EngPaliGrammar w.audio

8/20/2019 EngPaliGrammar w.audio

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1 This PDF is part of an online P!li course program offered free of charge by Pariyatti. To join a course please visithttp://learning.pariyatti.org. Copyright 2011 – Pariyatti - www.pariyatti.org

Exploring the sacred, ancient path in the original words of the

Buddha - a short introduction and guide to P!li pronunciation andP!li grammar

Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samm!sambuddhassa

J ! ge j! ge dharama k " v!#"

Ma$ gala m%la mah! kaly!n" Ma$ gala m%la mah! kaly!n" J ! ge j! ge dharama k " v!#"

May the words of the Dhamma arise,Those roots of great happiness and wellbeing,Those roots of great happiness and wellbeing,

May the words of the Dhamma arise!

Hindi dohas by S.N. Goenka during his 10-day courses

Aspiration: May this benevolent wish of my respected teacher be fulfilled!


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Exploring the sacred, ancient path in the original words of the Buddha - a short

introduction and guide to P!li pronunciation and P!li grammar ........................... 1

1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 4

2. P!li-pronunciation ..................................................................................................................... 5

3. P!li-alphabet .............................................................................................................................. 6

4. Word-formation ......................................................................................................................... 9

1. Examples of verbs by addition of various prefixes of the verb gacchati: ................................. 10

2. Examples of derivations from the participle forms of the verb gacchati : ............................... 11

3.

Examples of nouns derived from the root gam: ........................................................................ 12

4. Example of noun declension of the noun g !mo ending in a: ..................................................... 13

5. Example of verbal conjugation of the verb gacchati ................................................................. 14

5. Syntax: Examples of development of simple sentences ........................................................ 15

6. Declension of nouns (n! ma) .................................................................................................... 17

1. Terminations with a-ending: ...................................................................................................... 18

2. Terminations with i-ending: ...................................................................................................... 19

3. Terminations with u-ending: ..................................................................................................... 20

7. Conjugation of verbs ( ! khy! ta) .............................................................................................. 22

1. The genders ................................................................................................................................ 23

2. The tenses: ................................................................................................................................. 23

3. The moods: ................................................................................................................................ 23

4. Infinitive, gerund and participles: .............................................................................................. 24

5. The three voices ......................................................................................................................... 25

6. Table survey: present indicative, imperative, optative and future: ............................................ 25

7.

Table survey: different forms of aorist: ..................................................................................... 26

8. Table survey: gerund, present participle, past participle: .......................................................... 26

9. Further examples of past participles: ......................................................................................... 27

10. Table survey: special conjugation: atthi – to be ..................................................................... 28

11. Table survey: special conjugation: bhavati – to be, to exist, to become ................................ 28


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12. Table survey: special conjugation: hoti to be, to exist, to become (root: -bhu reduced to: -hu): 28

13.

Table survey: gerund, present participle, past participle, future passive participle, infinitiveof atthi and bhavati/hoti: .................................................................................................................. 28

8. Adjectives and adverbs ........................................................................................................... 29

1. Declination of adjectives ........................................................................................................... 29

2. Declination of adverbs ............................................................................................................... 30

9. Pronouns (n! ma) ...................................................................................................................... 31

1. Personal Pronoun: 1st. person: aha& I / maya& , amhe we ........................................................ 31

2. 2nd. Person : tva& , tuva& you / tumhe you ............................................................................... 31

3.

Masculine, 3rd. person, singular: so he .................................................................................... 32

4. Neuter, 3rd. person, singular: ya& it, that ............................................................................... 32

5. Feminine, 3rd. person, singular: y! she, who .......................................................................... 33

6. Masculine, 3rd. person, plural: ye they ..................................................................................... 33

7. Neuter, 3rd. person, plural: y!ni, ye those ............................................................................... 33

8. Feminine, 3rd. person, plural: t ! , t ! yo: they, those .................................................................. 34

9. The indefinite particle ci: ........................................................................................................... 34

10. Indeclinables (nip! ta) .............................................................................................................. 35

11.

Prefixes (upasagga) .................................................................................................................. 39

12. Suffixes ...................................................................................................................................... 40

1. Suffixes of special importance: ................................................................................................. 41

13. Epilogue .................................................................................................................................... 42


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1. Introduction

Like any ancient literature, the P!li texts collected in the Tipi"aka offer an eclectic field for research providing all kinds of historical, geographical, social and spiritual information for any scholar.Someone on a spiritual quest encounters through the words of the Buddha a source of inspiration,encouragement, learning and knowledge. Anyone who desires to apply and follow the path laid out by the Enlightened One obtains a storehouse of well-defined and practical guidance, detailedexplanations and unblemished fundamental truths.

This collection of texts1 is entitled ‘ Exploring the sacred, ancient path in the original words of the Buddha’ because it hopes to offer the reader and the follower of the Buddha’s teaching a helpfulsurvey and supportive resource for general, feasible application of the teaching2. The first chapters

express the gratitude that one fosters when realising the rare and fortunate opportunity to encountersuch a unique path at all, especially and even in our modern times. Once this path is applied and its beneficial results manifest themselves, naturally boundless gratitude arises towards those whoendeavoured their own realization through this path. They still present themselves to us as aninspiring example of earnestness, persistence and determination.

The main chapters attempt to depict the path at its fundamental core. It is a universal path that can beaccepted and applied by each and every one irrespective of age and gender, race and faith. It is a paththat is well explained, thoroughly described and leading to beneficial results here and now.

The prepared English texts intend to offer a literal word to word translation. Although they may

present themselves as not as fluent and appealing as other possible translations, they suit the purposeof this collection of texts, which is to introduce the reader to the direct words of the Buddha.

1 This collection would have never been realized without the wonderful work of the P!li Text Society (PTS) andthe Vipassana Research Institute (VRI) for putting the whole P!li Tipi"aka into digital and printed form and making it soeasily available. It is impossible for me to express the boundless appreciation and indebtedness I nurture. The samegratitude is expressed towards all scholars and grammarians, who pioneered in collecting P!li texts, producingtranslations and preparing valuable references.2 Although this selection of suttas tries to follow this intention under the described order that is presented in theEnglish subtitles, of course it will always be the choice of the author. Although a guiding principle has been to collectsuttas of special value for a Vipassana meditator, who may be interested to read them in their original, such as those hemay have heard in discourses, some of the texts may not always fit under the respective chapters, but still will hopefully present an inspirational addition and helpful applicable support.


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2. P!li-pronunciation

It seems not by pure chance that the words of the Buddha are maintained in the language of P!li,3 which in itself can be experienced as sweet and as deep as the Buddha’s words. The attempt to learnthis ‘dead language’ will never present itself as a dry task. An archaeologist translating primitive paintings in a forgotten hallway of an ancient pyramid may transcend the barriers of time and to himthese paintings may come alive. A practitioner of the path, reading the original words of the Buddhamay delve into the past and create kinship with those ancient times. He will feel the Buddha’s wordsas if spoken to him and discover remedies for abiding quests and realise, that the boon of thecontents enhances the beauty of this ancient language:

• One discovers that the scientific placement and pronunciation of letters utilizes the variousorgans of the mouth (throat, tongue, lips) in their logical order to form soft and harmonious

sound4.• One understands that the rules of combining different letters and words ( sandhi) follow the

same principle of appealing pronunciation to avoid any harshness in their vowel andconsonant sounds5.

• The discovery of roots in P!li (an inflective language) will further help to derive stems andwords easily by understanding terminations, suffixes, prefixes and certain changes in the root.

• One may even recognise familiar words that by shift of sound and meaning developed

through the Indo-Arian family of languages into today’s form.6

The rules of combination of letters ( sandhi) play an important role in the construction of words andsentences, it should be noted here that the most important reason for these is that P!li should never

lose its typical melodious sound - harsh conjuncts are softened by assimilation, insertion, elision orsubstitution. Importance is given to the complete utterance rather than to individual words. The studyof the language in the context of sentences rather than words is encouraged; in this manner theapproximate meaning of the word will enfold its precise and specific sense.

