A Beginner (Non-Linguist) Guide to Learning Pali

• 1: 0: Introduction
• 2: 1: The Pali Language Basics
• 3: 2: `kāraka` (word ending) meanings
• 3.1: 2.1: apādāna (Ablative)
• 4: 3: Awakening
• 5: A: Symbols and Glossary of Pali technical terms
• 6: B: The Pali Alphabet
• 7: C: Pali Grammar Specification
• 8: D: `dhātu` (roots)
• 9: E: `sandhi` Rules
• 10: F: `upasagga ` meanings
• 11: G: `vibhatti` Rules
• 12: H: `taddhita` (affixes)
• 13: I: `ākhyāta` (verb endings)
• 14: J: `kibbidhāna` (`kita` affixes)
• 15: K: `uṇādi` (`kita` affixes)
• 16: L: `sabbanāma` (Pronouns)
• 17: M: Overview of Kaccāyana

1 - 0: Introduction

I am a relative beginner in learning Pali. I started learning the language in earnest on 30 June 2023. This is my conceited attempt at thinking I can author my own Pali textbook, based on what I have learnt so far.

Motivation

Why write my own book when there are so many excellent textbooks already on Pali?

The first, and best answer, is that I don’t learn until I am able to explain it to someone else, even if that someone else is an imaginary reader. There is nothing more conducive to solidifying knowledge than to have to distill it and explain it in language a “golden retriever can understand” (to paraphrase a line from the film Margin Call).

Secondly, I find other Pali textbooks, particularly the ones written by English (or European) linguists confusing and somewhat frustrating. They use highly technical linguistic terms, which I don’t understand well. Their grammatical explanations can often be over complicated and obtuse. I am not saying every book is like this, there are many examples of books that appear to be clearly written. Perhaps the one who is obtuse is me.

I find I learn a language best “natively”, ie. by its own terms and gradually “bootstrapping” myself until I achieve a minimum viable level of competency to start reading text. As children, this is how we learn a language, by osmosis from hearing others, until we are confident enough to form our own words. We then improve by reading, which broadens our knowledge and proficiency further.

There are no native speakers of Pali, but fortunately there are books describing the Pali language written by ancient Pali speakers. The earliest, and probably most well known is the Kaccāyana Pali Vyākaraṇam. This was probably written in the 5th-6th century CE in India, and the author has been ascribed to the Arahat Mahākaccāyana (but this is disputed).

There are, of course, other Classical Pali grammars, including those written by Moggalāna (circa 11-12 AD), and Saddanīti by Aggavaṃsa (circa 1157 AD). Rūpasiddhi (circa 13 AD) updated and reorganised the content of Kaccayana. However, to avoid confusion from multiple sources, I have decided to primarily derive my textbook from Kaccāyana. Also, there is an excellent translation of Kaccāyana into English (which I am heavily reliant on) by A. Thitzana which can be downloaded for free from Kaccāyana Pāli Grammar Volumes 1 - 2.

In authoring this textbook, I have decided to avoid using linguistic technical terms as much as possible (such as conjugation, declension, nominative, etc.) but use “ordinary” English words to describe elements of the Pali language. I will use Pali terminology to describe aspects of the Pali language as much as I can, and only resort to English to describe what they mean.

So you will find my textbook do not use the same terms as you will find in other Pali textbooks and grammar books. I apologise in advance if this leads to confusion and frustration. I will attempt to point out the equivalent terms used in other textbooks whenever possible, to help readers in drawing comparisons if they wish.

Again, I do so because I feel strongly that it is best to learn Pali on it’s own terms, and not impose an external linguistic framework on it. Such frameworks may be useful to linguists, but they tend to confuse beginners like me.

Goal and Structure

The aim of this textbook is to get the reader to a level where they can tackle the texts in the Tipiṭaka (the Three Baskets of the Buddhist canon) as quickly as possible. Less emphasis is placed on the ability to listen, speak or write.

Most Pali textbooks gently introduce the various features of the language over a number of chapters, so significant progress needs to be made before a reader is able to understand moderately complex sentences, let alone entire suttas from the Tipiṭaka. For example, A.K. Warder’s “Introduction to Pali” covers the basics of Pali grammar over 16 lessons. Assuming a reader will cover 1-2 lessons per week, this means a reader is not ready to read the Tipiṭaka until 2-4 months later.

By contrast, this textbook gives an overview of all the essential features of the Pali language in the first chapter, so the reader in theory should have the key knowledge to read the Tipiṭaka in days, or weeks, rather than months, or years.

I am speaking from experience. I started studying Pali in late June, and by mid July I was already starting to read my first sutta.

How is this achieved? All the complex production rules with regards to sandhi and word endings are moved to appendices. The goal is to enable the reader to be able to read Pali, not necessarily to be able to write or speak it. So the reader can study the production rules based on their own needs and priority rather than being forced to apply them from the beginning.

Also, unlike other textbooks, this textbook does not focus on teaching vocabulary, nor does it require the reader to memorise long lists of words. Vocabulary is introduced only when necessary, and just before it is required. The reader is encouraged to develop their own vocabulary based on the material they choose to read, and therefore they only need to learn the words that are important to them.

After the initial overview of the Pali language, the textbook alternates from diving deeper into aspects of the Pali language, to exercises involving reading, understanding and translating extracts from the Tipiṭaka. The reader is encouraged not to necessarily follow the textbook linearly but tackle chapters in their own order of preference, or to embark on their own reading journey and read whatever parts of the Tipiṭaka they wish to, using the textbook merely as a reference and light guidance.

Prerequisites

This textbook does not require prior familiarity with either the Pali language or the Buddhist Pali canon. It does, however, require the reader to have a strong interest in both and willing to focus their efforts in learning.

Knowledge of multiple languages (including computer languages) and prior experience in learning a foreign language can be advantageous, but not required.

This textbook takes advantage of modern technology. It is not written in paper but available as hyperlinked pages on a website. It also assumes the reader has access to and is familiar with modern tools such as the Digital Pali Dictionary or the online version of The Pali Text Society’s Pali-English Dictionary so the reader can easily look up any words they are encountering for the first time.

In particular, the Digital Pali Dictionary can look up words in inflected form and has advanced features like sandhi splitting and compound word deconstruction, which further reduces the need to learn how to do those.

Finally, the textbook also assumes the reader is familiar with electronic editions of the Tipiṭaka, including:

SuttaCentral

SuttaCentral contains early Buddhist texts, known as the Tipiṭaka or “Three Baskets”. This is a large collection of teachings attributed to the Buddha or his earliest disciples, who were teaching in India around 2500 years ago. They are regarded as sacred canon in all schools of Buddhism.

Ancient Buddhist Texts

Materials from the early and medieval Buddhist tradition covering texts in Pāli and Sanskrit; line by line (interlinear) texts and translations; translations in English only; studies of grammar, prosody and compilation; maps, reference works and audio files.

Pali Tipitaka

This web site is based on the Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana CD published by the Vipassana Research Institute. Based at Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri, near Mumbai, India, the Vipassana Research Institute also publishes literature & disseminates information related to Vipassana Meditation Technique as taught by S.N.Goenka in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin.

Tipitaka.app

Tipitaka.app is a free software built and distributed as a Dhamma donation. It will always be free and a property of the Buddhist World.

Digital Pali Reader

The Digital Pali Reader provides a database of the Tipiṭaka in romanised script with a search facility and the inbuilt dictionaries allow for instant lookup of any word

Tipiṭaka Pāḷi Projector

TPP is a software program to help one navigate the vast amounts of Pāḷi texts. It includes, 21 English Ebooks that can be displayed side by side with the Pāḷi texts. The Dictionaries and Search functions are where TPP separates itself from the other Pāḷi readers. It is very fast and totally off-line. It works on Windows as an installable Exe or MacOS DMG file too. The project can also run on any operating system that supports FireFox Web Browser. This application was created at Pa-Auk Forest Monastery in Maymyo. The FireFox version supports Sinhala, Myanmar, Thai and Devanagiri Scripts.

Access to Insight

Access to Insight is an HTML website dedicated to providing accurate, reliable, and useful information concerning the practice and study of Theravada Buddhism, as it has been handed down to us through both the written word of the Pali canon and the living example of the Sangha.

Sri Lanka Tripitaka Project

The Sri Lanka Tripitaka Project is a public domain electronic version of the Pali Canon.

So, without further ado, let’s begin!

2 - 1: The Pali Language Basics

Pali, like most other Indo-Aryan languages, is an oral language spoken as vākya (sentences) made up of vacana (words) which are a combination of akkhara (“sounds”, or “letters from an “alphabet”). {1}

There are debates about the origin of Pali, whether it was in fact a real language actually spoken by people, as opposed to an “invented” language specifically for the purposes of recording Buddhist doctrine. The term “Pali” actually just means “text”, and today “Pali” is used primarily for Buddhist literature.

Pali Alphabet and pronunciation {2}-{9}

The Buddha may have spoken a language similar to Pali, and when he died his sayings were collected and systematised so they can be transmitted orally generation to generation using memorisation techniques such as chanting. The Pali canon was not written down until hundreds of years after the Buddha has passed away.

As such, there is no “official” Pali alphabet or writing. Pali can be transcribed fairly faithfully in a number of alphabets, including Roman letters (with the addition of a few diacritical marks or accented characters similar to other European languages).

For this textbook, I will use Roman letters as the basis for the Pali alphabet since I am used to that.

Of course, no one knows for sure how Pali words would have been pronounced, and how Pali sentences would have been spoken, particularly with regards to tonality. Modern day Pali pronunciation is based on how the Buddhist Pali canon is chanted in various countries including Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.

Pali sentence structure

A Pali sentence (vākya) or Pali text (pali) is generally composed of multiple words (pada or vacana). Since Pali was an oral language, punctuation mark and upper/lower case conventions are typically not used, although modern editors have sometimes added these to aid reading.

Words also do not need to be separated by spaces, although modern Pali editions of text do add spaces, to aid reading. Later on, we will find out Pali has compound words, which consist of multiple words joined together to create a composite word.

To be able to distinguish words in a sentence, Pali relies heavily on paccaya (affixes to roots or word stems) to create distinctive word endings. Fluent Pali listeners will no doubt listen to the sound of these endings to distinguish the words. These endings also give additional meaning to the words and indicate how the words are used in a sentence.

Because of this, the word order in a Pali sentence is less important than many other languages, however there are conventions for how to arrange words in a typical sentence. Speakers can unconventionally reorder words, typically to give emphasis to certain words or to augment or add nuance to a sentence’s emotional meaning.

This is similar to our reaction when we hear “Yoda” speak in the “Star Wars” series of films. We appreciate who Yoda is as a personality, and we pay more attention to his words simply because of the different order.

dhātu (roots)

Fundamentally, all words in Pali are said to be derived from one or more dhātu (roots). These roots are similar to Sanskrit roots. Pali can be regarded as a simplified version of Sanskrit, however some of the roots may have different meanings, or nuances. There are some that say Sanskrit was a “sacred” language reserved for priests and members of the holy caste, whereas Pali, along with many other Indian languages, was spoken by the common people. The Buddha may have spoken in Pali because he wanted to convey his teachings to ordinary people, not just privileged members of a particular caste.

dhātu can have 1-3 syllables:

A series of transformations convert a root into a word by adding paccaya (affixes). Words can also be formed by combining a root with one or more upasagga (prefixes). Multiple upasagga and different forms of paccaya can be applied to a root before it becomes a word, thus creating multi-syllabic words. The result is a word that can be used in a sentence.

Altogether there are around 1700 roots in Pali. However, many many words can be made from them by attaching upasagga (prefixes) and various affixes (paccaya). In theory, fresh words can be formed by new combinations of roots with different prefixes so the adventurous Pali student can attempt to create Pali words for “modern” terms such as “computer” or “phone”.

