An Elementary Pali Course
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NŒrada Thera TO MY VENERABLE TEACHER PELENE SIRI VAJIRAA MHA NYAKA THERA PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION The word PŒÂi means "the Text", though it has now come to be the name of a language. MŒgadhi was the original name for PŒÂi. It was the language current in the land of Magadha during the time of the Buddha (6th century B.C.). Suddha MŒgadh´, the pure form of the provincial dialect, was what the Buddha used as His medium of instruction. The elements of PŒÂi can be mastered in a few months, PŒÂi opens one's ears to the Dhamma and the music of the Buddha's speech. It is also a lingua franca in Buddhist countries, and therefore worth acquiring. This slender volume is intended to serve as an elementary guide for beginners. With its aid one may be able to get an introduction to the PŒÂi language within a short period. I have to express my deep indebtedness to my Venerable Teacher, Pelene Siri Vajira– Œna MahŒ NŒyaka TherapŒda, who introduced me to this sacred language. Words cannot indicate how much I owe to his unfailing care and sympathy. My thanks are due to the Venerable NyŒnatiloka Thera, for his valued assistance. NRADA October, 1952. If you have problems in your PŒli lessons then join our E-mail PŒli classes at [email protected] This work is provided as Public domain under terms of GNU Dec. 1996 2 Abbreviations Adj. - Adjective Ind., Indec.- Indeclinables Ind. p.p. - indeclinable Past Participles f. - Feminine m. - Masculine n. - Neuter p.p. - Past Participles Pre. - Prefix Pres. p. - Present Participles Pres. - Present Pro. - Pronoun 3 CONTENTS (Double click the buttons) A. Decl. of Nouns ending in " a " - Nom. & Acc. Cases B. Conj. of Verbs - Pres. Tense. Act. Voice, 3rd person A. Decl. of Nouns ending in " a " - Instr. & Dat. Cases B. Conj. of Verbs- Pres. Tense. Act. Voice, 2nd person A. Decl. of Nouns ending in " a " - Abl. &. Gen. Cases B. Conj. of Verbs- Pres. Tense. Act. Voice, 1st person A. Decl. of Nouns ending in " a " - Loc. & Voc. Cases B. Full Conj. of Verbs- Pres. Tense Act. Voice Full Decl. of Nouns ending in " a " A. Nouns ending in " Œ " B. Infinitive Aorist (Ajjatan´) Act. Voice Possessive Pronouns A. Nouns ending in " i " B. Indeclinable Past Participles A. Feminine Nouns ending in " i " B. Future Tense (Bhavissanti) A. Nouns ending in " ´ " B. The Formation of Feminines A. Decl. of Nouns ending in " u " & " è " B. Verbs- Imperative & Benedictive Mood (Pa–cam´) A. Personal Pronouns B. Conditional Mood (Sattam´) Relative Pronouns The Interrogative Pronoun Participles A. Demonstrative Pronouns B. Adjectives 4 Numerals Ordinals A. Some Irregular Nouns ending in " a " B. Conjugations A. Declension of " Satthu " B. Causal Forms (KŒrita) A. Decl. of " go " B. Perfect Tense (H´yattan´)v Compounds (SamŒsa) Indeclinables (Avyaya) Taddhita- Nominal Derivatives Kitaka- Verbal Derivatives Rules of Sandhi (Combinations) Uses of the Cases Passive Voice 5 AN ELEMENTARY PI COURSE 6 INTRODUCTION Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato SammŒ-Sam-Buddhassa ! PŒÂi was the language spoken by the Buddha and employed by Him to expound His Doctrine of Deliverance. MŒgadh´ is its real name, it being the dialect of the people of Magadha -a district in Central India. PŒÂi, lit. "line" or "text", is, strictly speaking, the name for the Buddhist Canon. Nowadays the term PŒÂi is often applied to the language in which the Buddhist texts or scriptures were written. The PŒÂi language must have had characters of its own, but at present they are extinct. 7 ALPHABET The PŒÂi Alphabet consists of forty-one letters, -eight vowels and thirty-three consonants. 8 Vowels ( Sara ) a, Œ, i, , u, è, e, o. 33 Consonants ( Vya–jana ) Gutturals k, kh, g, gh, º. ka group Palatals c, ch, j, jh, –. ca group Cerebrals Ê, Êh, ¶, ¶h, ö. Êa group Dentals t, th, d, dh, n. ta group Labials p, ph, b, bh, m. pa group *Palatal y. *Cerebral r. *Dental l. *Dental and Labial v. Dental (sibilant) s. Aspirate h. Cerebral Â. Niggahita µ. *Semi-vowels 8 PRONUNCIATION OF LETTERS PŒÂi is a phonetic language. As such each letter has its own characteristic sound. a is pronounced u in but like Œ is pronounced a in art like i is pronounced i in pin like ´ is pronounced i in machine like u is pronounced u in put like è is pronounced u in rule like e is pronounced e in ten like ã is pronounced a in fate like o is pronounced o in hot like ¯ is pronounced o in note like k is pronounced k in key like g is pronounced g in get like º is pronounced ng in ring like c is pronounced ch in rich like j is pronounced j in jug like – is pronounced gn in signor like Ê is pronounced t in not like ¶ is pronounced