3 P!li here is taken as: P !li bh! s! - the language of the texts. In this context it refers to the texts that aremaintained in the P!li Tipi"aka and that present its value for the described intention of this collection. The question of theorigin of the P!li language, its development from Magh!dh# and or Prakrit, the Indio Arian languages and Sanskrit is leftaside.4 The great lexicographer R.C. Childers quotes the ancient saying, that any child, left alone without hearing the

human voice would instinctively speak M!gadh# (vernacular from which P!li assumingly derived). He also quotes thestanza, which expresses the assertion that M!gadh# was the original language of ancient times and which Brahmas,Sambuddhas and those who had never heard any speech would utter: S ! M ! gadh" m%labh! sa nar ! y! y!dikappik ! , Brahm!na ca assut !l ! p! sambuddh! c! pi bh! sare.5 R.C. Childers expresses his admiration towards the ‘at once flowing and sonorous’ sound of P!li that is reached by ‘most words ending in a vowel and the softening of harsh conjunctions by assimilation, elision or crasis.’6 For example the P!li: namati: to bow down, to pay respect; namo : the reverence; is reflected in today’slanguages: nomen; der Name, nennen; the name, to name, noun; el nombre; le nom; il nome etc.

Here a slight shift of meaning occurred from : to the one being addressed with respect, to the one being filledwith identity


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When pronouncing P !li, proper care has to be given to the use of throat, mouth, the movement andtouch of the tongue and lips, in order to produce the melodious, sonorous euphony that P !li requires.Special emphasis should be given to proper pronunciation and differentiation especially between

retroflex and dentals, rather identical but different in sound7. An upright follower of the path, whoundertakes to read and recite these suttas will meticulously perform this task if he uses proper andcareful pronunciation, aspires to perfect understanding and remains deeply respectful and full ofawareness within8.

3. P!li-alphabet

P!li was a vernacular 9 of northern India in the time of Gotama the Buddha. In India the alphabet has been preserved in the Dev!nagar # script, various other countries developed different other charactersto express the P!li language. To make it transferable into Roman script the following set ofdiacritical marks has been established to indicate the proper pronunciation.

The alphabet consists of forty-one characters: eight vowels and thirty-three consonants.

The Vowels:

a ! i " u % e o

Vowels can be short and long; a line over a vowel - ! , " , % - indicates a long vowel that resonates for

about twice the time period of a short vowel10

. As far as similarity to English is concerned thefollowing pronunciation aid may be helpful11:

a - as the "a" in cut ! - as the "a" in arti - as the "i" in mint " - as the "ee" in seeu - as the "u" in put % - as the "oo" in cool

7 These are the main principles that were maintained through the ages. Although the same recitations of P!li maysound different according to the national background and mother tongue of the person who recites the texts, with thespread and practice of P!li through the world the main emphasis should be given to preserve these for the time to come.8 Ideally a meditator before he starts reciting the suttas should get fully concentrated, keeping his awareness

within on the level of sensations and esteeming the spoken words as personal guidance.9 Please refer to footnote 310 The set of vowels can be further subdivided into the pure vowels (a, !) sonant vowels (i, " , u, %) and diphthongs(e, o). This is of interest because the sonants remain vowels if followed by a consonant, but change into the semivowels vand w when followed by a vowel. Thus the diphtongs are derived from the union of the first two groups of vowels: a +i,! + i : = e; a +u, ! + %: = o 11 The "a" may be pronounced slightly differently according to the position amongst the combined syllables in aword, whether in the midddle, at the end or following an aspirate or an unaspirate consonant. The pronounciation ofletters should be understood as an exercise only to develop a feeling for the correct touch of the organs of the mouth, thecorrect pronounciation will develop when texts are read and proper awareness is given to this movement.


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-e- and –o- are pronounced:• long at the end of a syllable: de-va, lo-ka, do-so;• short when they occur before consonants and the syllable ends with a consonant: met-t ! ,

pho' -' ab-ba.

The Consonants:

P!li uses 25 so called grouped consonants that add the vowel "a" to carry sound and are divided intogroups according to their form of creation:

Gutturals ka kha ga gha $a

Palatals ca cha ja jha ña

Retroflex ' a ' ha ( a ( ha #a

Dentals ta tha da dha na Labials pa pha ba bha ma

They get supplemented by: ya, ra, la, va, sa, ha, ) a and a&,

of which ra, la, ) a are liquids, ya and va semivowels, sa is a sibilant, ha an aspirate and a& is calleda niggah" ta. Further ya can be grouped with the palatals, ra, la, ) a with the retroflex and va with thelabials.The consonants found in the first and third column are unaspirates, those in the second and fourth areaspirates, those in the last column are called nasal.

•

All aspirated consonants are pronounced with an audible expulsion of breath following thenormal unaspirated sound.• The guttural consonants: - ka, kha, ga, gha, ha - are produced from deep within the throat and

hardly any movement of the tongue.• The palatal consonants: - ca, cha, ja, jha, ya - are pronounced with the front parts of the

tongue slightly touching the upper-gum/palate.• The retroflex or cerebral consonants: - ' a, ' ha, ( a, ( ha, ra, la, ) a - are pronounced with the tip

of the tongue turned back and touching the upper palate12.• The dental consonants: - ta, tha, da, dha, sa - are pronounced with the tongue touching the

upper front teeth.• The labial consonants: - pa, pha, ba, bha, ma, va - are formed by movement of both the lips

only.• The nasal consonants: - $a, ña, #a, na, ma - are uttered by ways of articulating them in the

same way as the preceeding consonats of the same group get produced, but with the soundresonating through the nose13.

• The niggah" ta: - a& - is resonating like ng

12 la, ) a often get swapped. When pronouncing -) a- the tongue moves from above the teeth to the lips to perform atrembling sound.13 A general rule is that the nasal consonants can only be combined with consonants of the same group.


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As above the following similarity to English may serve as pronounciation aid:

ka - as the "k" in king ga - as the "g" in getca - as the "ch" in church ja - as the "j" in jailta - as the "t" in task da - as the "d" in day pa - as the "p" in part ba - as the "b" in buttha - as in "th" Thai pha - as "ph" in uphill14 $a - as "ng" in singer ña - as "n" in Spanish señor.#a - as "n" in kind,mind na - as "n" in noun& - as in hung, ring v - is a very soft -v- or -w-15

Example of the guttural consonant ka in combination with vowels:

ka k ! ki k " ku k % ke kokha kh! khi kh" khu kh% khe kho

Example of the guttural consonant ka in combination with consonants:

kka, kkha, kya, kri, kla, kva, khya, khva, $ka, $kha

14 Here the analogy to the English pronunciation does not hold true because "tha" is never pronounced as in: the,this, etc neither is " pha" pronounced as in phonology, philosophy. Here the unaspirated consonants ta, da, pa, ba areuttered with effort and directly followed by -h- sound to pronounce the aspirated consonants.15 The semivowel consonant va is pronounced like "v" as in "vibrate" if preceded by a consonant: - sv!kkh!to –well explained -, but if preceded by a vowel it sounds like "w" as in "wind": - s!vaka – disciple -.


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4. Word-formation

It is worthwhile to take a short look at the development of words in P!li in order to help individualstudy. If we understand the derivation of the words from their roots16, their development by additionof prefixes, suffixes, case-, gender-, and tense-terminations and inflections as well as certain changeswithin the root by substituting or altering the carrying vowel, it becomes easy to grasp this ancientlanguage.

Words are formed through the combination of syllables. According to the character of the syllable,which may be open if ending in a vowel, closed if ending in a consonant or with the niggah" ta, lightif ending in a short vowel and heavy if ending in a long vowel or consonant and the period of timethey resonate they undergo certain adjustments when combined.

A long syllable is exactly equal to two short syllables. (The total length of a long syllable beingconstant, a double consonant tends to compress and shorten a long vowel preceding it, and itself getsshortened by the long vowel.) Double consonants are very frequent in P!li and must be strictly pronounced as long consonants, thus: -nn-, as well as: – ss -, is like English –nn- and –ss- in`unnecessary`, combinations of nonaspirate with aspirate consonants need a tender stop so theaspirates can get uttered slightly explosive: pac-cud-dharati/ ug-gac-chati.