It is not really necessary to memorise the 1700 roots, although it will be very useful if the reader chooses to do so. Knowing all the roots and the various prefixes and affixes will allow the reader to sometimes (not always) “guess” the meaning of a word not previously encountered, and will also help when applying the various transformation rules (see below).

sandhi (word transformations)

As Pali is a spoken language, when words are combined to form a sentence, changes may occur between words (or sometimes even within a word) to make the sentence “flow” or “sound” better.

In English, we often shorten words like “can not” to “can’t”, or “I will” to “I’ll”. This happens very frequently in Pali, especially when two vowels become adjacent to each other from two words next to each other, and there are complex rules governing how such transformations occur.

As a example {10} (don’t worry about the meaning of the words for now):

tatra + ayaṁ + ādi
= tatra + aā yaṁm + ādi
= tatrā’ya’mādi
= tatrāyamādi

As you can see, when there are two adjacent vowels when we join two or more words together, sandhi typically involves deleting one of the vowels, and then either retaining, lengthening or changing the remaining vowel. Sometimes the consonant next to the vowel may also be changed.

The overall effect is to make the words easier to say as a group. Although tatrāyamādi may seem like a single word because of sandhi, a listener should still regard them as separate words when trying to understand a sentence. However, some sandhi combinations of common words are so often encountered they have acquired distinctive meaning as combined words.

Another example {11}

tatra + abhiratiṁ + iccheyya
= tatra + aā bhiratiṁm + iccheyya
= tatrā’bhirati’miccheyya
= tatrābhiratimiccheyya
“… should prefer enjoying at that …”

For the time being, we are not going to go into detail on these rules but be aware that words may change in a sentence. Eventually, as you read more and more sentences in Pali, these changes will become easier to recognise.

nāmā (nouns) {52}

nāmā are the most common type of words in Pali, and roughly (but not exactly) correspond to the term “noun” in English. nāmā also means “name”, so these words represent things that we can “name” - including people, places, things, numbers, feelings and many other objects or concepts.

Example {53}

Here is a simple sentence, consisting of 3 nāma:

eso no satthā

which translates as:

that person/being / our / teacher
That person [is] our teacher.

Instead of satthā other examples may be:

• brahmā (God)
• attā (self)
• sakhā (friend)
• rājā (King)

liṅga (gender) {53}

nāma can be classified into 3 different types or liṅga. The word liṅga actually means “gender”, and traditionally each nāma is assigned a gender. The liṅga represents an “intrinsic property” of the nāma.

The notion of a Pali gender is similar to (but not quite the same as) genders in some European languages. However, there are differences that it’s best to regard liṅga as a classification scheme or grammatical construct rather than what we may think of as “gender”. I like to think of it this way:

• pulliṅga - the “major” or “default” type. Most nouns fall into this category. Generally associated with masculinity or masculine persons (but not always)
• napuṁsakaliṅga - the “special” type. Tend to be used for nouns that don’t quite fit with the notions of masculinity or feminity, or represent abstract concepts.
• itthiliṅga - the “minor” type, comparatively rare with respect to the other two types. Generally associated with feminity or feminine persons.

Note that for the remainder of this book, we may refer to the above liṅga by the following symbols for brevity:

• 🚹 = pulliṅga
• 🚻 = napuṁsakaliṅga
• 🚺 = itthiliṅga

Ancient India was a patriarchal society, and men were regarded as the “major” component of society, doing activities considered important, hence the tendency is to associate important words to pulliṅga.

Number

Like in English, Pali words are slightly different depending on whether they are used to refer to one thing vs many things.

• ⨀ = ekavacana (singular)
• ⨂ = bahuvacana (plural)

There used to be also a “dual” form but that is now largely obsolete and encountered in very rare instances. Examples include:

• to idh’āgato (these two having come)
• ubho (both)
• mātāpitu (father and mother)

vibhatti (case endings) {54}

Unlike English, words need to be “transformed” before they are used in a sentence. This is done by adding endings or “suffixes” to the word (vibhatti).

Altogether there are seven types of vibhatti, and they are conveniently numbered 1 to 7 {55}:

You may note the 4th and 6th case endings are the same, which means in practice we can only tell which case is being used by context (more later). Notice also the plural endings for some of the cases are the same. Again, which case is being used can only be determined by context.

Let’s start with an example. Suppose we have the word purisa (“man”, in the masculine gender or 🚹) and we want to use it in a sentence in singular form, and we wish to transform it using the 1st case ending (paṭhamāvibhatti). If we look up the above table, we should add the si ending (using rule of {55}):

purisa + si → puriso

Wait, what happened? Why does the transformation not result in purisasi?

This is where additional rules comes into play. By rule of {83}, any word ending in a will be transformed into the 1st case by deleting the a and by rule of {104} replacing the si with o. Kaccāyana has a whole chapter of such rules.

So the transformation becomes:

purisa + si
→ purisa + si {83}
→ puris + si(o) {104}
→ puriso

The plural form undergoes a similar transformation:

purisa + yo
→ purisa + si {83}
→ puris + yo(ā) {107}
→ purisā

This does make things interesting, because the transformation result for every word then depends on:

• kāra’nta (word ending)
• liṅga (gender)
• ekavacana (singular) vs. bahuvacana (plural)
• vibhatti (desired case ending)

Here is a table of purisa transformed in all the 7 cases and singular vs plural.

You will note that in some of the cases, there are multiple ways the word can be transformed. For example, singular purisa can be transformed in the 3rd case into either purisehi or purisebhi. Both are acceptable. Which should we use for a given sentence? It depends on the “sound” - a native speaker would have chosen the version that sounded the most pleasing, depending on surrounding words.

The rules can be quite complicated, so let’s not worry about them for now. In practice, you can rely on looking up a relevant table to determine the appropriate transformation (TBD). If you are just reading Pali, then with practice you will learn to recognise the various endings which will become familiar to you.

A much more important question to answer at this point is …

Why do we need vibhatti endings and what is their purpose?

In English, when we see a sentence like

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.

We know that words “quick” and “brown” refers to the “fox”, which is the “subject” of the sentence, and “lazy” refers to the dog, which is the “object” of the sentence. The verb “jumped over” separates the subject and the object. Our brain automatically “collects” and “groups” the words, so we read the sentence as:

(The quick brown fox) jumped over (the lazy dog).

In English, as we can see, word order is important. If we mixed the words up, the sentence becomes far harder to read:

Over the quick lazy brown fox the dog jumped.

This sentence would imply quite a different meaning.

In Pali, all words with the same gender and the same case ending should be grouped together, and that’s how we distinguish which words belong to which entity. So the word order becomes far less important, we could mix the words up and the sentence would still have the same meaning!

In practice, the 1st case is usually reserved for the “most important” entity in a sentence, the 2nd for the “second most important” and so on.

So, in the above English sentence, were it to be translated the Pali, “the quick brown fox” would all be in the 1st case, and “the lazy dog” would all be in the 2nd case. If there are more entities, they would take the 3rd, 4th cases and so on.

In many sentences, the 1st case would usually refer to the entity or actor “performing” or “doing” the action (or, the “subject” of the sentence), and the 2nd case refers to the entity being impacted by the action (the “object”) of the sentence. Although this is a very common pattern, it is by no means rigid, and in theory any case ending can be used for any purpose. There are many examples in the Pali canon where the cases are used in unconventional ways. (TBD: need to include examples)

Vibhatti usage typical meanings {271}-{315}

The following meanings are usually associated with each case. However, as noted above, these are conventions only, and the author of a sentence may choose to adopt an unconventional approach of assigning words to cases (perhaps for emphatic or stylistic reasons).

⓪ ālapana (vocative) {57}

English Pali textbooks often refer to a “vocative” case, but this is not recognised as a separate case but a variant of the 1st case. The usual case ending si (for 1st case singular) is instead called ga but the transformation rules are similar to si.

Examples:

bhoti ayye! (Oh madam!)
bhoti kaññe! (Oh girl!)
bhoti kharādiye! (Oh the girl named Kharādiya!)

Contrast this to the normal 1st case form of ayyā (🚺⨀①):

sā ayyā (that lady)

In plural:

bhotiyo ayyāyo (Oh Madams!)

*️⃣ sabbanāma (pronouns)

sabba means “all” so sabbanāma are “common” or “generic” nouns that can apply in “all’ situations.

Examples of sabbanāma include the different vibhatti forms of ya (“who, what”), ta (“he/she/it”, “that”), eta (“this”), ima (“this”), amu (“that”), kiṁ (“what?”). One of the common usage of sabbanāma is as “pronouns”, where they can assume all genders to represent all things and persons of the different genders. But they can also function as adjectives, adverbs, honorifics and interrogatives.

Examples:

⏏️ nipāta (particles)

nipāta means “to fall. i.e. to be placed anywhere”, and refer to words that can be found placed in the beginning, in the middle or at the end of sentences and words, but not usually regarded as prefixes (see below).

Generally, the vibhatti endings of nipāta words are elided as these words are not related to other words in the sentence and therefore do not need to be matched with them. {221}

However, in some instances, the vibhatti endings may be retained, if the nipāta word play a role in the sentence meaning.

Examples

tvaṁ panā’vuso! tumhe panā’vuso!

you / (no specific meaning) / friend
you (plural) / (no specific meaning) / friend
How about you, my friend? And the rest of you (plural)?

padaso dhammaṁ vāceyya

by word / dhamma / teach (causative, optative)
(He) should teach and say Dhamma word by word.

vihāraṁ • sve upagaccheyya

to temple / tomorrow / should approach (optative)
(He) should come to the temple tomorrow.

The following is a brief descriptive list of some nipāta words. Some are plain nipātas without any affix, while some are with indeclinable affixes. Some may even have a sort of vibhatti-ending in them or may still have traces of vibhattis. Please note that the implied meaning of elided vibhatti still remains in effect for some nipāta words such as yathā, tathā and evaṁ etc.

nipāta as prefixes

However, there are quite a few nipāta that can be placed before some verbs or kita-affixed nouns and used in a way resembling prefixes.

🔼 upasagga (prefixes)

There are 20 upasagga words which are usually applied as prefixes to ākhyāta (verbs) and kita-affixed nouns (see below). Like nipāta, upasagga words also have their vibhatti endings elided, but in some cases where they are functioning as independent words (not attached to a verb or noun), they may retain their vibhatti endings.

There are three kinds of upasagga:

1. dhātva’tthā’nuvattaka - those that follow the meaning of the root, without affecting its original meaning.
2. dhātva’tthabādhaka - those that absolutely mean opposite of the root. These categorically change the original meaning of the root.
3. dhātva’tthavisesaka - those that enhance the original meaning of the root by adding more specific meaning and flavour to it.

Example:

parābhavo

🔼(parā) 🚹⨀①(bhava)
opposite / to be, being loss, ruin

Here are various words that can be formed from the word hara (“carrying”) together with various upasagga prefixes and the ṇa-suffix:

🆎 samāsa (compound nouns) {316}-{343}

Like German, Pali often combines many nouns to form a compound noun.

The following table summarises the major types of compound nouns, typical liṅga (gender) and examples:

The rules for constructing a samāsa can be complex:

rāja + putta (the King’s son)
→ rāja + sa + putta (⨀⑥)
→ rāja + sa + putta + si (⨀①)
→ rāja(ññ) + sa(o) + putta + si {135}
→ rāñño + putta + si(o) {83}
→ rāñño + putto
→ rāñño(ja) + putto(a) {317}
→ rājaputta {318}
→ rājaputta + si (⨀①)
→ rājaputta + si(o) {104}
→ rājaputta + o {83}
→ rājaputto

Fortunately, resources such as the Digital Pali Dictionary can deconstruct compound words into their individual words, which helps the beginner to understand such words encountered. So there is less of a need to learn the complex rules associated with them.

➡️ taddhita (affixes) {344}-{405}

Various affixes can be added to a noun to create derived nouns and adjectives.

Compare and contrast with English use of affixes such as “-al”, “-ly”, “-er”, “-or” etc. For example, “topic” vs “topical”, “true” vs “truly”.

