • June 2018
        • July 2018
        • August 2018
        • November 2018
        • December 2018
      • 2019
        • January 2019
        • February 2019
        • March 2019
        • April 2019
        • May 2019
        • June 2019
        • July 2019
        • August 2019
        • September 2019
        • October 2019
        • November 2019
        • December 2019
    • 202_
      • 2020
        • January 2020
        • February 2020
        • March 2020
        • September 2020
        • October 2020
        • November 2020
        • December 2020
      • 2021
        • January 2021
        • February 2021
        • March 2021
        • April 2021
        • May 2021
        • June 2021
        • July 2021
        • August 2021
        • September 2021
        • October 2021
        • November 2021
        • December 2021
      • 2022
        • January 2022
        • February 2022
        • March 2022
        • April 2022
        • May 2022
        • June 2022
        • July 2022
        • August 2022
        • September 2022
        • October 2022
        • November 2022
        • December 2022
      • 2023
        • January 2023
        • February 2023
        • March 2023
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Archive
  • Find Us on Magzter
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result

Pāli

in General, November 2021
0 0
0

‘Pāli’ is an ancient language that existed contemporaneously with India’s Sanskrit and Prakrit (Prakruta). It became a dead language for so many reasons, like disuse, wars, and social upheavals. Still, it has been reviving for reasons like Buddhist chanting, Dhamma preaching, practicing Buddhism (meditation), and learning Pāli to study Buddhism.

Pali (/’pa: li/) is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Pāli canon or Tripitaka and the sacred language of Theravāda Buddhism. In earlier times, it was written in Bramhi script.’’ Pāli language had been used mainly in India and some other Buddhist countries as a language of communication, preaching, and studying Buddhism. On the other hand, another language named ‘Pali’ could be mistaken by someone as Pāli. Therefore, it is essential to understand the difference between the two words clearly, the Pali and the Pāli. (It may not be the word ‘Pāli’ by pronunciation, but ‘Pali’). Pali is an African language.

Pali language (Chadic) 
Pali is a West Chadic language of Nigeria. It was reported by Rudolf Leger. Chadic languages, the superfamily of languages in the Afro-Asiatic phylum. Some 140 or more Chadic languages are spoken, predominantly in Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Chad. The four sub-divisions of the Chadic family – West Chadic, Central Chadic (BiuMandara), Masa, and East Chadic – show considerable differences.

It could be understood that this Pali is not the Indian Pāli, which we are going to reveal. As in every language, there is an alphabet in the Pali language as well. In Pāli, there are 41 letters, with eight vowels and 33 consonants. The specialty in the Pāli language is that it could be written in the characters of any language. For example, in Sri Lanka, it is written in Sinhala characters, while in other countries, they write it in their languages such as Thai, Myanmarian, Hindi, Laos, Nepalese, and Tibetan. But, in western countries, they use predominantly Roman characters. Though they write it in any characters, the meaning of the word would not be changed. We can see the Sinhala Pāli alphabet in Roman/Italic letters with diacritics.

The Pāli alphabet in Sinhala and English characters. (Tipitaka canon Vowels).

First, before we go further, one can realize that the Pāli language could be written with letters of any language. In some countries like Myanmar, sometimes they use the Pāli language to express their ideas. The most important thing we should remember here is that the Pāli is used only in Dhamma sermons (in Dhamma talks and in preaching sutras) and studying Buddhism.

We can see that they had used the Pāli language to teach and study Buddhism from ancient times until today. We could see a golden age of Pāli language in the recent history of Buddhism. Many scholars in western countries and in the east had studied the Pali as a language to study Buddhism. At this juncture, I am impressed by Dr. Pole Dahlke, a scholar from Germany [1865-1928] who learned Pāli from the scholarly monk, Pandith, Venerable. Diyapattugama Wāchissara Thero at Siriwardhanaramaya, Kollupitiya. After learning Pāli and Buddhism, he wrote many books and articles on Buddhism. T.W. Rhys Davids (F.B.A. D.Sc. Ph.D. L.L.D. D.Litt.) is also a very popular, unforgettable character among the Buddhist philosophy scholars in the east and the west. That is because of an excellent product for Pāli education, a Dictionary: ‘THE PALI TEXT SOCIETY’S PALI-ENGLISH DICTIONRY’ (published by The Pali Text Society, London.) It has been the best work among his Buddhist books.

Besides, we can see that the Sinhala Language is also well off with some Pāli language words. As a Pāli teacher, I come across many similar words in both Sinhala and Pāli languages. I was fortunate enough to find an ancient Sinhala grammar book in English, named ‘Sinhalese Grammar’ – Orthography, (1891, The Author, A.M.G.) to research about Pāli and Sinhala similar words with diacritics, as well as Sanskrit. In this book, we can find out some: Sanskrit, Pāli, and Elu or Sinhala similar words meanings in English, as mentioned below.

In addition to that, some countries, like Thailand, use Pāli as a communicative language in their educational institutions. We can use some Pāli expressions in day-to-day life, like in self-introductions and greetings.

Suppabhātam = Good morning.
Susayanham = Good evening.
Svāgatam = Welcome.
Sotthi Bhavatu = Good-bye
Thuti or Thuti Atthu = Thank you.

Paramadhamma chetiya Pirivena, an ancient Pāli educational center, Sri Lanka.
Ven Diyapattugama Revatha Thero, Chief Incumbent of the Siriwardhanaramaya Temple, Kollupitiya.

When we learn any second language, we can see some strangeness as well as familiarity. So, it is fascinating to learn an additional language to keep calmness of our mind, especially during this pandemic period; while in lockdown, one can endeavor to learn Pali. It will pay dividends.

Ven Diyapattugama Revatha Thero
(B.A., M.A., M.Phil.)
Expert Psychological Counselor and
Meditation Instructor
Siriwardhanarama Buddha Dhamma
College
Manodaya Meditation Center
Manodaya Asapuwa (Face Book)
Siriwardhanaramaya, Temple Lane,
Kollupitiya
sirirevathad@gmail.com
dhammavedi.com

TweetShareShare

Search

No Result
View All Result

Recent News

Investec Cape Town Art Fair

Investec Cape Town Art Fair

Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

Explore Sri Lanka

Explore Sri Lanka Online, the web edition of Sri Lanka’s leading monthly corporate publication. Founded in 1996, the magazine currently has a distribution of over 6,000 copies island-wide.

Recent News

  • Investec Cape Town Art Fair
  • Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development
  • DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

Find Us

Explore Sri Lanka
20-2/1 Lauries Place Facing
R. A. De Mel Mawatha
Colombo 04
Sri Lanka.
(+94 11) 259 7991
(+94) 715 134 134
info@btoptions.com
btoptions.com

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 Explore Sri Lanka | Designed by Lithic Labs

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Issues
    • 201_
      • 2010
      • 2011
      • 2012
      • 2013
      • 2014
      • 2015
      • 2016
      • 2017
      • 2018
      • 2019
    • 202_
      • 2020
      • 2021
      • 2022
      • 2023
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Archive
  • Find Us on Magzter

© 2022 Explore Sri Lanka | Designed by Lithic Labs

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In