These modifications in order to keep the flow of harmonious sound without disrupting the movementof the organs of the mouth led to various changes that are called sandhi.17 In general they undergo18:

• Contraction: (bahu-upakaro: bah% pakaro – great help; mah! - odha: mahodha – great flood)•

Elision: (mah!-iddhiko: mahiddhiko – having great strength; brahma-loka-upago:brahmalok % pago: – reaching the brahmin worlds)

• Insertion: (idha-!hu: idham!hu – thus said; ajja-aggo: ajjataggo – from this day onwards)• Changes from sonant to semivowels: (anu-!- gacchati: anv! gacchati – follow; anu-eti:

anveti – follow)and further phonetic changes in case of consonants. Here the joining consonants undergomodifications by way of:

• Assimilation19: creating similarity (ud-gaccati: uggacchati – rise; iti-eva: icceva – thus

indeed, truly; kud-kicca: kukkucca – feeling of remorse)• Adaption: a niggah" ta changes into the respective group of the joining consonant (ta#ha&-

karo: ta#ha$karo – with craving; eva&-kho: eva$kho – thus then; dhamma&-ca:dhammañca: and the Dhamma)

• Metathesis20: two consonants undergo an interchange (mahya&: mayha& – me, mine;kay" rati: kar " yati - done)

16 A root is not a word in itself, but expresses the indefinite idea of what it plans to express.17 sandhi - union, junction. Lit.: sa&: - together + dadhati: - to put, join18 For excellent reference: V. Perniola: P!li Grammer as well as: A P!li Grammar by W. Geiger, both published by Pali Text Society, PTS19 Assimilation appears in many languages, as we find: octo – otto; god-sip – gossip


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• Epenthesis: insertion of a vowel (brahm-no: brahmuno – of Brahma; klesa: kilesa -

impurity)• Aspiration: (as-ti: atthi – is; es-ti - i'' ha- wished; is-ti- i'' ha -desired)•

Simplification: reduction of consonants: (kar - ss!mi – kas-s-s!mi - kass!mi - k ! s!mi: k !h!mi- I will do)

The example of word formation of the root: gam21 will give an introductionary survey of howvarious words can be built 22:

1. Examples of verbs by addition of various prefixes of the verb gacchati:

! gacchati to come to or towards, approach, go back, arrive! gameti to cause somebody to come to one, i.e. to waitabbhuggacchati to go forth, go out, rise intoabhigacchati to go forward, to approachabhisam! gacchati to come to (understand) completely, to grasp fullyadhigacchati to acquire, to attain, to findanugacchati to followanv! gacchati to follow, pursueapagacchati to go away, to leaveatigacchati to overcome, to conqueratthangacchati to disappear, to go out of existenceavagacchati to come, to approach, visitcoggacchati to set, to go down

gameti to send out, to make go (caus.)niggacchati to proceed fromogacchati to go down, to sink pa' ivigacchati to go apart again, to go away or asunder pacc! gacchati to go back to, to return paccuggacchati to leave, to go out sam! gacchati to meet together, to assemble, to associate with samadhigacchati to attain samuggacchati to arise sa# gacchati to meet, to come togetherud ! gacchati to come to completion

uggacchati to rise, get up out ofup! gacchati to come, to arrive at, reach, obtain

20 Well known: Benares changes into Varanasi, Bombay into Mumbai 21 This root gam can be recognised in today’s languages still carrying the same meaning: gremium; der Gang, gehen; go, going, gone, come; el camino, chaminante, caminar, caminando; le chemin, cheminer, il cammino,

camminare 22 gacchati is found in the well known expression: Buddha& sarana& gacch!mi - lit.: to the surrender to theBuddha I go


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up!tigacchati to go out over, to surpass, overcomevigacchati to depart, decrease

2. Examples of derivations from the participle forms of the verb gacchati :

! gantu occasional, incidental! gata comeabbh! gata having arrived or come; a guest, strangerabbhuggata gone forth, gone out, risenabhigaman" ya to be approached, accessibleadhigata attained, in the possession ofamahaggata not expanded, minoran! gata not come yet, i.e. future

anugata accompanied byanug !mika accompanying, resulting from anug !min following, attending to, going along withanv! gata endowed with, having attainedattha# gata gone homeav! gata are fallen fromavagata known, understooddukkhamagama not coming into connection with miseryduranugama difficult to bed %ra# gama going far gamma belonging to the village, low, inferior

g !min walking, going g !meyya belonging to a villagekhema$ gato attained the state of securitymahaggata gone great, expanded paccuggata illustrious p!ragu gone beyond pa'' hagu being near, attending to papamagama not coming into connection with evil par ! gata reached the other side sam! gata assembled sam!nagatika identical

samann! gata endowed with, possessed of sa$kha# gata is called sugata well goneuddhag !min going upwardsuggata come out, risen, high, lofty, exaltedvedagu established in the experience of sensationvigat ! sava free from depravity, a saintvigata ceased, free from


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viha# gama moving through the air, flying

3.

Examples of nouns derived from the root gam:

! g !min returning, one who returns! gama coming, approach, result! gamana oncoming, arrival, approach! gantar one who is coming or going to come! gantuka coming, arriving, new comer, guest, stranger! gati coming, coming back, returnabbh! gamana coming, arrival, approachabbhuggamana going out over, rising overadhigama attainment, acquisition

adhigatavant one who has found or attainedaggat ! superiorityan! g !mi non returneranugat " adherence to, dependence onanug !ma following after atthagamana setting (of the sun)atthagatatta disappearanceatthangama annihilation, disappearanceavigatapaccayo nondisappearance conditionavisaggat ! state of being undisturbed, harmony, balance gaman" ya ought to go

gamana movement, journey gama#a rising gamika setting out for the journey, one who goes away gamina going out g !maka villager g !man" village headman, chief g !mika overseer of a villagenegama belonging to a townnigama a market townnigamana explanationniggama/mana departure, outcome

paccuggamana meeting, receiving sak !d ! g !mi one returner sam! gama meeting, meeting with, intercourse sa# gama meeting, intercourse, sexual intercourse sa# gati meeting, intercourseuggama rising upuggamana going up, rising, rise (of sun)vigama dissapearance


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vigatapaccayo disappearance conditionviha# ga/vihaga a bird

4. Example of noun declension of the noun g !mo ending in a:

The noun g !mo – a village (lit: a place where people go) is derived from the root gam.While a more detailed survey of noun-declensions is given further below a first glance here willintroduce their declension:

Case Denotation Use of

Preposition in

transl.

Termination

singular

Termination

plural

example

singular

example

plural

Nominative subject ofaction

-o -! g!mo g!m!

Accusative direct object ofaction

-& -e g!ma& g!me

Instrumental indicatesinstrument orcause

by, through,with

-ena -ebhi,

-ehi g!mena g!mebhi,

g!mehi

Dative certain verbsgovern thedative (to give,to bear, totell...)

to -! ya-assa

-!na& g!m! ya,g!massa

g!m!na&

Ablative place or objectfrom whichmotion or

separationtakes place

from -! ,-a,

-mh! ,

-asm!

-ebhi,

-ehi g!m! ,g!mamh! ,g!masm!

g!mebhi,g!mehi

Genitive expresses possession

of -! ya,-assa

-!na& g!m! ya,g!massa

g!m!na&

Locative place or time ofaction

in, at, on -e,-amhi,

-asmi&

-esu g!me,g!mamhi,g!masmi&

g!mesu

Vocative form of address -a,-! ,

-e,

-o

-! 23

23 The locative in general is used to address people, therefore the examples here ( g !ma, g !m! ) wouldn`t besuitable.


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5. Example of verbal conjugation of the verb gacchati

In the same way a further first glance at the verbal conjugation of the verb: gacchati - to go24 -introduces the present tense simple.

Here the verbal form is developed by the root25:- gam changes by assimilation into ga-c-cha - the insertion a/! and- the termination -mi for the 1st : person singular: - I goaccording to the following verbal conjugation:

personal pronoun termination word

3rd personsingular

s!\so -ti gacchati she\he goes

3rd person plural

te -nti gacchanti they go

2nd personsingular

tva$ -si gacchasi you go

2nd person plural

tumhe -tha gacchatha you go

1st personsingular

aha$ -mi gacch!mi I go

1st person

plural

maya$ -ma gacch!ma we go

The suffixes ti, nti, si, tha, mi, ma relate to the termination of the related person in the present tense.

24 Dictionaries general give P!li verbs in the third person singular and not in the infinitive, while the translationrefers to the infinitive25 The root: gam here reduplicates the guttaral consonant and changes it into the corresponding palatal- gac. Gam belongs to the first group of verbs that add –a- to the root before the personal suffixes. (see under 1.7)


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5. Syntax: Examples of development of simple sentences

In P!li the development of sentences follows in general the same syntax as in English, but the predicate always stands last. The object is preceded by the subject and followed by the predicate.Qualifying adverbs or adjectives further precede the verb, subject or object respectively. Time phrases or adverbs open the sentences whenever used. P!li uses only indefinite articles; at timesverbs (predicates) are not mentioned, but should be added in translations. Substantives, pronouns andadjectives often get combined, they agree in gender, number and case.Experience of reading and working with the original texts will show that the apparently ambiguouscomplexity of the P!li grammar becomes clear sooner rather than later and the development ofunderstanding the meaning of sentences usually improves rapidly26. The preceding surveys ofdeclension and conjunction illustrate a simple example of sentence construction27.