In English, “navigate” is a verb, whereas “navigator” (with an “-or” affix) is a profession. Similarly, in Pali, nāvā is “boat”, nāvā with ṇika as an affix becomes nāviko (“traveller by boat”, or “sailor”). Note that the last vowel of the root and the ṇ are both elided, and then the noun is given the 🚹⨀① vibhatti ending.

The rules for constructing a tadhitta affixed noun can be rather daunting:

vasiṭṭha + apacca (Vasiṭṭha’s son)
→ vasiṭṭha + sa (⨀⑥) + apacca
→ vasiṭṭha + s + sa + apacca {61}
→ vasiṭṭhassa + apacca + si (⨀①)
→ vasiṭṭhassa + apacca + si(aṁ) {219}
→ vasiṭṭhassa + apacca + aṁ {83}
→ vasiṭṭhassa + apaccaṁ (of Vasiṭṭha / son)
→ vasiṭṭhassa + ṇa + apaccaṁ {344}
→ vasiṭṭhassa + ṇa + apaccaṁ {317}
→ vasiṭṭha + ṇa {396}
→ vasiṭṭha + a {318}
→ va(ā)siṭṭha + a {400}
→ vāsiṭṭha + a {83}
→ vāsiṭṭha {601}
→ vāsiṭṭha + si (⨀①)
→ vāsiṭṭha + si(o) {104}
→ vāsiṭṭha + o {83}
→ vāsiṭṭho

*ka is added sometimes. eg. dayāluko

Words with taddhita affixes are sometimes not recognised by Pali-English dictionaries, since these dictionaries may not cover the full range of possible affixes and their meanings. So it is probably worthwhile learning how to recognise taddhita affixed words and the associated meanings.

Numbers

Pali numbers have their own set of tadhikka affixes (to denote “first”, “second”, “third” etc.)

Abyaya (indeclinable affixes)

These are undeclinable (and no liṅga), and often used as adverbs or adjectives.

Abyaya affixes applied after Sabbanāma-nouns

These are often used as a substitute or replacement for case endings (particularly ⑤ and ⑦), since they are indeclinable. They also have no liṅga (gender).

ākhyāta (verbs) {406}-{523}

Like nouns, verbs also have vibhatti endings affixed to them when used in sentences, but the endings are different from those of nouns. These endings depend on:

• voice {406}-{407}
  • 🟢 = parassapada (active)
  • 🔵 = attanopada (middle) - impersonal
• number
  • ⨀ = ekavacana (singular)
  • ⨂ = bahuvacana (plural)
• person {408}-{412} (if more than one, the last applies)
  • 🤟 = paṭhama purisa (first person, equivalent to ’third person’ in English)
  • 🤘 = majjima purisa (middle person, equivalent to ‘second person’ in English)
  • 👆 = uttama purisa (primary person, equivalent to ‘first person’ in English)
• tense/mood {413}-{422}
  • ▶️ = vattamāna (present)*
  • ⏹ = piñcamī (imperative) - (used to express) āṇatti (command), āsīsa (wish) at a non-specific time-frame mode (anuttakāla)*
  • ⏯ = sattamī (potential/optative)*
  • 🔄 = parokkhā (past perfect)
  • ↩️ = hiyyattanī (past imperfect)*
  • ⏮ = ajjatanī(aorist)
  • ⏭ = bhavissanti (future)
  • 🔀 = kālātipatti (conditional)

* collectively referred to as sabbadhātuka vibhatti

verb terminations {423}-{430}

Here is an example of the root gamu (to go) with all the verb endings applied. A number of transformations need to happen prior to affixing the vibhatti:

gamu
→ gamu (elision of final vowel per rule {521})
→ gamm(cch) (m→cch per rule {476})
→ gacch

Here is an example for transforming into the parassapada (🟢), ekavacana (⨀), paṭhama purisa (🤟), vattamāna (▶️) form:

gamu + ti {414}
→ gamu + ti {521}
→ gam + a + ti {445}
→ gam(cch) + a + ti {476}
→ gacchati

The plural form bahuvacana (⨂) undergoes a similar transformation:

gamu + anti {414}
→ gamu + anti {521}
→ gam + a + anti {445}
→ gam(cch) + a + anti {476}
→ gacch + a + anti {510}
→ gacchanti

Note that some of the terminations are the same so in practice we will need to distinguish which tense is being used from context. Note also the irregular forms, particularly the aorist ones. The irregular aorists tend to be more commonly used than the regular forms. This is so prevalent other grammar books such as Moggalāṇa Vyākaraṇa and Rūpasiddhi created rules to accomodate them.

Voices

Like Sanskrit, Pali supports 3 different ways of expressing sentences, based on the “voice”:

1. the active voice (kattu) {444}-{452}
2. the passive voice (kamma)
3. the impersonal voice (bhāva)

However, in Pali literature, bhāva (middle, or impersonal, voice) is seldom used, probably because most of the literature is based on the Buddha (or a disciple) “speaking” to a group of monks, which has then been transformed into a structure suitable for memorisation and chanting.

🔴 Passive verb endings Vattamānā Vibhatti {440}-{443}

A passive verb is created by using the attanopada (🔵) endings together with an infix of ya in between the root and the ending.

Note that passive verbs can only be formed based on roots that can be expressed in a “passive” (kamma) sense - some roots can only result into “active” verbs and cannot be transformed this way.

Example transformation (based on the root paca (to cook)):

paca + ya + te {440}
→ paca + y(cc)a + te {441}
→ paccate (“is cooked”)

The full set of attanopada (🔵) endings of in the present tense vattamāna (▶️) across the 3 persons and plurality:

Because the middle voice is seldom used, rule {518} allows these verbs to be retransformed into “reversed” parassapada (🟢) endings:

Typically we would use the parassapada (🟢) endings for passive verbs.

Other examples (using different rules):

kara (“to do”)
→ kara + ya + te {440}
→ kara + ī + ya + te {442}
→ kara + ī + ya + te {521}
→ karīyate (“is done”)

vaḍha (“to grow”)
→ vaḍha + ya + te {440}
→ vaḍha + ya(ḍḍha) + te {443}
→ vuḍḍhate (“is grown”)

🟠 Causative verbs

There are two types of causative verbs:

1. Causative verb in the active voice
2. Causative verb in the passive voice

There 4 typical causative affixes (kārita) used to construct causative verbs {438}:

• ṇe
• ṇaya
• ṇāpe
• ṇāpaya

Just like for tadhikka noun affixes, the ṇ is typically elided when joined to a root, leaving the remaining letters. {523}

Various vowel gradation transformations may also take place when joining the affix to the noun as per rule {483}.

Example transformation (based on the root paca (to cook)) and the causative affix ṇe:

paca + ṇe + ti {438}
paca + ṇe + ti {521}
→ pac + ṇe + ti {523}
→ pa(ā)c + e + ti {483}
→ pāceti ("(he) causes to cook”)

🟠 Causative (active) verbs {438}

The full set of causative versions of the vattamāna (▶️) forms of the root paca (to cook) using parassapada (🟢) endings:

Note: not all forms of the above are encountered in Pali literature - they represent the full theoretical set of causative forms that can be generated.

🟠🔴 Causative passive verbs

It is also possible to construct causative verbs in the passive voice, just by adding the passive ya affix after the causative affix. The ṇaya and ṇāpaya causative affixes are rarely used in the passive voice.

Example transformation (based on the root paca (to cook)) and the causative affix ṇe and the passive affix ya:

paca + ṇe + ya + ti {438,440}
paca + ṇe + ya + ti {521}
→ pac + ṇe + ya + ti {523}
→ pa(ā)c + ya + ti {483}
→ pāciyati (“is caused to be cooked”)

ākhyāta examples

▶️ vattamāna {414}

(used to express actions or events which occur) at the present

pāṭaliputtaṁ gacchati

Pāṭaliputta (city) / he goes
He goes to Pāṭaliputta.*

sāvatthiṁ pavisati

Sāvatthi (city) / he enters
He enters Sāvatthi.

⏹ piñcamī {415}

(used to express)

• āṇatti (command)
• āsīsa (wish)

at a non-specific time-frame mode (anuttakāla)

karotu kusalaṁ

do / meritorious deed
(Please) do meritorious deed.

sukhaṁ te hotu

happiness / for you / be
May you be happy.

⏯ sattamī {416}

(to express)

• anumati (permission)
• parikappa (thought)

at a non-specific time (anuttakāla).

tvaṁ gaccheyyāsi you / can go You can go.

kima’haṁ kareyyāmi
what I (kiṁ + ahaṁ) / shoud do
What should I do?

🔄 parokkhā {417}

(to be applied to express things happened in one’s absence, in a situation where the speaker is not a witness to) at a past time-frame mode (atīta - past).

supine kila’māha

in the dream / apparently / (he) said (kila + āha)
(He is supposed to have) said.

evaṁ kila porāṇā’hu

thus / apparently / ancient sages / said (porāṇā + āhu)
Ancient sages are supposed to have said thus.

↩️ hiyyattanī {418}

(used to express events that took place) in past time (yesterday or before), either being witnessed or not witnessed (by the speaker)

so agamā maggaṁ

he / went / road
He went along the road.

te agamū maggaṁ

they / went / road
They went along the road.

⏮ ajjatanī {419}

(used to express things happened) in the near past starting from today, either being witnessed or not witnessed (by the speaker)

so maggaṁ agamī

he / road / gone
He has (just) gone along the road.

te maggaṁ agamuṁ they / road / gone
They have (just) gone along the road.

⏭ bhavissanti {421}

(to be used) in the (expression of) future

so gacchissati, karissati

he / will go / will do
He will go, will do.

te gacchissanti, karissanti

they / will go / will do
They will go, will do.

🔀 kālātipatti {422}

(to be used) in (the expression of) an action that was past (without being materialised due to adverse conditions or lack of the supporting causes)

so ce taṁ yānaṁ alabhissā, agacchissā

he / if / that / vehicle / should have got / might have gone already
If he had gotten that vehicle, he might have gone already.

te ce taṁ yānaṁ alabhissaṁsu, agacchissaṁsu

they / if / that / vehicle / should have got / might have gone already
If they had gotten that vehicle, they might have gone already.

Example sentence constructions

kattu-vācaka vākya (active voice sentences)

An active voice sentence is a subject-principal sentence where Kattā (the agent, doer subject) is much more dominant.

1. kattu (subject) - Kathita Kattā or `Vutta-kattā`` (predominant-subject) must be in 1st case (①)
2. kamma (object) - Akathita-kamma or Avutta-kamma (non-principal object) must be in 2nd case (②)
3. The verb must be either in the parassapada termination (🟢) in most cases or in the attanopada termination (🔵) with or without an affix of kattu sense. [Affixes of kamma sense such as ya, or kita affixes eg. tabba, ta, etc. cannot be used]
4. The persons (subjects) and verbs should be concordant.

Kamma-vācaka Vākya (passive voice sentences)

A passive voice sentence is a object-principal sentence where the Kamma (the thing being done, the object) is more visibly dominant by being in the 1st case (①).

The rules in a passive voice sentence are:

1. kamma (object) - Kathita Kamma or Vutta-kamma (predominant-object) must be in 1st case (①)
2. kattā (subject) - Akathita-kattā or an Avutta-kattā (non-principal subject) must be in 3nd case (③)
3. The verb should be mainly in the attanopada termination (🔵) or it can be in a reversed parassapada form (🟢) with an affix which has a Kamma-sense only. {440}-{443}.
4. The object (not the subject!) and verb should be in agreement.

bhāva (impersonal) middle voice sentences

It’s like a passive voice sentence except the focus is purely on the action and does not focus on either the subject or object. Therefore the verb tends to be in ⨀ (ekavacana) 🤟 (paṭhama purisa) form. If there is a subject, it can be (but not always) be in 3rd (③) or 6th case (⑥).