d in hid like ö is pronounced n in hint like p is pronounced p in lip like b is pronounced b in rib like m is pronounced m in him like y is pronounced y in yard like r is pronounced r in rat like l is pronounced l in sell like v is pronounced v in vile like s is pronounced s in sit like h is pronounced h in hut like  is pronounced l in felt like µ is pronounced ng in sing like 9 The vowels " e " and " o " are always long, except when followed by a double consonant; e.g., ettha, oÊÊha. The fifth consonant of each group is called a "nasal". There is no difference between the pronunciation of " º " and " µ ". The former never stands at the end, but is always followed by a consonant of its group. The dentals " t " and " d " are pronounced with the tip of the tongue Placed against the front upper teeth. The aspirates " kh ", " gh ", " Êh ", " ¶h ", " th ", " dh ", " ph ", " bh ", are pronounced with " h " sound immediately following; e.g., in blockhead, pighead, cat-head, log-head, etc., where the " h " in each is combined with the preceding consonant in pronunciation. 10 Lesson I A. Declension of Nouns ending in " a " Nara*, m**. man SINGULAR PLURAL Nominative naro*** narŒ a man, or the man men, or the men Accusative naraµ nare a man, or the man men, or the men Terminations SINGULAR PLURAL Nominative o Œ Accusative µ e * In PŒÂi nouns are declined according to the terminated endings a, Œ, i, ´, u, è, and o. There are no nouns ending in " e ". All nouns ending in " a " are either in the masculine or in the neuter gender. ** There are three, genders in PŒÂi. As a rule males and those things possessing male characteristics are in the masculine gender, e.g., nara, man; suriya, sun; gŒma, village. Females and those things possessing female characteristics are in the feminine gender, e.g., itthi, woman; gangŒ, river. Neutral nouns and most inanimate things are in the neuter gender, e.g., phala, fruit; citta, mind. It is not so easy to distinguish the gender in PŒÂi as in English. *** Nara + o = naro. Nara + Œ = narŒ. When two vowels come together either the preceding or the following vowel is dropped. In this case the preceding vowel is dropped. Masculine Substantives : Buddha The Enlightened One DŒraka child Dhamma Doctrine, Truth, Law GŒma village GhaÊa pot, jar Janaka father Odana rice, cooked rice Putta son Sèda cook YŒcaka beggar B. Conjugation of Verbs PRESENT TENSE - ACTIVE VOICE 3rd person terminations SING ti PLU anti paca = to cook 11 SING. So pacati* he cooks, he is cooking SŒ pacati she cooks, she is cooking PLU. Te pacanti, they cook, they are cooking * The verbs are often used alone without the corresponding pronouns since the pronoun is implied by the termination. Verbs : DhŒvati* (dhŒva) runs Dhovati (dhova) washes Vadati (vada) speaks, declares Vandati (vanda) salutes Rakkhati (rakkha) protects * As there are seven conjugations in PŒÂi which differ according to the conjugational signs, the present tense third person singulars of verbs are given. The roots are given in brackets. Illustrations*: 1. Sèdo pacati The cook is cooking 2. SèdŒ pacanti The cooks are cooking 3. Sèdo odanaµ pacati The cook rice is cooking 4. SèdŒ ghaÊe dhovanti The cooks pots are washing * In PŒÂi sentences, in plain language, the subject is placed first, the verb last, and the object before the verb. Exercise i A TRANSLATE INTO ENGLISH 1. Buddho vadati. 1. Dhammo rakkhati. 1. SŒ dhovati. 1. YŒcako dhŒvati. 1. SèdŒ pacanti. 1. JanakŒ vadanti. 1. Te vandanti. 1. NarŒ rakkhanti. 1. PuttŒ dhŒvanti. 1. DŒrako vandati. 1. Buddho dhammaµ rakkhati. 1. DŒrakŒ Buddhaµ vandanti. 1. Sèdo ghaÊe dhovati. 1. NarŒ gŒmaµ. rakkhanti. 1. SŒ odanaµ pacati. 1. BuddhŒ dhammaµ vadanti. 1. PuttŒ janake vandanti. 1. YŒcakŒ. ghaÊe dhovanti. 1. Te gŒme rakkhanti. 1. Janako Buddhaµ vandati. 12 B TRANSLATE INTO PALI 1. He protects. 1. The man salutes. 1. The child is washing. 1. The son speaks. 1. The beggar is cooking. 1. They are running. 1. The children are speaking. 1. The fathers are protecting. 1. The sons are saluting. 1. The cooks are washing. 1. The men are saluting the Buddha. 1. Fathers protect men. 1. The cook is washing rice. 1. The truth protects men. 1. She is saluting the father. 1. The Enlightened One is declaring the Doctrine. 1. The boys are washing the pots. 1. The men are protecting the villages. 1. The beggars are cooking rice. 1. The cook is washing the pot. 13 Lesson II A. Declension of Nouns ending in " a " (contd.) Nara SINGULAR PLURAL Instrumental narena narebhi, narehi by or with a man by or with men Dative narŒya,* narassa narŒnaµ to or for a man to or for men Terminations SINGULAR PLURAL Instrumental ena** ebhi,** ehi** Dative Œya, ssa naµ*** * This form is not frequently used.