Case Denotation Example in singular number Example in plural number

Nominative subject of action Buddho gacchatiThe Buddha goes

Pa#( it ! gacchanti

The wise men go Accusative direct object of action Buddho vih!ra& gacchati

The Buddha goes to the monastery Pa#( it ! vih!re gacchanti

The wise men go to the monasteries Instrumental indicates instrument or

cause Buddho rathena s!vakena saha

gacchati

The Buddha goes by chariot togetherwith the disciple

Pa#( it ! rathebhi s!vakehi saddhi&

gacchanti

The wise men go by chariots togetherwith the disciples

Dative certain verbs govern the

dative (to give, to bear,to tell...)

Buddho sama#! ya metta& dad !ti

The Buddha gives metta to the monk Pa#( it ! sama#!na& metta& dadanti

The wise men give metta to themonks.

Ablative place or object fromwhich motion orseparation takes place

Buddho p! s!damh! gacchati The Buddha goes from the palace

Pa#( it ! p! s!dehi gacchanti

The wise men go from the palaces

Genitive expresses possession Buddho bh% p!lassa p! s!damh! gacchati

The Buddha goes from the palace ofthe king

Pa#( it ! bh% p!l !na& p! s!dehi

gacchanti

The wise men go from the palaces ofthe kings

Locative place or time of action Buddho g !masmi& vih!ra& gacchatiThe Buddha goes to the monastery inthe village

Pa#( ita g !mesu vih!re gacchanti

The wise men go to the monasteriesin the villages

Vocative form of address Bho sama#a !Oh monk !

Bho sama#! !Oh monks !

26 A. K. Warder: Introduction to Pali; PTS – points out: “……ideally one should learn a language as children pickup their mother tongue, by learnig a sufficiently large number of sentences……”27 The vocabulary used here is: sama#a - monk; vih!ra - monastery; p! s!da - palace; pa#( ita - wise man;bh% p!la - king; ratha - chariot; dad !ti - to give; saha, saddhi& - together with


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Buddho rathena s!vak ebhi saha bh% p!la ssa p!s!damh! g!ma smi& vih!ra& gacchati, sama&!na& metta& dad!ti: "Bho sama&!! Bhavatu sabbe ma'gala$."

The Buddha goes by chariot, together with the disciples, from the palace of the king to the monasteryin the village and gives metta to the monks: "Oh monks! May all be happy!"


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6. Declension of nouns (n! ma )

In P !li the nouns are grouped according to gender and ending. We find the nouns ending in: a, ! , i, " ,u, % prevailing as well as certain exceptional endings with individual conjugations like: bhagavant,rajo, pitar, etc.According to the three genders different inflections occur, but in general we find those inflections incommon usages, that were presented in the declension of g !ma. The same applies to the eight cases,whose denotation remains somewhat the same28 and whose usages can mainly be understood in thefollowing connotation:

• pa' hama – first or nominative case - expresses the agent of a sentence or the

subject of the verb that is describing that action, both agree in number and gender.• dutiya - second or accusative case: - indicates the object of action, motion, the

duration or space in which an action takes place, it is governed by transitive verbs29.• tatiya - third or instrumental case: - indicates the agent, means or instrument

by whom or which an action is performed.• catutthi - fourth or dative case: - indicates the object to which an action is

directed, or something is given. Some verbs govern the dative case.• pañcami - fifth or ablative case: - indicates the place, object or person from where

an action, separation or direction originates, it also points out the reason or motive.• cha'' h" - sixth or genitive case: - indicates possession, relationship, comparision

and indirect object.• sattham" - seventh or locative case: - indicates the place, time or reason where,

when or why an action, takes place.•

a'' ham" eighth or vocative case: - is used to address one or more persons.

28 Someone interested in more details and excellent description of various exceptions may refer to Lesson XXV inthe Elementary P!li Course by N!rada Thera and/or to Chapter XIX in P!li Grammar by V. Perniola.29 Verbs can be transitive, intransitive and both. A transitive verb takes an object: to drink, eat;…… anintransitive verb does not take an object: to die, to go;…….


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The following tables present a survey for quick reference when working with the text:

1. Terminations with a-ending:

Examples: g !mo – a village: masculine30 / phala - a fruit: neuter 31/ vanit ! - a woman32: feminine

Case Termination

singular

a-ending masc.

Termination

plural

a-ending masc.

Termination

singular

a-ending neut.

Termination

plural

a-ending neut.

Termination

singular

! -ending fem.

Termination

plural

! -ending fem.

Nominative -o,

-e

-! , -a& ,

-e

-!ni,

-!

-! -! ,

-! yo

Accusative -& -e -a& -!ni,-e

-a& -! ,

-! yo

Instrumental -ena,

-! -ebhi

-ehi

-ena,

-! -ebhi,

-ehi

-! ya,

-!

-!bhi,

-!hi

Dative -! ya,

-assa

-!na& -! ya,

-assa

-!na& -! ya -!na&

Ablative -! ,

-mh! ,

-asm!

-ebhi,

-ehi

-! ,

-mh! ,

-asm!

-ebhi,

-ehi

-! ya,

-!to

-!bhi,

-!hi

Genitive -! ya,

-assa

-!na& -! ya,

-assa

-!na& -! ya -!na&

Locative -e,

-amhi,

-asmi&

-esu -e,

-amhi,

-asmi&

-esu -! ya,

-! ya&

-! su

Vocative -a,

-! ,

-e,

-o

-! -a& ,

-a

-!ni,

-!

-e,

-! ,

-a

-! ,

-! yo

30 Detailed formations of g !mo can be seen in the table above.31 As the neuter declension is very close to the masculine no example is given here.32 Thus we find the following formations in the singular: vanit ! - vanita& - vanit ! ya - vanit ! ya - vanit ! ya -vanit ! ya - vanit ! ya / vanit ! ya& - vanite / vanit !

and in the plural: vanit ! / vanit ! yo - vanit ! / vanit ! yo - vanit !hi / vanit !bhi - vanit !na& - vanit !hi / vanit !bhi -vanit !na& - vanit ! su - vanit ! / vanit ! yo


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2. Terminations with i-ending:Examples:aggi – a fire: masculine 33/ a'' hi- a bone: neuter 34/bh%mi - the earth: feminine 35 / mah" – the earth: feminine36/

Case Termina-

tion

singular

i -ending

masc.

Termina-

tion

plural

i -ending

masc.

Termina-

tion singular

i -ending

neut.

Termina-

tion

plural

i-ending

neut.

Termina-

tion singular

" -ending

masc.

Termina-

tion

plural

" -ending

masc.

Termina-

tion singular

i-endingfem.

Termina-

tion

plural

i-ending

fem.

Termina-

tion

singular

" -ending

fem.

Termina-

tion

plural

" -ending

fem.

Nominative -i -" -iyo,-ino,-ayo

-i,-i&

-" ni,-"

-" ,-i

-" , -ino,

-" ,-i

-" ,-yo,-iyo,

-" ,-i

-" yo,-iyo,-yo-! yo

Accusative -i& -" ,-iyo,

-ayo

-i& ,-i

-" ni,-"

-i& ,-ina&

-" ,-ino

-i& -" ,-yo,

-iyo

-i& ,-iya&

-" yo,-iyo,

-yo

-! yo Instrumental -in! -" hi,

-" bhi,-ihi,-ibhi

-in! -" hi,-" bhi,-ihi,-ibhi

-in! -" hi,-" bhi,-ihi,-ibhi

-iy! ,-y!

-" hi,-" bhi

-iy! ,-y!

-" hi,-" bhi

Dative -ino,-issa

-" na& ,-ina&

-ino,-issa

-" na& ,-ina&

-ino,-issa

-" na& ,-ina&

-iy! ,-y!

-" na& -iy! ,-y!

-iy!na& ,-" na& ,

-ina&

Ablative -in! ,

-imh! ,-ism!

-" hi,

-" bhi,-ihi,-ibhi

-in! ,

-imh! ,-ism!

-" hi,

-" bhi,-ihi,-ibhi

-in! ,

-imh! ,-ism!