Causative sentences

There are four integral parts in a causative sentence:

1. Causative subject - Hetu-kattā (the prompter), or Payojaka-kattā (the mover)
2. Subordinate Object - Kārita-kamma (causative object)
3. Root-object - dhātu-kamma, the object of the root which has direct connection/meaning to the root
4. Causative verb

If the root is a dual-kamma-indicative root (dvikammaka) such as nī (to carry), duha (to milk), then there can be three objects.

🔽 kibbidhāna (kita-affixed nouns) {524}-{623}

This is a class of words which are verbs transformed into “verb nouns” through the addition of suffixes.

These “verb nouns” are nouns, and have noun vibhatti endings applied to them, but can function like verbs in a sentence, or as auxiliary verbs such as the absolutive (also called gerund), the present participle and past participle.

verbal affixes

gerund or auxiliary verbs

Individual noun affixes

All of these can be variable gender, even when a gender is specified in the following table.

Example

Here is a worked through example of how a root transforms into a kita-affixed noun (from caja, using the ṇa affix):

caja “to share generously”
→ caja {521}
→ caj + ṇa {529}
→ cajṇa (kārita) {621}
→ cajṇa {523}
→ ca(ā)ja (vuddhi) {483}
→ cāj(g)a {623}
→ cāga (noun) {601}
→ cāga + si (⨀①)
→ cāga + si(o) {104}
→ cāga + o {83}
→ cāgo (“charitable giving, sharing”)

Here is another example based on budha (to know):

budha “to know”
→ budha {521}
→ budh + ta {557}
→ budh + ta(dha) {576}
→ budh(d) + dha {611}
→ buddha (noun) {601}
→ buddha + si (⨀①)
→ buddha + si(o) {104}
→ buddha + o {83}
→ buddho (“The one who knows truth, who awakened”)

Given the complexity of the above rules, it’s probably better just to recognise the completed forms whenever you come across them, but try and recognise the affix and associated meaning if you can.

⏬ uṇādi (uṇādi-affixed nouns) {624}-{673}

These are also “verb nouns” that can behave like verbs or auxiliary verbs or future participles.

The majority of uṇādi-affixes, except some verbal affixes, are used mainly in the formation of individual nouns of varying genders.

Examples:

sama “to calm”
→ sama + tha {628}
→ samatha {601}
→ samatha + si (⨀①)
→ samatha + si(o) {104}
→ samatha + o {83}
→ samatho (“that which calms the mind, Samatha meditation”)

gaha “to take”
→ gaha {521}
→ ga(e)ha {629}
→ geha {601}
→ geha + si(aṁ) {104}
→ geha + aṁ {219}
→ gehaṁ (“home”)

sādhana

The process of attaching either kita or uṇādi affixes to create new words is called sādhana. Like kāraka (the syntax of case or vibhatti endings), sādhana affixed words can be associated with specific usage meanings.

sādhana-affixed word can be associated with a voice (kattu, kamma, bhāva), in which case their usage can affect the “voice” of a sentence. This is especially true when sādhana-affixed word is used as a verb-noun, ie. it carries the “action” of a sentence.

Example sentences of kattu sādhana-affixed words

dānaṁ dinno devadatto

🚻⨀②(dānaṁ) 🚹⨀①(⏬(ta)(dinno) devadatto)
alms / gave (past participle) / Devadatta
Devadatta gave alms.

kumaro antepuraṁ gato

🚻⨀②(antepuraṁ) 🚹⨀①(kumaro ⏬(ta)(gato))
King’s palace / prince / went (past participle)
The prince went into the King’s palace.

so bhagavā sayam’pi cattāri saccāni buddho

🚹⨀①(so bhagavā ⏬(ta)(buddho)) ⏏️(sayam api) 🚻⨂②(cattāri saccāni)
that / Bhagavā / understood (past participle) / by oneself / just / four / truths
That Bhagavā (Buddha) understood the four truths just by himself.

Example sentences of kamma sādhana-affixed words

buddhena dhammo desito

🚹⨀③(buddhena) 🚹⨀①(dhammo ⏬(ta)(desito))
by Buddha / dhamma / taught (past participle)
The Dhamma is taught by the Buddha.

bhotabbo odano bhavatā

🚹⨀①(⏬(tabba)(bhotabbo) odano) 🚹⨀③(bhavatā)
eaten (future passive participle) / rice / Your Honourable
That rice is to be eaten by Your Honourable.

Example sentences of bhāva sādhana-affixed words

tassa gītaṁ

🚻⨀⑥(tassa) 🚻⨀①(🔽(ta)(gītaṁ))
of that person / sung (past participle)
Sung of that person.

sayitabbaṁ bhavatā

🚻⨀①(⏬(tabba)(sayitabbaṁ)) 🚹⨀③(bhavatā)
eating (future passive particle) / by Your Honourable
Eating by Your Honourable.

sādhana associated meanings and usage

The associated meanings are rather weak compared to case endings (vibhatti) and can sometimes have no significant role.

Exercise

Our first exercise, and also a celebration for finishing this chapter, is to translate the Saraṇattaya Kp 1 PTS 1. This is a very well known sutta commonly referred to as the Three Jewels (also known as the Triple Gem or Three Refuges) and traditionally recited by disciples of the Buddha as part of a ceremony by which one formally declares oneself a Buddhist.

Buddhaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi
Dhammaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi
Saṅghaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi
Dutiyampi buddhaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi
Dutiyampi dhammaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi
Dutiyampi saṅghaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi
Tatiyampi buddhaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi
Tatiyampi dhammaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi
Tatiyampi saṅghaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi

Let’s start by examining only the first line. Analysing each word by identifying the form of the vibhatti ending yields:

🚹⨀②(buddhaṁ saraṇaṁ) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(gacchāmi)

Translating each word into English yields:

Buddha / refuge / (I) go

Note that in Pali, all words in the same case refer to the same entity, so both “Buddha” and “refuge” refer to the same entity. In other words, the Buddha is the refuge and the refuge is the Buddha. In English, we can regard the equality as “Buddha as refuge”.

So, rearranging the words into a more idiomatic English sentence, we get:

I go to the Buddha as refuge.

For the exercise, translate the remainder of the sutta. It’s okay to leave words like “dhamma” and “sangha” untranslated (and use non-accented characters) as these are well known terms to Buddhists.

Answer

I go to the Buddha as refuge.
I go to the Dhamma as refuge.
I go to the Sangha as refuge.
For the second time too, I go to the Buddha as refuge.
For the second time too, I go to the Dhamma as refuge.
For the second time too, I go to the Sangha as refuge.
For the third time too, I go to the Buddha as refuge.
For the third time too, I go to the Dhamma as refuge.
For the third time too, I go to the Sangha as refuge.

Note that dutiyaṃ and tatiyaṃ are being used as nipāta. piis a nipāta meaning “too” or “also”.

The sentence structure of this sutta can also be represented as a pseudo UML class diagram:

classDiagram
  class sentence["dutiyampi/tatiyampi buddhaṃ/dhammaṃ/saṅghaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi"] {
    <<vākya>>
    english((For the second/third time) I go to the Buddha/Dhamma/Sangha as refuge)
  }
  namespace saṅkhyāpūraṇa {
    class dutiyaṃ {
      <<nāma>>
      ②
      english(second time)
    }
    class tatiyaṃ {
      <<nāma>>
      ②
      english(third time)
    }
  }
  class pi {
    <<nipāta>>
    english(too)
  }
  namespace saraṇa {
    class buddhaṃ {
      <<nāma>>
      🚹⨀②
    }
    class dhammaṃ {
      <<nāma>>
      🚹⨀②
    }
    class saṅghaṃ {
      <<nāma>>
      🚹⨀②
    }
  }
  class saraṇaṃ {
    <<nāma>>
     🚹⨀②
    english(as refuge)
  }
  class gacchāmi {
    <<ākhyāta>>
     🟢⨀🤟▶️
    english(I go)
  }
  sentence *-- dutiyaṃ
  sentence *-- tatiyaṃ
  sentence *-- pi
  sentence *-- buddhaṃ : kamma
  sentence *-- dhammaṃ : kamma
  sentence *-- saṅghaṃ : kamma
  sentence *-- saraṇaṃ : kamma
  sentence *-- gacchāmi: kiriya
  buddhaṃ .. saraṇaṃ
  dhammaṃ .. saraṇaṃ
  saṅghaṃ .. saraṇaṃ

We can also model the successive actions as a pseudo UML sequence diagram:

sequenceDiagram
participant ahaṃ as (ahaṃ)
participant buddhaṃ
participant dhammaṃ
participant saṅghaṃ
  loop (paṭhama), dutiyampi, tatiyampi
    ahaṃ ->> buddhaṃ : gacchāmi
    buddhaṃ ->> saraṇaṃ : (hoti)
    ahaṃ ->> dhammaṃ : gacchāmi
    dhammaṃ ->> saraṇaṃ : (hoti)
    ahaṃ ->> saṅghaṃ : gacchāmi
    saṅghaṃ ->> saraṇaṃ : (hoti)
  end

Finally, the different states of the refuges can be modelled as a pseudo UML state diagram:

stateDiagram-v2
  state fork_state <<fork>>
  state join_state <<join>>
  [*] --> fork_state : gacchāmi
  fork_state --> buddhaṃ
  fork_state --> dhammaṃ
  fork_state --> saṅghaṃ
  buddhaṃ --> join_state
  dhammaṃ --> join_state
  saṅghaṃ --> join_state
  join_state --> saraṇaṃ
  saraṇaṃ --> fork_state : dutiyampi, tatiyampi

Conclusion

Congratulations on finishing this chapter! It is compact and dense, and not every feature of Pali explained here will sink in initially. It may be worthwhile revisiting this chapter from time to time to check your understanding as you progress in your journey in learning Pali.

The good news is you now know enough of the basics of Pali to start reading the Tipiṭaka with the aid of a good dictionary, and looking up every word as you go along. You may encounter sentences that you can’t interpret very well, but that’s okay. Leave it for now, and study the next chapters, which will help you build confidence and skill in your ability to analyse sentences and deduce the correct meaning.

Remember, the sentences in the Tipiṭaka are often repetitive and used in similar forms again and again. They are intentionally structured this way to assist in memorisation and chanting. So, once you have learnt how to correctly interpret a complex sentence, you may encounter it again and again and reading will become easier and easier over time.

3 - 2: `kāraka` (word ending) meanings

kāraka means the “cause” or “participants” of actions, and the relationship between various words in a Pali sentence. The following are descriptions of various kāraka categories, and the typical vibhatti endings that are applied to words belonging to those categories.

3.1 - 2.1: apādāna (Ablative)

The usage examples provided here are not exhaustive, other usages are possible.

2.1.1 Place or source {271}

• The place or source from which someone left or something originated
• The source from which fear arises
• The one from which one learns.

Example

gāmā apenti munayo

🚹⨀⑤(gāmā) ⨂(🟢🤟▶️(apenti) 🚹①(munayo))
from village / depart / sages
The sages depart from the village.

Exercises

Translate the following from Pali to English. Look up the words in a dictionary, perform necessary sandhi and compound word deconstruction, and take note of the vibhatti endings to deduce the meaning of the sentence.

1. nagarā niggato rājā
2. corā bhayaṁ jāyate
3. ācariyu’pajjhāyehi sikkhaṁ gaṇhāti sisso

Answers

Note: please do the exercises first before checking the answers.

1. nagarā niggato rājā

🚻⨀⑤(nagarā) ⨀①(🔽(ta)(niggato) 🚹(rājā))
from city / departed (past participle) / king
The departed king [is] from the city.

2. corā bhayaṁ jāyate

🚹⨀⑤(corā) ⨀(🚻①(bhayaṁ) 🔵🤟▶️(jāyate))
from thief / fear / arises
Fear arises from the thief.

3. ācariyu’pajjhāyehi sikkhaṁ gaṇhāti sisso

🚹⨀⑤🆎(ācariya+upajjhāya) 🚺⨀②(sikkhaṁ) ⨀(🟢🤟▶️(gaṇhāti) 🚹①(sisso))
teacher and preceptor / lesson / takes / pupil
The pupil takes lesson from the teacher/preceptor.