-" hi,

-" bhi,-ihi,-ibhi

-iy! ,

-y! -ito

-" hi,

-" bhi

-iy! ,

-y! ,-" to

-" hi,

-" bhi

Genitive -ino,-issa

-" na& -ino,-issa

-" na& -ino,-issa

-" na& ,-ina&

-iy! ,-y!

-" na& -iy! ,-y!

-iy!na& ,-" na& ,-ina&

Locative -ini,

-imhi,-ismi&

-" su,

-isu

-ini,

-imhi,-ismi&

-" su,

-isu

-imhi,

-ismi&

-" su,

-isu

-iy!& ,

-y!&

,-! ya&

-" su,

-isu

-iy! ,

-y! ,-y!&

-iya&

-" su,

-isu

Vocative -i-e

-" ,-iyo,

-ayo

-i,-i&

-" ni,-"

-" , -" ,-ino

-" ,-i

-" ,-yo,

-iyo

-" ,-i

-" yo,-iyo,

-yo-! yo

33 Thus we find the following formations in the singular: aggi -aggi& - aggin! - aggino / aggissa - aggin! /aggimh! / aggism! - aggino / aggissa - aggimhi / aggismi& - aggi

and in the plural: agg " / aggayo - agg " / aggayo - agg " hi / agg " bhi - agg " na& - agg " hi / agg " bhi - agg " na& -agg " su - agg " / aggayo 34 Thus we find the following formations in the singular: a'' hi - a'' hi& - a'' hin! - a'' hino, a'' hissa - a'' hin! -a'' hino / a'' hissa - a'' hini / a'' himhi / a'' hismi& - a'' hi

and in the plural: a'' h" / a'' h" ni - a'' h" / a'' h" ni - a'' h" hi / a'' h" bhi - a'' h" na& - a'' h" hi / a'' h" bhi - a'' h" na& -a'' h" su - a'' h" / a'' h" ni35 Thus we find the following formations in the singular: bh%mi - bh%mi& - bh%miy! - bh%miy! - bh%miy! -bh%miy! - bh%miy! , bh%miya& - bh%mi

and in the plural: bh%m" / bh%miyo - bh%m" / bh%miyo - bh%m" hi / bh%m" bhi - bh%m" na& - bh%m" hi / bh%m" bhi -bh%m" na& - bh%m" su - bh%m" / bh%miyo36 Thus we find the following formations in the singular: mah" - mahi& - mahiy! / mahy! - mahiy! / mahy! -mahiy! / mahy! - mahiy! / mahy! - mahiy! / mahy! / mahiya& - mah"

and in the plural: mah" / mahiyo - mah" / mahiyo - mah" hi / mah" bhi - mah" na& - mah" hi / mah" bhi - mah" na& -mah" su / mahisu - mah" / mahiyo


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3. Terminations with u-ending:

Examples:bhikkhu – a monk: masculine37 / cakkhu - the eye: neuter / dh!tu - element: feminine38

Case Termination

singular

u-ending masc.

Termination

plural

u-ending masc.

Termination

singular

u-ending neut.

Termination

plural

u-ending neut.

Termination

singular

u-ending fem.

Termination

plural

u-ending fem.

Nominative -u -% ,

-avo,

-uyo

-u,

-u& -%ni,

-% -u -% ,

-uvo,

-uyo Accusative -u& ,

-una& -% ,

-avo,

-uyo

-u& ,

-u

-%ni,

-% -u& -% ,

-uvo,

-uyoInstrumental -un! -%bhi,

-%hi,-uhi,

-ubhi

-un! -%bhi,

-%hi,-uhi,

-ubhi

-uy! -%bhi,

-%hi

Dative -uno,

-ussa

-%na& ,

-una& ,

-unna&

-uno,

-ussa

-%na& ,

-una& ,

-unna&

-uy! -%na&

Ablative -un! ,

-umh! ,

-usm!

-%bhi,

-%hi,

-uhi,

-ubhi

-un! ,

-umh! ,

-usm!

-%bhi,

-%hi,

-uhi,

-ubhi

-uy! ,

-uto

-%bhi,

-%hi

Genitive -uno,

-ussa

-%na& ,

-una& ,

-unna&

-uno,

-ussa

-%na& ,

-una& ,

-unna&

-uy! -%na&

Locative -umhi,

-usmi&

-usu,

-% su

-umhi,

-usmi&

-usu,

-% su

-uy! ,

-uya&

-% su

Vocative -u -% ,

-avo,

-ave

-u -%ni,

-% -u -% ,

-uvo,

-uyo

The declensions of nouns that end in - % (male and female) follow somewhat the same declensionlike those ending in – u.

37 Thus we find the following formations in the singular: bhikkhu - bhikkhu& - bhikkhun! - bhikkhuno/ bhikkhussa – bhikkhun! - bhikkhuno/ bhikkhussa – bhikkhumhi/ bhikkhusmi& - bhikkhu

and in the plural: bhikkh% / bhikkhavo - bhikkh% / bhikkhavo - bhikkh%hi / bhikkh%bhi - bhikkh%na& - bhikkh%hi /bhikkh%bhi - bhikkh%na& - bhikkhusu / bhikkh% su - bhikkh% , bhikkhave38 Thus we find the following formations in the singular: dh!tu - dh!tu& - dh!tuy! - dh!tuy! - dh!tuy! - dh!tuy! - dh!tuy! / dh!tuya& - dh!tu

and in the plural: dh!t % / dh!tuyo - dh!t % / dh!tuyo - dh!t %hi / dh!t %bhi - dh!t %na& - dh!t %hi / dh!t %bhi -dh!t %na& - dh!t % su - dh!t % / dh!tuyo


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There are further some declensions that develop their own individual order such as:

r ! j!n - king; satthar – teacher; bhagavant – Fortunate One; hattin – elephant; which may be referedto in the grammar books.39

39 Bhikku Ñ!&atusita has prepared an excellent table for quick reference that presents most grammaticaldeclinations and conjugations as well and is available in different sizes.


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7. Conjugation of verbs ( ! khy! ta )

Verbs are divided in P!li into seven different groups or classes40 according to the derivations andinsertions their root undergoes when conjugated. The subsequent examples should suffice41:

• For example the first group inserts – a – after the root and before the personal suffixes – ti, – nti, – etc. Thus the example of the root: gam – is assimilated to gac-ch – and arranged underthe first group, where always – a – gets inserted and added to the respective root: gac – ch – a –ti: gacchati (to go); vas – a –ti: vasati (to dwell); har – a – ti: harati (to carry); j" v – a – ti: j" vati (to live).

• Another class or group adds the suffix – ya – to the root: j! - ya – ti: j! yati (to arise); budh –

ya – ti: bujjhati (to know); man – ya – ti: maññati (to think, to imagine).• Again another class inserts the nigghahita: - & - (which takes the form of the nasal sound

according to the respective group) before the closing consonant of the root: chi – & – da - ti:chindati (to cut); mu- & -ca-ti: muñcati (to free); li - &-pa-ti: limpati (to stain)

P!li differentiates between the following tenses, which have individual conjugational endings andinflections and thus classify:

• three genders (third, second and first)42;• two numbers: singular and plural;• six tenses: present ( gacchati), imperfect43, aorist44 (agacchi, altern: ag !ma; agam" ; agañchi;

garahi), perfect45, future ( gacchissati), and conditional (agacchissa);• causative ( gamete; gacch! peti);• infinitive (gantu&; gamitum; gantave; gamanaye ) and gerund (gantv!);•

participles: present ( gacchant; gaccham!na), past ( gata) and future passive ( gantabba);• three moods: indicative ( gacchati ), imperative ( gaccha, 2.nd person) and optative

( gaccheyu& ).• three voices: active, reflective and passive voice;

40 Some groups can get further subdivided – so the number of seven may vary.41 For detailed analyses of how the various classes of verbs are developed and subdivided one again may refer to

Perniola`s and Warder`s P!li Grammar.42 This traditional order demonstrates the respect that is held towards the other person rather than that the first person precedes the others in its position. In P!li the 3rd. is called: pa' hama purisa – first - ; the 2nd.: majjhima purisa –middle - , the 1st. uttama purisa – last person.43 Imperfect in P!li expresses a definite past44 Aorist in P!li expresses past action, the time that recently past: It is the true past in the text. Although the present tense is often used to open the text (historical present) describing the historical background (viharati – dwells): -eka& samaya& bhagav! r ! jagahe viharati ……!nando …… niv! setv! …… r ! jagaha& pi#(! ya p!visi. – and thencontinued in the aorist ( p!visi – went), both are generally translated in the past tense.45 Perfect in P !li expresses indefinite past and is rarely used


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1. The genders

The three genders, masculine, neuter and feminine carry their individual personal endings in bothnumbers. In the active voice the primary endings (-ti; -si; -mi; -nti; -tha; -ma) appear in the presentindicative and in the future tense. The so called secondary endings (-t; -s; -a&; -u/u&; -tha; -ma) areused in the aorist and the conditional, the optative varies with both endings.

2. The tenses:

• The present tense describes an action that is taking place, an action that continues(equivalent to present progressive) or a fact. It is often used describing historical facts.

• The aorist, the historical or principal past is mostly used to denote the past tense. It always

makes use of the secondary personal endings and is built in different ways, different formsmay be used:a) the root-aorist always prefixes the augment -a-: (a-gacchi-a&: agacchi& / agañchi&) b) the a-aorist inserts the suffix -a- before the personal endings and mostly prefixes theaugment –a-: (a-gam-a&: agama&)c) the s-aorist inserts the suffix -s- before the personal endings: (a-gama-s-i-&: agam! si&)d) the is-aorist inserts the suffix -is- before the personal endings: (a-gam-is-&: agami& / gacch-is-a&: gacchi& / gañchi&)

• The future tense expresses futurity and is formed by adding -ssa- to the root or verbal basewith, or in some cases without, the connecting vowel -i-; the terminations are the same asthose in the present tense: gacch-i-ssa-mi: gacchiss!mi. The future tense can also express a

command or condition.• The conditional expresses a possibility or wish. It uses the secondary personal endings and

adds the augment -a- before the future forms: gacch-is-a&; a-gacch-iss-a. • The causative prompts something to happen and is formed by adding either the suffix: -aya-

or -e- to the root or alternatively inserts: -paya- or –pe-: gameti.

3. The moods:

• The indicative mood expresses an action, describes an occasion or occurrence. The personal primary endings are added to the stem of the present tense.

•

The optative expresses mainly probability and advice, wishes and ideas. It is formed byadding -eyya- to the verbal base before personal endings. When translated: - if, might, would,etc. - may be used to convey the sense of it.


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• The imperative mood expresses commands, benediction or wishes. It is mainly used in the

active voice with the following personal endings: -tu; -hi; -ntu; -tha; for the 3rd. and 2nd.These are added to the stem. 46

4. Infinitive, gerund and participles:

• The infinitive can be used actively and passively and denotes purpose and intention. It gets

built by adding the suffix -tum- to the respective roots: gantu&: to go. Further especially withverbs of frequent occurrence the following suffixes are added as well: -itum; -tave; -tuye.

• The gerund describes the completion of an action: gantv!- having gone. It also expresses the perpetuation of activity and thus connects different activities. The suffix -tv!- is added to theroot of the verb or verbal base with or sometimes without the connecting vowel -i- to formthe gerund.

•

Present participles are formed by adding -nta- ; -nt " - or -m!na- ; -m!n!- to the verbal base47.They function as adjectives and agree in gender, number and case with the nouns theyqualify. They are declined like the respective nouns and may be translated with the help of:’while’…: gacchanta; gacchant : (while) going.

• Past participles can take an active meaning or a passive meaning. The active past participlesadd the suffixes: -vant- ; -vin- to the root. It can be translated as: vusitavant : one who haslived. The passive perfect participles are formed by adding –ta- ; -na- to the root, with orwithout the connecting vowel -i- and are translated like the English perfect past participles: gacchita; gata ; gamita: gone. Past perfect participles have a passive meaning when they areformed from transitive verbs, but from intransitive verbs they have an active meaning. Forexample:

gacchati, ti'' hati are intransitive verbs. Therefore: puriso gato: - the man has gone;vanit ! ' hit !: - the woman has stood.

pacati, dad !ti, are transitive verbs.odano pacito: - the rice is cooked (passive meaning)metta& data: - metta is given (passive meaning)

• Future passive participles or potential future participles express something that has to be doneor ideally should be done. The suffixes -tabba- / -an" ya- / -ya get added to the verbal root,with or without the connecting vowel -i-. Thus the root: -kar- to do; can develop thefollowing forms (should be done): -kar–tabba: k !tabba/kattabba; -kar–aniya: kara#iya; -kar–ya: kicca. Future passive participles carry more optative or imperative meaning and are

declined along with the respective nouns: kamma& kattabba&: the work should be performed.

46 The personal forms in all the tenses force stems and roots at times to undergo certain changes according to thesandhi rules by assimilation, adaption, elision …….47 The suffix –nta- is used in the active voice, -m!na- in the reflective voice, but both are mainly translated in thesame way.


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5. The three voices

•

The active voice is the form that is of common occurrence. The word for the active voice inP!li is: - parassapada – lit: word expressing action on others – and thus describes the result orconsequence of an action that is produced on others by this very action. It is also called:kattuk !raka.

• The reflective or middle voice is rarely used and mostly found in poetry. The word for the

middle or reflective voice in P!li is: -attanopada – lit: word expressing action on oneself -and thus describes the result or consequence of an action that is produced on the agenthimself by this very action. It is also called: -kammak !raka-48. The primary endings of thereflexive voice are: -te; -se; -e; -nte; -vhe; -mhe; the secondary endings are: -tha; -tho; -m/a&; -re/ra&; -vho; -mhase. Because of its rare occurrence the respective conjugations areneglected here.

•

The passive voice adds the suffix: -ya- to transitive verbs so they can adopt passive meaning: gacch" yati, agamyati: to be gone to; d " yati: to be given. Both personal endings, those of theactive voice, but also those of the passive voice can be found.

In general the terminations of the verbs remain the same throughout the different groups and in the process of reading the suttas one gets easily accustomed to these tenses. For the purpose of thecollection as presented in ‘Exploring the Path’ while reading suttas and complete sentences it becomes easy to understand those usages without needing to know all the grammatical details. Thesubsequent tables should suffice for the purpose of this introduction:

6.

Table survey: present indicative, imperative, optative and future:

indi-

cative

imper-

ative

optative future

3rd

sing. s!\so -ti gacchati -tu gacchatu -eyya gaccheyya -issati gacchissati

2nd

sing. tva$ -si gacchasi -hi gacchahi -eyy! si gaccheyy! si -issasi gacchissasi

1st

sing. aha$ -mi gacch!mi -mi gacch!mi -eyya& gaccheyya$ -iss!mi gacchiss!mi

3rd

pl. te -nti gacchanti -ntu gacchantu -eyyu& gaccheyyu& -issanti gacchissanti

2nd pl. tumhe -tha gacchatha -tha gacchatha -eyy!tha gaccheyy!tha -issatha gacchissatha

1st

pl. maya$ -ma gacch!ma -ma gacch!ma -eyy!ma gaccheyy!ma -iss!ma gacchiss!ma

!" kattuk !raka : the relation to the action as agent, being an agent; kammak !raka: the relation to the action as patient, being an patient


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7. Table survey: different forms of aorist:

sec.end.

form root –aorist

form a –aorist

form s-aorist

form is-aorist

3rd

sing. s!\so -t ag ! /

agamiagama agam! si gacchi /

agami

2nd

sing. tva$ -s ag ! /

agam! agama agam! si gacchi /

agami

1st

sing. aha$ -a& a-

gam

ag ! /

agam!

a-

gam-a-m

agama& agam!-

s-i&

agam! si& agam-

is-m / gacch-is-m

gacchi& /

agami&

3rd

pl. te -u / u& agu& /agami& su

agamu& agama& su gacchisu& /agamisu&

2nd

pl. tumhe -tha aguttha agamatha agamattha gacchiittha /agamittha

1st

pl. maya$ -ma agumha agam!ma agamamha gacchimha /

agamimha

8. Table survey: gerund, present participle, past participle:

form gerund translat. form present

participle

translat. form future

passive part.

translat. form past

participle

transla

-tv! gantv! having gone -nta gacchanta going -tabba gantabba to be gone -ta gata gone datv! having given dadanta giving d !tabba t.b. given datta given pacitv! having cooked pacanta cooking bhuñjitabba t.b.enjoyed -ita pacita cooked

-ya ! gamma having come -m!na gaccham!na going -aniya gaman" ya to be gone gacchita gone!d ! ya having given pacam!na cooking dassaniya to be seen -na dinna given!ruyha having climbed bhuñjam!na eating -ya bhuñjiya t.b.enjoyed nisinna seated