2.1.2 With various words and prefixes {272}

2.1.2.1 parā + ji

• being defeated, to lose in a fight or the struggle

buddhasmā parājenti aññatitthiyā

🚹⨀⑤(buddhasmā) ⨂(🟢🤟▶️(parājenti) 🚹①(aññatitthiyā))
from Buddha / (are) defeated / (those) holding other views, heretics
The heretics are defeated from (i.e. by) the Buddha.

2.1.2.2 pa + bhū

• an initial originating source of a continuous occurrence

himavatā pabhavanti pañca mahānadiyo

🚹⨀⑤(himavatā) ⨂(🟢🤟▶️(pabhavanti) 🚺①(pañca mahānadiyo))
from the mount Himavantā / originate / five great rivers
The five great rivers originate from the Himalayas.

2.1.2.3 From noun

This is the most common type of apādāna.

urasmā jāto putto

🚹⨀⑤(himavatā) ⨀🚹①(🔽(ta)(jāto) putto)
from chest (womb) / (was) born / the son
The son was born from chest (i.e. womb).

2.1.2.4 Indeclinable affix to

This affix has an ablative sense.

ubhato sujāto putto

⏏️(ubhato) ⨀🚹①(🔽(ta)(sujāto) putto)
from both sides / well-bred, well-born / the son
The son was well-bred, well-born from both sides.

2.1.2.5 From prefix

Word is used in the context of some upasagga (prefixes)

apa sālāya āyanti vāṇijā

🔼(apa) 🚺⨀⑤(sālāya) ⨂(🟢🤟▶️(āyanti) 🚹①(vāṇijā))
taking off, by avoiding / from the rest house / come / the traders
The traders come by skirting (avoiding) from the rest-house.

ghata’massa telasmā pati dadāti

🚹⨀②(ghataṁ) *️⃣🤟🚹⨀④(assa) 🚻⨀⑤(telasmā) 🔼(pati) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(dadāti)
ghee / to that person / from sesame oil / instead of / [he] gives
He gives him ghee instead of sesame oil.

2.1.2.6 Starting from …

ito pakkhasmā vijjhati migaṁ luddako

⏏️(ito) 🚹⨀⑤(pakkhasmā) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(vijjhati) 🚹⨀②(migaṁ) 🚹⨀①(luddako)
from this day / from a fortnight (15 days) / shoots / deer / the hunter
Starting from today within a fortnight, the hunter [will] shoot the deer.

2.1.2.7 api (exception)

The prefix api can mean “but” or “however”. Similarly, other words such as rahitā, rite, nānā, vinā with the sense of “except” can be associated with words with ⑤,② or ③ endings to convey the meaning of “except for.”

rahitā mātujā puññaṁ katvā dānaṁ deti

🚺⨀⑤(rahitā mātujā) 🚻⨀②(puññaṁ) 🔽(tvā)(katvā) 🚻⨀②(dānaṁ) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(deti)
except/abandoning son / meritorious deed / having done / alms / [he] gives
Having done meritorious deed without son, he gives alms.

Note the following variations (using ① or ③ case endings) are also acceptable:

rahitā mātujaṁ puññaṁ katvā dānaṁ deti rahitā mātujena puññaṁ katvā dānaṁ deti

2.1.2.8 From pronouns (sabbanāma)

yato’haṁ bhagini ariyāya jātiyā jāto

⏏️(yato) ⨀👆①(ahaṁ) 🚻⨀⓪(bhagini) ⨀(🚺⑤(ariyāya jātiyā) 🚹🔽(ta)(jāto))
since the time when / I / sister / by noble birth / [was] born
Sister, since I was born (by being enlightened).

Exercises

1. anavatattamhā pabhavanti mahāsarā
2. aciravatiyā pabhavanti kunnadiyo
3. bhūmito niggato raso
4. mātito sujāto putto
5. pitito sujāto putto
6. ā brahmalokā saddo abbhuggacchati
7. upari pabbatā devo vassati
8. buddhasmā pati sāriputto dhammadesanāya bhikkhū ālapati temāsaṁ
9. uppala’massa padumasmā pati dadāti
10. kanaka’massa hiraññasmā pati dadāti
11. kosā vijjhati kuñjaraṁ
12. māsasmā bhuñjati bhojanaṁ
13. rite saddhammā kuto sukhaṁ labhati (saddhammaṁ, saddhammena)
14. te bhikkhū nānā kulā pabbajitā
15. vinā saddhammā nattha’ñño koci nātho loke vijjati (saddhammaṁ, saddhammena)
16. vinā buddhasmā nattha’ñño koci nātho loke vijjati (buddhaṁ, buddhena)
17. yato sarāmi attānaṁ
18. yato patto’smi viññutaṁ
19. yatvā’dhikaraṇa’menaṁ cakkhundriyaṁ asaṁvutaṁ viharantaṁ abhijjhā, domanassā pāpakā akusalā dhammā anvā’saveyyuṁ

Answers

1. anavatattamhā pabhavanti mahāsarā

🚹⨀⑤(anavatattamhā) ⨂(🟢🤟▶️(pabhavanti) 🚺①(the great lakes))
from lake anavatatta / originate / king
The great lakes originate from lake Anavatatta.

2. aciravatiyā pabhavanti kunnadiyo

🚹⨀⑤(aciravatiyā) ⨂(🟢🤟▶️(pabhavanti) 🚺①(kunnadiyo))
from the river Aciravatī / originate / The small creeks
The small creeks originate from the river Aciravatī.

3. bhūmito niggato raso

🚺⨀⑤(bhūmito) ⨀🚹①(🔽(ta)(niggato) raso)
from earth / came out / the taste (of fruit etc.)
The taste came out from the earth.

4. mātito sujāto putto

⏏️(mātito) ⨀🚹①(🔽(ta)(sujāto) putto)
from mother’s side / well-bred, well-born / the son
The son was well-bred, well-born from mother’s side.

5. ubhato sujāto putto

⏏️(pitito) ⨀🚹①(🔽(ta)(sujāto) putto)
from father’s side / well-bred, well-born / the son
The son was well-bred, well-born from father’s side.

6. ā brahmalokā saddo abbhuggacchati

🔼(ā) 🚹⨀⑤(brahmalokā) ⨀(🚹①(saddo) 🟢🤟▶️(abbhuggacchati))
till, up to / the high heavens of Brahmā / the sound / rises up
The sound (of applause) rises up to the high heavens of Brahmā.

7. upari pabbatā devo vassati

🔼(upari) 🚹⨀⑤(pabbatā) ⨀(🚹①(devo) 🟢🤟▶️(vassati))
above / the mountain / the rain / pours
The rain pours above the mountain.

8. buddhasmā pati sāriputto dhammadesanāya bhikkhū ālapati temāsaṁ

🚹⨀⑤(buddhasmā) 🔼(pati) ⨂🚹②(bhikkhū) ⨀(🚹①(sāriputto) 🚺④(dhammadesanāya) 🟢🤟▶️(ālapati)) ⨀🚻②(temāsaṁ)
from Buddha / on behalf of, representing / monks / Venerable Sāriputta / for the purpose of teaching Dhamma / addresses / for three months
representing (from) Buddha, Venerable Sāriputta addresses the monks in order to teach Dhamma for three months.

9. uppala’massa padumasmā pati dadāti

🚻⨀②(uppalaṁ) *️⃣🤟🚹⨀④(assa) 🚻⨀⑤(padumasmā) 🔼(pati) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(dadāti)
white lotus / to that person / from red lotus / instead of / [he] gives
[He] gives him white lotus instead of red lotus.

10. kanaka’massa hiraññasmā pati dadāti

🚻⨀②(kanakaṁ) *️⃣🚹⨀④(assa) 🚻⨀⑤(hiraññasmā) 🔼(pati) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(dadāti)
gold / to that person / from silver / instead of / [he] gives
[He] gives him gold instead of silver.

11. kosā vijjhati kuñjaraṁ

🚹⨀⑤(kosā) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(vijjhati) 🚹⨀②(kuñjaraṁ)
from a distance of a Kosa* / [he] shoots / the elephant
[He] shoots the elephant from (a distance of) a kosa.
*A kosa is a unit of measurement representing the distance a human voice could be heard from (roughly 3 km)

12. māsasmā bhuñjati bhojanaṁ

🚹⨀⑤(māsasmā) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(bhuñjati) 🚻⨀②(bhojanaṁ)
from a period of a month / [he] eats / food
[He] eats food from (since) a month.

13. rite saddhammā kuto sukhaṁ labhati (saddhammaṁ, saddhammena)

🚹⨀⑤(rite saddhammā) ⏏️(kuto) 🚻⨀②(sukhaṁ) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(labhati)
except noble way of Dhamma / where? / happiness / alms / [one can] get
Where (one) can get happiness without (except) the noble way of Dhamma?

14. te bhikkhū nānā kulā pabbajitā

🚹⨂①(*️⃣🤟(te) bhikkhū 🔽(ita)(pabbajitā)) 🚻⨀⑤(⏏️(nānā) kulā)
those monks / from various families and homes / came forth (become)
Those monks became [monks] [after] leaving various families.

15. vinā saddhammā nattha’ñño koci nātho loke vijjati (saddhammaṁ, saddhammena)

🚹⨀⑤(vinā saddhammā) ⏏️(nattha’ñño) ⏏️(koci) 🚹⨀①(nātho) 🚹⨀⑦(loke) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(vijjati)
except noble way of Dhamma / no other / refuge/help / in the world / [there] is
There is no other refuge/help in the world except the noble way of Dhamma.

16. vinā buddhasmā nattha’ñño koci nātho loke vijjati (buddhaṁ, buddhena)

🚹⨀⑤(vinā buddhasmā) ⏏️(nattha’ñño) ⏏️(koci) 🚹⨀①(nātho) 🚹⨀⑦(loke) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(vijjati)
except from Buddha / no other / refuge/help / in the world / [there] is
There is no other refuge/help in the world except from Buddha.

17. yato sarāmi attānaṁ

⏏️(yato) 🟢⨀👆▶️(sarāmi) 🚹⨀②(attānaṁ)
since / [I] remember / oneself
Since or as far as I remember myself.

18. yato patto’smi viññutaṁ

⏏️(yato) ⨀🚹①(🔽(ta)(patto)) 🟢⨀👆▶️(asmi) 🚺⨀②(viññutaṁ)
since / the one who attained / [I] am / to a state of being mature, wise
Since [I] reach a state of being wise (capable of knowing right and wrong, mature adulthood).

19. yatvā’dhikaraṇa’menaṁ cakkhundriyaṁ asaṁvutaṁ viharantaṁ abhijjhā, domanassā pāpakā akusalā dhammā anvā’saveyyuṁ

⏏️(yatvā’dhikaraṇaṁ) 🚻⨀①(*️⃣🤟(enaṁ) cakkhundriyaṁ 🔽(ta)(asaṁvutaṁ) 🔽(anta)(viharantaṁ)) ⨂①(🚺(abhijjhā) 🚻(domanassā pāpakā akusalā dhammā)) 🟢⨂🤟⏯(anvā’saveyyuṁ)
for the reason which / to that (person) / the faculty of eye / without restraining / (to the one who is) living / desire / aversion / those which are bad / unwholesome / mental states / may repeatedly arise
For (such a) reason of (casually) living without restraining one’s eye, bad, unwholesome mental states (such as) desire, and aversion etc., may repeatedly arise to (the mind of) that person.

2.1.3 To protect or prevent from {273}

Example

kāke rakkhanti taṇḍulā

⨂(🚹②(kāke) 🟢🤟▶️(rakkhanti)) 🚹⨀⑤(taṇḍulā)
crows / [people] prevent / from [snatching] rice
[People] prevent crows from [eating] the rice.

Exercises

1. yavā paṭisedhenti gāvo

Answers

1. yavā paṭisedhenti gāvo

🚻⨀⑤(yavā) 🟢⨂🤟▶️(paṭisedhenti) 🚹⨀②(gāvo)
from [eating] barley / [people] prevent / the cattle
[People] prevent cattle from [eating] the barley.

2.1.4 Hiding from {274}

When one wishes not to be seen by someone, that person from which one wants to hide is an apādāna.

Example

upajjhāyā antaradhāyati sisso

🚹⨀⑤(upajjhāyā) ⨀(🟢🤟▶️(antaradhāyati) 🚹①(sisso))
from preceptor (teacher) / hides / the pupil
The pupil hides from the preceptor.

Sometimes the ⑦ case ending is used rather than ⑤ in connection with a disappearance.

jetavane antaradhāyati bhagavā

🚻⨀⑦(jetavane) ⨀(🟢🤟▶️(antaradhāyati) 🚹①(bhagavā))
at Jetavana temple / disappears / Buddha
Lord Buddha disappears at Jetavana temple.

Exercises

1. mātarā ca pitarā ca antaradhāyati putto

Answers

1. mātarā ca pitarā ca antaradhāyati putto

🚺⨀⑤(mātarā) ⏏️(ca) 🚹⨀⑤(pitarā) ⏏️(ca) ⨀(🟢🤟▶️(antaradhāyati) 🚹①(putto))
from mother / also / from father / also / hides / son
The son hides from mother and father also.

2.1.5 Additional usage {275}

Used for expressing measurement of distance, time, direction along with words such as dura (distant, far) or antika (near) or similar words.

Also used for analytical comparison, abstinence, purity, release/freedom from, reason, arrested, result (from virtue) etc.

2.1.5.1 dura (“distant and far”)

kīva dūro ito naḷakāragāmo

⏏️(kīva) 🚹⨀①(dūro) ⏏️(ito) 🚹⨀①(naḷakāragāmo)
how much / far / from here / bamboo-crafter’s village
How far is from here to bamboo-crafter’s village?

Can also use with ① and ③ vibhatti endings (eg. dūraṁ, dūrena)

2.1.5.2 antika (“near”)

antikaṁ gāmā

🚹⨀(①(antikaṁ) ⑤(gāmā))
[is] near / from village
[is] near village

Can also use with ① and ③ vibhatti endings (eg. gāmaṁ, gāmena)

2.1.5.3 Measure of geographic distance

ito mathurāya catūsu yojanesu saṅkassaṁ nāma nagaraṁ atthi, tattha bahū janā vasanti

⏏️(ito) 🚺⨀⑤(mathurāya) 🚻⨂⑦(catūsu yojanesu) ⨀(🚹①(saṅkassaṁ nāma nagaraṁ) 🤟▶️(atthi)) ⏏️(tattha) ⨂(🚹①(bahū janā) 🤟▶️(vasanti))
from here / from city of “Mathurā” / at 4 yojana (~20 km) / city named “Saṅkassa” / [there] is / there / many / people / live
At four “yojana” distance from Mathurā, there is a city named “Saṅkassa”. Many people live there.

2.1.5.4 Measure of time

ito bhikkhave ekanavutikappe vipassī nāma bhagavā loke udapādi

⏏️(ito) 🚹⨂⓪(bhikkhave) 🚻⨂⑦(ekanavutikappe) 🚻⨂⑦(loke) ⨀(🚹①(vipassī nāma bhagavā) 🤟⏮(udapādi))
from here / monks! / at a time of 91 eons / in the world / Buddha named Vipassī / appeared
Monks! at a time of 91 eons from now, the Buddha named “Vipassī”, appeared in the world.

2.1.5.5 Implied absolutive

pāsādā saṅkameyya

🚹⨀⑤(pāsādā) ⨀🤟🔀(saṅkameyya)
from mansion or palace / (he should) move
He should move from mansion.

This implies previously he has moved (ascended) to mansion.

pāsādaṁ abhiruhitvā

🚹⨀②(pāsādaṁ) 🔽(tvā)(abhiruhitvā)
to the mansion or palace / having gone up
Having gone up to mansion.

2.1.5.6 Direction and physical points

avicito yāva upari bhavagga’mantare bahū sattanikāyā vasanti

⏏️(avicito) ⏏️(yāva) ⏏️(upari) 🚹⨀②(bhavaggaṃ) ⏏️(antare) ⨂(🚹①(bahū sattanikāyā) 🤟▶️(vasanti))
from lowest hell / up to / above / the highest heaven / in between / many diverse groups of living beings / live
Many diverse groups of beings live in between from the lowest hell (underneath) to the highest heaven above.

2.1.5.7 Comparison / distinction

yato paṇītataro vā visiṭṭhataro vā natthi

⏏️(yato) ⨀(🚹①(paṇītataro) ⏏️(vā) 🚹①(visiṭṭhataro) ⏏️(vā) ⏏️(na) 🤟▶️(atthi))
from which / the best / or / the most outstanding thing / or / no / [there] is
There is nothing better or more outstanding [than the Dhamma].

2.1.5.8 Abstinence

gāmadhammā vasaladhammā asaddhammā ārati virati paṭivirati

⨀(🚹⑤(gāmadhammā vasaladhammā asaddhammā) 🤟▶️(ārati virati paṭivirati))
from the way of villagers / from impious way / from ignoble way / (mental) abstinence / (physical) abstinence / sustained abstinence

pāṇātipātā veramaṇī

⨀(🚹⑤(pāṇātipātā) 🤟▶️(veramaṇī))
from killing / abstinence

2.1.5.9 Purity

lobhaniyehi dhammehi suddho asaṅsaṭṭho

🚹⨂⑤(lobhaniyehi dhammehi) 🚹⨀①🔽(ta)(suddho asaṅsaṭṭho)
from greed-causing / phenomenon / (is) pure / (is) dissociated
It is pure and dissociated from greed-causing phenomenon.

2.1.5.10 Freedom and release

parimutto dukkhasmā’ti vadāmi

🚹⨀①🔽(ta)(parimutto) 🚻⨂⑤(dukkhasmā) ⏏️(iti) 👆⨀▶️(vadāmi)
is free / phenomenon / from suffering / (quote) / (I) say
I say “It is freedom from suffering”.

2.1.5.11 Reason

kasmā hetunā

🚹⨂⑤(kasmā hetunā)
for what / reason
for what reason, why?

Similarly, can also use ③ and ⑥ vibhatti endings:

🚹⨂③(kena hetunā)
🚹⨂⑥(kissa hetunā)

2.1.5.12 Dissociation

vivitto pāpakā dhammā

🚹⨀①🔽(ta)(vivitto) 🚹⨀⑤(pāpakā dhammā)
is dissociated, being detached from / unwholesome / mental state
Being detached from unwholesome mental state.

2.1.5.13 Measurement

dīghaso navavidatthiyo sugatavidatthiyā pamāṇikā kāretabbā. majjhimassa purisassa aḍḍha-teḷasahatthā

⏏️(dīghaso) 🚺⨂①(navavidatthiyo) 🚺⨀⑤(sugatavidatthiyā) 🚺⨂①(pamāṇikā 🔽(tabba)(kāretabbā)) 🚹⨀⑥(majjhimassa purisassa) 🚹⨂①(aḍḍha-teḷasahatthā)
by length / by Buddha’s vidatthi (length between outstretched thumb and little finger) measurements / measurement / should be made measured / of medium / of man / half / thirteen / measure of length (measure from elbow to extended little-finger tip)
By measure of Buddha’s vidatthi measurement, nine vidatthi in length, half-thirteen feet by measure of a medium height man are to be measured.

2.1.5.14 Before, previously

pubbe’va sambodhā

🚹⨀⑦(pubbe) ⏏️(eva) 🚹⨀⑤(sambodhā)
before, previously / only / from (the time of) enlightenment
at the previous time from enlightenment (prior to enlightenment)

2.1.5.15 To arrest

satasmā bandho naro

🚹⨀⑤(satasmā) 🚹⨀①(bandho naro)
for hundred / arrested / man
Man got arrested for a hundred.

Can also use ③ vibhatti ending:

satena bandho naro raññā iṇatthena

🚹⨀③(satena) 🚹⨀①(bandho naro) 🚹⨀③(raññā) 🚹⨀③(iṇatthena)
for hundred / arrested / man / by king / by reason of debt
Man was arrested by king for reasons of (unpaid) debt of a hundred.

2.1.5.16 Result or benefit

extolling the result or benefit of a virtue or a specific quality (note ③ vibhatti ending):

puññāya sugatiṁ yanti

🚻⨀③(puññāya) 🚺⨀①(sugatiṁ) 🤟⨂▶️(yanti)
by meritorious deed / to good destiny (re-birth). / (people) go
People go to a good (destiny of) re-birth by virtue of meritorious deed.

2.1.5.17 Questioning and Answering (of teachings)

Used together without a tvā-gerund Kita verb:

abhidhammā pucchanti

🚹⨀⑤(abhidhammā) 🤟⨂▶️(pucchanti)
from abhidhamma / (they) ask
They ask question from (i.e. regarding) Abhidhamma.

Also used with ② and ③ vibhatti endings:

abhidhammaṁ pucchanti
abhidhammena pucchanti

This implies they have previously listened to the Abhidhamma, and have a “standing” question to ask:

abhidhammaṁ sutvā
abhidhamme ṭhatvā

🚹⨀②(abhidhammaṁ) ⏏️🔽(tvā)(sutvā) 🚹⨀⑦(abhidhamme) ⏏️🔽(tvā)(sutvā)
abhidhamma / having listened / abhidhamma / standing (there as point of question)
Having listened to Abhidhamma, having stood on Abhidhamma, …

Also used with answering:

abhidhammā pucchanti

🚹⨀⑤(abhidhammā) 🤟⨂▶️(kathayanti)
from abhidhamma / (they) answer
They answer question from (i.e. regarding) Abhidhamma.

Some other words that can be used in this manner (replacing abhidhamma):

• vinaya
• suttā
• geyyā (stanza)
• gāthāya (verse)
• veyyākaraṇā (explanatory non-stanza discourses)
• udānā (joyous utterances)
• itivuttakā ((re-narrated) discourses)
• jātakā (Buddha’s former life stories)
• abbhutadhammā (inspirational discourses)
• vedallā (joyous sayings)

2.1.5.18 A little, a meagre amount

thokā muccanti

🚹⨀⑤(thokā) 🤟⨂▶️(muccanti)
from reasons of little (excuse) / (they) are free (from confinement)
They are free by means of a little excuse.

Some other words that can be used in this manner (replacing thokā):

• appamattakā (from little amount. muccanti)
• kicchā (from being weary)

Also used with ③ vibhatti ending:

thokena muccanti

2.1.5.19 Non-agent words indicative of obvious reason

kammassa katattā upacitattā ussannattā vipulattā cakkhuviññāṇaṁ uppannaṁ hoti

🚹⨀⑥(kammassa) 🚻⨀⑤(katattā upacitattā ussannattā vipulattā) 🚻⨀⑤(cakkhuviññāṇaṁ 🔽(tā)(uppannaṁ)) 🤟⨀▶️(hoti)
of (good) kamma / for having done / for having collected / for having accumulated / for having increased / the eye-consciousness / act of arising / is
For reasons of having done, for having collected, for having accumulated, for having increased the (good) kamma, the eye-consciousness arises.