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9. Further examples of past participles:

!masati to rub !masita, !ma'' ha rubbed!rabhati to start !raddha started! siñcati to sprinkle ! sitta sprinkled( asati to bite da'' ha bittenbhavati to become bhuta becomebhuñjati to enjoy bhuñjita, bhutta enjoyedcavati to fall away cuta fell awaydad !ti to give dinna givendhovati to wash dhovita, dhota washed ga#h!ti to seize gahita seized, heldhanati to kill hata killedharati to take away ha' a took away j!n!ti to know ñ!ta knownkaroti to do kata donekasati to plough kasita, ka'' ha ploughedkhipati to throw khitta thrownki#!ti to buy k " ta boughtkujjhati to be angry kuddha was angry,labhati to gain laddha, labhita gainedmin!ti to measures mita measuredmuñcati to deliver, emit mutta deliverednikkhamati to leave nikkhanta gone out, left p! pu#!ti to reach patta reached, attained pacati to cook p!cita, pakka cooked pajahati to abandon pah" na abandoned pas" dati to become bright pasanna brightened pavisati to enter pavi'' ha entered

phusati to touch phu'' a touched pivati to drink p" ta drunk pucchati to ask pucchita, pu'' ha asked su#!ti to hear suta heardti'' hati to stand ' hita stoodvapati to share vutta sharedvasati to live vuttha livedvivarati to uncover viva' a uncovered, opened


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10. Table survey: special conjugation: atthi – to be

indicative aorist optative imperative future

3

rd

sing. s!\so atthi ! si assa, siy! atthu

2nd

sing. tva$ asi ! si assa, siy! !hi see: bhavati 1

stsing. aha$ asmi, amhi ! si* assa& , siya& asmi, amhi

3rd

pl. te santi ! su& , ! si& su assu, siyu& santu2

ndpl. tumhe attha ! sittha assatha attha

1st

pl. maya$ asma, amha ! simha, ! simh! ass!ma asma, amha

11. Table survey: special conjugation: bhavati – to be, to exist, to become


3rd

sing. s!\so bhavati ah% , ahu, (bhavi) bhaveyya, bhave bhavatu bhavissati 2

ndsing. tva$ bhavasi ah% , ahu bhaveyy! si bhava, bhav!hi bhavissasi

1st

sing. aha$ bhav!mi ahu& bhaveyya$ bhaviss!mi

3rd pl. te bhavanti ahu& bhaveyyu& bhavantu bhavissanti2

ndpl. tumhe bhavatha bhavetha bhavatha, bhav!tha bhavissatha

1st

pl. maya$ bhav!ma ahumha bhaveyy!ma,

bhavema

bhaviss!ma

12. Table survey: special conjugation: hoti to be, to exist, to become (root: -bhu reduced to: -hu):


3rd

sing. s!\so hoti ahosi, ah% huveyya hotu hohiti, hessati, hossati2

ndsing. tva$ hosi ahosi huveyy! si hohi hessasi, hohisi

1st

sing. aha$ homi ahosi& , ahu& huveyya& homi hoh!mi, hess!mi, hessa& 3

rdpl. te honti ahesu& huveyyu& hontu hessanti, hohinti

2nd

pl. tumhe hotha ahosittha huveyy!tha hotha hessatha, hohitha1

stpl.

maya$ homa ahesu&ha huveyy!ma homa hess!ma, hoh!ma

13. Table survey: gerund, present participle, past participle, future passive participle, infinitive ofatthi and bhavati/hoti:

verbs gerund transl. pres. p. transl. past p. transl. fut. pass.p. transl. infinitive transl.

atthi see: bhavati and hoti

santa, sam!na

being see: bhavati

bhavati bhavitv! having become

bhava& ,

bhavanta

becoming bh%ta become bhavitabbabhabba

should be,could be

bhavitu& to become,to exist, to be

hoti hutv! ,

hutv!na

having

been

honta, hont " being see:

bhavati

hotabba,

bhuyya

should be,

could be

hotu& to become,

to exist, to be


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8. Adjectives and adverbs

Adjectives are declined according to the nouns they define. They can be grouped according to theirsuffixes which are similar to the nouns: -a; -i; -u; -in; -ant; -mant; -vant ; taking all the three gendersas the respective nouns do.Adverbs relate to the respective verbs and adjust their meaning and application in the context of thesentence. They belong to the group of indeclinables and may be pure adverbs or derivative adverbs.

1. Declination of adjectives

Although a few of the declination-endings of nouns are of rare occurrence, in general adjectives are

declined in the same way as the nouns they describe. So the same adjective will be declined in thesame case declinations with the respective endings in all the three genders and both numbers.For general outline one may refer to the declensons of nouns, the following example of suffix-a:b!la – strong - may suffice for the purpose of this introduction:

Case a strong man a young girl a strong body Nominative b!lo puriso b!l ! kaññ! b!la& rupa& Accusative b!la& purisa& b!la& kañña& b!la& rupa& Instrumental b!lena purisena b!l ! ya kaññ! ya b!lena rupena Dative b!lassa purisassa b!l ! ya kaññ! ya b!lassa rupassa Ablative b!lasm! purisasm! b!l ! ya kaññ! ya b!lamh! rupamh!

Genitive b!lassa purisassa b!l ! ya kaññ! ya b!lassa rupassa Locative b!lasmi& purisami& b!laya& kaññ! ya& b!lasmi& rupasmi&

In addition to the endings: -a; -i; -u; -in; -ant; -mant; -vant ;• the following suffixes are of common occurrence: -ka ( garuka: – heavy); -ika (k ! yika: –

physical); -aka ( ji##aka: – old – derived from p.p. ji##a); are;• Possession express the suffixes: -v! ( gu#av!: - virtous, with qualities) -v" (medh!v" : - wise,

with wisdom).

Adjectives denote comparisions by adding:• The comparative suffixes -tara: piyatara: - more dear; s" lanantara: - more established in

morality; p! patara: - more evil.• The superlative uses the suffixes: – tama: uttama: - the highest; piyatama: - dearest;

s" lanantama: - most established in morality.

Alternatively the suffixes: -iya; -iyya; -issika; are used for:• the comparative: p! piya: - more evil; khippiya: - quicker; sukhiya: - happier• the superlative alternatively is expressed with the suffixes: – i'' ha or – tama: p! pi'' ha: - most

evil; khippissika: - quickest; je'' ha: - the oldest; se'' ha: - the best.


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2. Declination of adverbs

Adverbs derived from adjectives, pronouns or nouns are called derivative adverbs.Those adverbs that can not be derived and don’t add any case endings are called pure adverbs.

Derivations occur from adjectives, pronouns or nouns:• When derived from adjectives they get formed by adding the niggah" ta- ending a& to the

adjective such as: dukkha – dukkha&: - painful; d " gha – d " gha&: - long, far; s" gha – s" gha&: -fast; p! pa – p! pa&: - evil; sukha – sukha&: - happily; cira – cira&: - for a long time;

• Adverbs derived from pronouns add specific adverbial suffixes to the stem, such as:-tra: tatra: - there; aññatra: - elsewhere; -tha: sabbhatha: - everywhere; ubhayattha: - in both places; -to: tato: - thence, from there; yato: - hence, from where;-d !: tad !: - then; yad !: - when;-dhi: sabadhi: - everywhere;-rahi: carahi – now, then, therefore; tarahi: - then, at that time;

• Nouns (and some adjectives as well) change into adverbs by adding the specific case endings:-so: d " ghaso: - in length; divaso: - by day; bahuso: - often, yoniso: -thoroughly, orderly;-to: dakkhi#ato: - southern; pi'' hito - from the back; sabbato – everywhere;-dh!: ekadh!: - one by one;-cirassa: - of far; kissa: - why?;-bahire: - outside; d %re: - far; santike: - near by

Pure adverbs may ideally be learned separately.•

Some of common occurrences are: atho: - and, then; anto: - before; adho: - below; id !ni: -now; kho: - then; vata: - truly, indeed; tiro: - across, beyond; bahi: - outside; paro: - beyond,further; pure: - formerly; hi: - certainly.