Exercises

1. dūrato vā gamma
2. ārakā te moghapurisā imasmā dhammavinayā
3. ārakā te moghapurisā imasmā dhammavinayaṁ
4. anena te moghapurisā imasmā dhammavinayena
5. āsannaṁ gāmā
6. samīpaṁ gāmā
7. samīpaṁ saddhammā
8. ito tiṇṇaṁ māsānaṁ accayena parinibbāyissati. icceva’mādi
9. pabbatā saṅkameyya. pabbataṁ abhiruhitvā
10. hatthikkhandhā saṅkameyya. hatthikkhandhaṁ abhiruhitvā
11. āsanā vuṭṭhaheyya. āsane nisīditvā
12. yato khemaṁ tato bhayaṁ
13. puratthimato dakkhiṇato pacchimato uttarato aggī pajjalanti
14. yato assosuṁ bhagavantaṁ
15. uddhaṁ pādatalā adho kesamatthakā
16. channavutīnaṁ pāsaṇḍānaṁ dhammānaṁ pavaraṁ yadidaṁ sugatavinayo
17. mātito ca pitito ca suddho asaṅsaṭṭho anu’pakuddho agarahito
18. mutto’smi mārabandhanā
19. na te muccanti maccunā
20. kasmā nu tumhaṁ daharā na mīyare
21. kasmā idhe’va maraṇaṁ bhavissati
22. vivicce’va kāmehi
23. vivicca akusalehi dhammehi
24. cāgāya vipulaṁ dhanaṁ
25. paññāya vimutti mano
26. issariyāya janaṁ rakkhati rājā
27. vinayā pucchanti. vinayaṁ sutvā. vinaye ṭhatvā

Answers

1. dūrato vā gamma

⏏️(dūrato) ⏏️(evā) 🚻⨀①🔽(ṇya)(gamma)
from afar / only / having come.
Having come from a distance only.

2. ārakā te moghapurisā imasmā dhammavinayā

🚹⨀⑤(ārakā) 🚹⨂①(*️⃣🤟️(te) moghapurisā) 🚹⨀⑤(*️⃣🤟️(imasmā) dhammavinayā)
far from / those empty men / from this teaching of Buddha
Those “empty men” are far from this noble teaching of Buddha.

3. ārakā te moghapurisā imasmā dhammavinayaṁ

🚹⨀②(ārakā) 🚹⨂①(*️⃣🤟️(te) moghapurisā) 🚹⨀②(*️⃣🤟️(imasmā) dhammavinayaṁ)
far from / those empty men / from this teaching of Buddha
Those “empty men” are far from this noble teaching of Buddha.

4. anena te moghapurisā imasmā dhammavinayena

🚹⨀③(anena) 🚹⨂①(*️⃣🤟️(te) moghapurisā) 🚹⨀③(*️⃣🤟️(imasmā) dhammavinayena)
far from / those empty men / from this teaching of Buddha
Those “empty men” are far from this noble teaching of Buddha.

5. āsannaṁ gāmā

🚹⨀(①(āsannaṁ) ⑤(gāmā))
[is] near / from village
[is] near village

6. samīpaṁ gāmā

🚹⨀(①(samīpaṁ) ⑤(gāmā))
[is] near / from village
[is] near village

7. samīpaṁ saddhammā

🚹⨀(①(samīpaṁ) ⑤(saddhammā))
[is] near / from noble Dhamma
[is] near noble Dhamma

8. ito tiṇṇaṁ māsānaṁ accayena parinibbāyissati

⏏️(ito) 🚻⨂⑥(tiṇṇaṁ māsānaṁ) 🚻⨂③(accayena) ⨀🤟⏭(parinibbāyissati)
from here / of three months / on passing / (the Buddha) will expire
On passing of three months from now, the Buddha will enter into parinibbāna.

9. pabbatā saṅkameyya. pabbataṁ abhiruhitvā

🚹⨀⑤(pabbatā) ⨀🤟🔀(saṅkameyya) 🚹⨀②(pabbataṁ) 🔽(tvā)(abhiruhitvā)
from mountain / (he should) move / to mountain / having gone up
He should move from mountain. Having gone up to mountain

10. hatthikkhandhā saṅkameyya. hatthikkhandhaṁ abhiruhitvā

🚹⨀⑤(hatthikkhandhā) ⨀🤟🔀(saṅkameyya) 🚹⨀②(hatthikkhandhaṁ) 🔽(tvā)(abhiruhitvā)
from the back of elephant / (he should) move / to the back of elephant / having gone up
He should move from back of elephant. Having gone up to back of elephant

11. āsanā vuṭṭhaheyya. āsane nisīditvā

🚻⨀⑤(āsanā) ⨀🤟🔀(vuṭṭhaheyya) 🚻⨀②(āsane) 🔽(tvā)(nisīditvā)
from seat / (he) should get up / to seat / having seated
He should get up from seat. Having sat on seat

12. yato khemaṁ tato bhayaṁ

⏏️(yato) 🚻⨀①(khemaṁ) ⏏️(tato) 🚻⨀①(bhayaṁ)
from where / (it is) safe / from there / (it is) unsafe
Where (it used to be) safe (before), is no longer safe.

13. puratthimato dakkhiṇato pacchimato uttarato aggī pajjalanti

🚹⨀⑤(puratthimato dakkhiṇato pacchimato uttarato) ⨂(🚹①(aggī) 🤟▶️(pajjalanti))
from East, South, West, North / fires / are aflame
From East, South, West, North fires are aflame.

14. yato assosuṁ bhagavantaṁ

⏏️(yato) ⨂🤟⏮(assosuṁ) 🚹⨀②(bhagavantaṁ)
since / (they) heard / the Buddha
Since they heard the Buddha’s (words).

15. uddhaṁ pādatalā adho kesamatthakā

🚻⨀⑤(pādatalā) ⏏️(adho) 🚻⨀⑤(kesamatthakā)
since / from the feet / down below / the tip of hair
From above the feet and bewlow the tip of the hair.

16. channavutīnaṁ pāsaṇḍānaṁ dhammānaṁ pavaraṁ yadidaṁ sugatavinayo

🚹⨀⑥(channavutīnaṁ pāsaṇḍānaṁ dhammānaṁ) ⏏️(adho) 🚹⨀①(pavaraṁ *️⃣🤟(yadidaṁ) sugatavinayo)
since / of ninety-six / impious / ideas / (is) the most excellent / that which is / the discipline of Buddha
Of the ninety-six impious ideas, the discipline (teaching) of Buddha [is] the most excellent.

17. mātito ca pitito ca suddho asaṅsaṭṭho anu’pakuddho agarahito

🚺⨀⑥(mātito) ⏏️(ca) 🚹⨀⑥(pitito) ⏏️(ca) 🚹⨀①🔽(ta)(suddho asaṅsaṭṭho anu’pakuddho agarahito)
from mother’s side / and / from father’s side / and / (is) pure / (is) not mixed (with other castes). / (is) not censured / (is) not reproached
(He) is not to be censured nor to be reproached as he is pure and not racially mixed either from the mother’s side or from the father’s side.

18. mutto’smi mārabandhanā

🚹⨀①🔽(ta)(mutto) 👆⨀▶️(asmi) 🚻⨂⑤(mārabandhanā)
free / (I) am / from Māra’s bonds
I am free from Māra’s bonds.

19. na te muccanti maccunā

⏏️(na) *️⃣🤟🚹⨂①(te) 👆⨂▶️(muccanti) 🚻⨂⑤(maccunā)
not / they / are free / from death
They are not being free from death.

20. kasmā nu tumhaṁ daharā na mīyare

🚹⨀⑤(kasmā) ⏏️(nu) *️⃣🤘⚧⨂⑥(tumhaṁ) ⨂(🚹①(daharā) ⏏️(na) 🔵🤟▶️(mīyare))
why / (?) / of you / the young ones / no / die
Why the young ones among you (in the family) do not die young?

21. kasmā idhe’va maraṇaṁ bhavissati

🚹⨀⑤(kasmā) ⏏️(idha eva) ⨀(🚹①(maraṇaṁ) 🤟⏭(bhavissati))
why / here / only / death / will be
Why [my] death will be only here?

22. vivicce’va kāmehi

⨀🤘⏹(vivicca) ⏏️(eva) 🚹⨂⑤(kāmehi)
being detached / only / from sensual pleasures
Being detached from sensual pleasures only.

23. vivicca akusalehi dhammehi

⨀🤘⏹(vivicca) 🚹⨂⑤(akusalehi dhammehi)
being detached / from unwholesome / from mental states
Being detached from unwholesome mental states.

24. cāgāya vipulaṁ dhanaṁ

🚹⨀③(cāgāya) 🚻⨀①(vipulaṁ dhanaṁ)
by alms / is abundant / wealth
abundance of wealth is by virtue of alms.

25. paññāya vimutti mano

🚹⨀③(paññāya) 🚹⨀①(vimutti mano)
by wisdom / is free / the mind
The mind is free by virtue of wisdom.

26. issariyāya janaṁ rakkhati rājā

🚹⨀③(issariyāya) 🚹⨀②(janaṁ) 🤟⨀▶️(rakkhati) 🚹⨀①(rājā)
by authority / people / protects or governs / the king
The king governs people by virtue of authority.

27. vinayā pucchanti. vinayaṁ sutvā. vinaye ṭhatvā

🚹⨀⑤(vinayā) 🤟⨂▶️(pucchanti) 🚹⨀②(vinayaṁ) ⏏️🔽(tvā)(sutvā) 🚹⨀⑦(vinaye) ⏏️🔽(tvā)(sutvā)
from vinaya / (they) ask / vinaya / having listened / vinaya / standing (there as point of question)
Having listened to Vinaya, having stood on Vinaya, they ask question from (i.e. regarding) Vinaya.

4 - 3: Awakening

Paṭhamabodhisutta

Evaṁ me sutaṁ— ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā uruvelāyaṁ viharati najjā nerañjarāya tīre bodhirukkhamūle paṭhamābhisambuddho. Tena kho pana samayena bhagavā sattāhaṁ ekapallaṅkena nisinno hoti vimuttisukhapaṭisaṁvedī. Atha kho bhagavā tassa sattāhassa accayena tamhā samādhimhā vuṭṭhahitvā rattiyā paṭhamaṁ yāmaṁ paṭiccasamuppādaṁ anulomaṁ sādhukaṁ manasākāsi:

“Iti imasmiṁ sati idaṁ hoti, imassuppādā idaṁ uppajjati, yadidaṁ— avijjāpaccayā saṅkhārā, saṅkhārapaccayā viññāṇaṁ, viññāṇapaccayā nāmarūpaṁ, nāmarūpapaccayā saḷāyatanaṁ, saḷāyatanapaccayā phasso, phassapaccayā vedanā, vedanāpaccayā taṇhā, taṇhāpaccayā upādānaṁ, upādānapaccayā bhavo, bhavapaccayā jāti, jātipaccayā jarāmaraṇaṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā sambhavanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa samudayo hotī”ti.

Atha kho bhagavā etamatthaṁ viditvā tāyaṁ velāyaṁ imaṁ udānaṁ udānesi:

“Yadā have pātubhavanti dhammā,
Ātāpino jhāyato brāhmaṇassa;
Athassa kaṅkhā vapayanti sabbā,
Yato pajānāti sahetudhamman”ti.

Dutiyabodhisutta

Evaṁ me sutaṁ— ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā uruvelāyaṁ viharati najjā nerañjarāya tīre bodhirukkhamūle paṭhamābhisambuddho. Tena kho pana samayena bhagavā sattāhaṁ ekapallaṅkena nisinno hoti vimuttisukhapaṭisaṁvedī. Atha kho bhagavā tassa sattāhassa accayena tamhā samādhimhā vuṭṭhahitvā rattiyā majjhimaṁ yāmaṁ paṭiccasamuppādaṁ paṭilomaṁ sādhukaṁ manasākāsi:

“Iti imasmiṁ asati idaṁ na hoti, imassa nirodhā idaṁ nirujjhati, yadidaṁ— avijjānirodhā saṅkhāranirodho, saṅkhāranirodhā viññāṇanirodho, viññāṇanirodhā nāmarūpanirodho, nāmarūpanirodhā saḷāyatananirodho, saḷāyatananirodhā phassanirodho, phassanirodhā vedanānirodho, vedanānirodhā taṇhānirodho, taṇhānirodhā upādānanirodho, upādānanirodhā bhavanirodho, bhavanirodhā jātinirodho, jātinirodhā jarāmaraṇaṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā nirujjhanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa nirodho hotī”ti.