Some grammarians49 divide adverbs in groups according to their meaning instead of their derivation,such as:

• adverbs of time: yada: - when; ajja: - today; ratto: - by night;• adverbs of place: tatra: - there; adho: - below; idha: - here; tira&: - across• adverbs of manner: sukha&: - happily; eva&: - thus; tu#h" : - silently• adverbs of quantity, degree and extent: y!va: - how much; mattaso: - moderately; antamaso: -

even;•

adverbs of reason or cause: kasm!: - why; yath!: - thus; tene: - because;• adverbial particles such as: api: - indeed; iti: - thus; n!ma: - indeed; kho: - then

Adverbs can denote comparisons by adding the comparative suffix – tara: - p! patara( & ): - moreevil. The superlative does not occur.

49 Vito Perniola (P!li Grammar, PTS) presents a detailed survey about common adverbs grouped in this order.


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9. Pronouns (n! ma )

In P!li the pronouns present their individual declension. Especially the declension of the personal pronouns can hardly be compared with any of the declensions of the nouns, but the declension ofdemonstrative pronoun, relative pronoun and interrogative pronoun follow a similar pattern.

The demonstrative pronouns are: so/sa; eso/eta; and or ena/na; all follow the same declension.

aya& / ida& refer to a person or thing in close vincity, asu/adu& point to a person or thing furtheraway, they follow the declensions in the same manner than those listed below.

P!li further uses posessive pronouns: m!d " ya; t !d " ya, but they are of rare occurrence and are

substituted by the genitive of the personal pronoun for the 1 st and 2nd Person; the 3rd person uses thegenitive of the demonstrative pronoun.

The indefinite pronouns ci/cid and api/pi are often used and are listed below.

1. Personal Pronoun: 1st. person: aha& I / maya& , amhe we

Singular Plural

Nom.

Acc.

Ins.Dat.

Abl.

Gen.

Loc.

aha&

ma& , mama&

may! , memama, mayha& may!

mama, mayha&

mayi

maya& , amheamhe, amh!ka& , no

amhehi, noamha& , amh!ka& , noamhehiamha& , amh!ka& , noamhesu

2. 2nd. Person : tva& , tuva& you / tumhe you

Singular Plural

Nom.

Acc.Ins.

Dat.

Abl.

Gen.

Loc.

tva& , tuva&

ta& , tava& , tuva& tvay! , tay! , tetava, tuyha& , te tvay! , tay! tava, tuyha& , tetvayi, tayi

tumhe

tumhe, tumh!ka& , votumhehi, votumha& , tumh!ka& , votumhehi, votumha& , tumh!ka& , votumhesu


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The following tables show the declensions for the 3 rd. person in the respective order of demonstrative pronoun, relative pronoun and interrogative pronoun, in singular and plural number:

3. Masculine, 3rd. person, singular: so he

case demonstrative

pronoun

relative

pronoun

interrogative

pronoun

he, that he, who who? Nominative so yo ko Accusative ta& ya& ka& Instrumental tena yena kena Dative tassa yassa kassa, kissa Ablative tamh! , tasm! yamh! , yasm! kasm! , kism! Genitive tassa yassa kassa, kissa Locative tamhi, tasmi& yamhi, yasmi& kamhi, kasmi& , kimhi,

kismi&

4. Neuter, 3rd. person, singular: ya& it, that

case demonstrative

pronoun

relative

pronoun

interrogative

pronoun

it, that that, which which? Nominative so ya& ki& Accusative ta& ya& ki& Instrumental tena yena kena Dative tassa yassa kassa, kissa Ablative tamh! , tasm! yamh! , yasm! kasm! , kism! Genitive tassa yassa kassa, kissa Locative tamhi, tasmi& yamhi, yasmi& kamhi, kasmi& , kimhi,

kismi&


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5. Feminine, 3rd. person, singular: y! she, who

case demonstrative

pronoun

relative

pronoun

interrogative

pronoun

she, that she who who? Nominative s! y! k ! Accusative ta& ya& ka& Instrumental t ! ya y! ya k ! ya Dative tassa, t ! ya yassa, y! ya kass! , k ! ya Ablative t ! ya y! ya k ! ya Genitive tassa, t ! ya yassa, y! ya kass! , k ! ya Locative tamhi, tasmi& yassa& , y! ya& kassa& , k ! ya&

6.

Masculine, 3rd. person, plural: ye they

case demonstrative

pronoun

relative

pronoun

interrogative

pronoun

they, those they, who who? Nominative te ye ke Accusative te ye ke Instrumental tehi yehi kehi Dative tesa& , tes!na& yesa& , yes!na& kesa& , kes!na& Ablative tehi yehi kehi Genitive

tesa& , tes!na& yesa& , yes!na& kesa& , kes!na& Locative tesu yesu kesu

7. Neuter, 3rd. person, plural: y!ni, ye those

case demonstrative

pronoun

relative

pronoun

interrogative

pronoun

they, those they, who who? Nominative t !ni, te y!ni, ye k !ni, ke Accusative t !ni, te y!ni, ye k !ni, ke

Instrumental tehi yehi kehi Dative tesa& , tes!na& yesa& , yes!na& kesa& , kes!na& Ablative tehi yehi kehi Genitive tesa& , tes!na& yesa& , yes!na& kesa& , kes!na& Locative tesu yesu kesu


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8. Feminine, 3rd. person, plural: t ! , t ! yo: they, those

case demonstrative

pronoun

relative

pronoun

interrogative

pronoun

those those who? Nominative t ! , t ! yo y! , y! yo k ! , k ! yo Accusative t ! , t ! yo y! , y! yo k ! , k ! yo Instrumental t !hi y!hi k !hi Dative t ! sa& , t ! s!na& y! sa& , y! s!na& k ! sa& , k ! s!na& Ablative t !hi y!hi k !hi Genitive t ! sa& , t ! s!na& y! sa& , y! s!na& k ! sa& , k ! s!na& Locative t ! su y! su k ! su

9. The indefinite particle ci:

The indefinite particles ci/cid (-d- inserted before vocals) or api/pi are appended to and declined asthe case forms of the interrogative pronoun, expressing ideas such as anyone, whichever, whoever,e.g.

Examples are:

Masc. koci puriso - some man;kenaci purisena - by some man;kassaci purissa –of some man; etc.

Neut. kiñci phala& - some fruit;kenaci phalena - by some fruit;kassaci phalassa –of some fruit; etc.

Fem. k !ci itthi - some woman;k ! yaci itthiy! - by some woman;kass!ci itthiy! –of some woman; etc.


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10. Indeclinables (nip! ta)

Indeclinables are words, which carry their own meaning and are placed either before or behind thenoun they refer to. They could be compared to adverbs, prepositions or conjunctions in otherlanguages, often they are used adverbial. They are of frequent occurrence therefore a goodknowledge of these may be useful:

!ma yes adho below adhun! now, just now aho ah! ajja today ajjhatta& internally ala& enough anantara& immediately following aññath! otherwise aññatra except for, apart from antar ! within, between anuloma& in natural order anup!d ! without attachment anupubbena in due course, in succession apara& further, afterwards api also

api ca and also, nevertheless ativela& too long ativiya very much avid %re near, not far ayoniso erratically, unmethodically bh%tapubba& formerly, once upon a time bhiyyo more ca and ce if cira& for a long time d !ni now

d " gha& long d %r ! from far away d %rato in the distance div! by day ekantikena finally ekato on one side etarahi now, at present ett !vat ! to that extent


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ettha here, in this case eva only, just eva& thus, so, yes evameva just so, likewise ha indeed, truly hi for, because, though idha here, in this connection iha here, in this case ittha& in this way, thus iva like kacci perhaps kad ! when kad ! ci at any time kasm! why? wherefore?

katha& how kattha where khalu indeed khippa& quickly kho indeed ki& why kuhi& where to? kuto whence? m! not majjhe in the middle micch! wrongly

n!ma by name, indeed n!n! variously na not na cirasseva soon no not (emphatic) !ra& thither, beyond a' iloma& in reverse order acch! afterwards ana but, however, now ara& after arimukha& in front

e and so on, etc. i alsoi'' hito behind ubbe before una again unappuna& again and again urato in front of ure before, in advance


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s!dhu well s! ya& in the evening sabbad ! always sabbath! in all ways sabbato all around sace if sad ! always saddhi& with saha along with sakideva once sama& equally, like samant ! on all sides santike near saya& oneself, self

seyyath! as, just like seyyathida& as follows seyyo better t !va so much, so long tad ! then tadagge since then taggha certainly tasm! therefore tath! thus tato thence, then tatra there, in this connection

tattha there, in that connection tayida& with reference to this t

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