Atha kho bhagavā etamatthaṁ viditvā tāyaṁ velāyaṁ imaṁ udānaṁ udānesi:

“Yadā have pātubhavanti dhammā,
Ātāpino jhāyato brāhmaṇassa;
Athassa kaṅkhā vapayanti sabbā,
Yato khayaṁ paccayānaṁ avedī”ti.

Tatiyabodhisutta

Evaṁ me sutaṁ— ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā uruvelāyaṁ viharati najjā nerañjarāya tīre bodhirukkhamūle paṭhamābhisambuddho. Tena kho pana samayena bhagavā sattāhaṁ ekapallaṅkena nisinno hoti vimuttisukhapaṭisaṁvedī. Atha kho bhagavā tassa sattāhassa accayena tamhā samādhimhā vuṭṭhahitvā rattiyā pacchimaṁ yāmaṁ paṭiccasamuppādaṁ anulomapaṭilomaṁ sādhukaṁ manasākāsi:

“Iti imasmiṁ sati idaṁ hoti, imassuppādā idaṁ uppajjati, imasmiṁ asati idaṁ na hoti, imassa nirodhā idaṁ nirujjhati; yadidaṁ— avijjāpaccayā saṅkhārā, saṅkhārapaccayā viññāṇaṁ, viññāṇapaccayā nāmarūpaṁ, nāmarūpapaccayā saḷāyatanaṁ, saḷāyatanapaccayā phasso, phassapaccayā vedanā, vedanāpaccayā taṇhā, taṇhāpaccayā upādānaṁ, upādānapaccayā bhavo, bhavapaccayā jāti, jātipaccayā jarāmaraṇaṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā sambhavanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa samudayo hoti.

Avijjāya tveva asesavirāganirodhā saṅkhāranirodho, saṅkhāranirodhā viññāṇanirodho, viññāṇanirodhā nāmarūpanirodho, nāmarūpanirodhā saḷāyatananirodho, saḷāyatananirodhā phassanirodho, phassanirodhā vedanānirodho, vedanānirodhā taṇhānirodho, taṇhānirodhā upādānanirodho, upādānanirodhā bhavanirodho, bhavanirodhā jātinirodho, jātinirodhā jarāmaraṇaṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā nirujjhanti. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa nirodho hotī”ti.

Atha kho bhagavā etamatthaṁ viditvā tāyaṁ velāyaṁ imaṁ udānaṁ udānesi:

“Yadā have pātubhavanti dhammā,
Ātāpino jhāyato brāhmaṇassa;
Vidhūpayaṁ tiṭṭhati mārasenaṁ,
Sūriyova obhāsayamantalikkhan”ti.

5 - A: Symbols and Glossary of Pali technical terms

Phonological Terminology

dīgha

long

rassa

short

garuka

metrically long

lahuka

metrically short

sambaddha

connected utterance

vavatthita

disjoint utterance

sithila

non-aspirated stops

dhanita

aspirated stops

niggahīta

nasal

vimutta

oral

Case terminology

Types of nominals

• Technical Terms and Technique of the Pali and the Sanskrit Grammars, Mahesh A Deokar, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (2008)

6 - B: The Pali Alphabet

Alphabet Order

Pali consists of 8 vowels (sara) and 33 consonants (vyañjana), arranged in the following order (the letters in round brackets are unused in the dictionary):

sara: a, ā, i, ī, u, ū
kaṇṭhatāluja: e
kaṇṭhoṭṭhaja: o
niggahīta: (ṃ¹)
kavagga: k, kh, g, gh, (ṅ)
cavagga: c, ch, j, jh, ñ
ṭavagga: ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, (ḍh), (ṇ)
tavagga: t, th, d, dh, n
pavagga: p, ph, b, bh, m
antaṭṭha: y, r, l, (ḷ), (ḷh)
dantoṭṭhaja: v
sakāra: s
hakāra: h

Alphabet Groups

How to form sounds

Pronunciation

7 - C: Pali Grammar Specification

This chapter presents a concise summary of the structure of Pali grammar and the technical terms used in Kaccāyana. It is structured using EBNF notation and presented as Syntax Diagrams (also known as “Railroad” diagrams).

The Pali Alphabet or Orthography (saññā)

Phonemes {2}

Pali is an oral language consisting of sounds, but can be transcribed in written form using a combination of phonemes. Overall, there are 41 phonemes, which are grouped as consonants and vowels. These phonemes can be rendered in various scripts, or using Roman letters.

@startebnf
title Phonemes (akkharā)
phoneme = 33 * consonant (* byañjanā *) | 8 * vowel (* sarā *);
@endebnf

Vowels {3}-{5}

The vowels can be short (1 mora in length) or long (2 morae). Some vowels can be short or long depending of circumstances.

@startebnf
title Vowels (sarā)
vowel =
  short (* rassaṃ, light (lahu), one mora (mattā) in length  *) |
  long (* dīghaṃ, heavy (garu), two mattā in length *) |
  variable (* can be long or short *);
short = "a" | "i" | "u";
long = "ā" | "ī" | "ū";
variable = "e" | "o";
@endebnf

Consonants {6}-{9}

Consonants can be grouped.

@startebnf
Title Consonants (byañjanā)
consonant =
  25 * grouped (* vagga *) |
  7 * ungrouped (* avaggā *) |
  1 * niggahita (* niggahita *) ;
grouped =
  5 * ka_group (* kavagga, velar (guttural) *) |
  5 * ca_group (* cavagga, palatal *) |
  5 * dot_ta_group (* ṭavagga, retroflex *) |
  5 * ta_group (* tavagga, dental *) |
  5 * pa_group (* pavagga, labial *) ;
ka_group = "ka" | "kha" | "ga" | "gha" | "ṅa" ;
ca_group = "ca" | "cha" | "ja" | "jha" | "ña" ;
dot_ta_group = "ṭa" | "ṭha" | "ḍa" | "ḍha" | "ṇa" ;
ta_group = "ta" | "tha" | "da" | "dha" | "na" ;
pa_group = "pa" | "pha" | "ba" | "bha" | "ma" ;
ungrouped = "ya" | "ra" | "la" | "va" | "sa" | "ha" | "ḷa" ;
niggahita = "aṃ" ;
@endebnf

Voicing

The grouped consonants can be either voiced or unvoiced.

@startebnf
Title Voicing
grouped =
  7 * voiceless (* aghosā *) |
  25 * voiced (* ghosā *) ;
voiceless = "ka" | "kha" | "ca" | "cha" | "ṭa" | "ṭha" | "ta" | "tha" | "pa" | "pha" ;
voiced = "ga" | "gha" | "ṅa" | "ja" | "jha" | "ña" | "ḍa" | "ḍha" | "ṇa" | "da" | "dha" | "na" | "ba" | "bha" | "ma" ;
@endebnf

Sentence structure

Pali text consist of sentences which contain one or more words. Words can be nouns, verbs, prefixes and particles. There is no strictly defined word order in sentences, but is proto-typically subject-object-verb.

@startebnf
title Sentence Structure
text = {sentence (* vakyā *)};
sentence = {word (* padajāti *)}- ;
sentence = ?subject?, ?object?, ?verb? ;
word =
  noun (* nāma *) |
  verb (* ākhyāta *) |
  prefix (* upasagga *) |
  particle (* nipāta *) ;
@endebnf

Nouns

@startebnf
title Noun types
noun =
  substantive (* nāmanāma *) |
  adjective (* guṇanāma, visesana *) |
  pronoun (* sabbanāma *) |
  numeral (* saṅkhyā *) |
  complex_noun (* vutti *) ;
substantive =
  common (* sādhārananāma *) |
  proper (* asādhārananāma *) ;
@endebnf

Nouns are constructed from a base, or stem. Kaccāyana refers to the nominal base as the liṅga, but this word is also used to refer to the grammatical gender of nouns. liṅga technically means defining “characteristic” or “attribute” and hence the term is appropriate for both, as the defining characteristic of a noun is the base together with the gender. Other words that can be used to represent the base are pāṭipadika or sadda.

A fully formed noun-word is constructed by combining the base with optional prefixes, infixes, affixes and suffixes. The final suffix is the inflectional-ending and expresses the syntactic case (relationship of the noun to other parts of a sentence), number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter).

@startebnf
title Noun formation
noun =
  {prefix (* upasagga *)},
  {root (* dhātu *)}-,
  [infix (* āgama *)],
  {affixes}- (* paccaya *) ;
affixes = 
  (primary_affix (* kitapaccaya *) |
  secondary_affix (* taddhitapaccaya *)),
  noun_ending (* vibhatti *) ;
noun_ending =
  gender (* liṅga*),
  multiplicity (* vacana *),
  syntactic_case (* vibhatti *) ;
gender =
  ?🚹 masculine (pulliṅga)? |
  ?🚺 feminine (itthiliṅga)? |
  ?🚻 neuter (napuṃsakaliṅga)? ;
multiplicity =
  ?⨀ singular (ekavacana)? |
  ?⨂ plural (bahuvacana)? ;
syntactic_case = case0 | case1 | case2 | case3 | case4 | case5 | case6 | case7 ;
@endebnf

Semantic cases

Semantic cases (kāraka) represent the relationship between words in a sentence (representing various participants) in the context of an action (verb). Pali has 7 different semantic cases, in addition to a vocative case which is sometimes denoted as an 8th case.

There is a strong association between semantic cases and syntactic cases, but the association is not an equivalance as a semantic case can be represented by more than one syntactic case, and a syntactic case can be used to represent more than one semantic case.

@startebnf
semantic_case =
  vocative (* ālapana *) | 
  nominative (* kattar, agent or "doer" of action *) |
  accussative (* kamma, object or "deed" of action *) |
  instrumental (* karaṇa, means or implement of agent *) |
  dative (* sampadāna, beneficiary of action *) |
  ablative (* apādāna, source or cause of action *) |
  genitive (* sāmi, owner of object *) |
  locative (* okāsa, place of action *) ;
@endebnf

Verbs

Technically, verbs in Pali are finite verbs, conjugated by applying verb endings which represent the perspective and voice of the actor, multiplicity, and the mood/tense of the action.

Infinitives, participles (past, present, future), absolutives and other forms of words considered as verbs in other languages are technically nouns in Pali - they are created by combining a verbal stem (root) with an affix (kita or kicca) and then inflected/declined by adding a noun ending.

@startebnf
title Verb types
verb = Bhuvadi | Rudhadi | Divadi | Svadi | Kiyadi| Tanadi | Curadi;
voice_affixes = Kattupaccaya | Kammapaccaya | Bhavapaccaya | Hetukattupaccaya | Hetukammapaccaya;
@endebnf

@startebnf
title Verb formation
verb =
  {prefix (* upasaggo *)},
  {root (* dhātu *)}-,
  [infix (* āgamo *)],
  voice_affixes (* paccaya *),
  verb_ending (* vibhatti *) ;
verb_ending =
  case_relation (* kāraka *),
  person (* purisa *),
  multiplicity (* vacana *),
  (tense (* kāla *) | mood);
time =
  past |
  present |
  future ;
case_relation =
  ?Kattukaraka : Active voice? |
  ?Kammakaraka : passive? ;
person =
  third_person (* paṭhamapurisa *) |
  second_person (* majjhimapurisa*) |
  first_person (* uttamapurisa *) ;
multiplicity =
  ?⨀ singular (ekavacanaṃ)? |
  ?⨂ plural (bahuvacanaṃ)? ;
voice =
  ?parassapada : active, action favours non-agent? |
  ?attanopada : reflective, action favours self/object?;
mood =
  ?pañcamī : Imperative, command or wish? |
  ?sattamī : Optative, permission or thought? |
  ?kālātipatti : Conditional, should have happened except for ...? ;
tense = 
  ?vattamānā : Present tense (paccupannakāla)? |
  ?parokkhā : Perfect, actions completed that was not witnessed? |
  ?hīyyattanī : Imperfect, past action excluding today? |
  ?ajjattanī : Aorist, past action completed today? |
  ?bhavissantī : Future tense? ;
@endebnf

Complex nouns

Complex nouns include compounds, verbal derivatives (primary) and nominal derivatives (secondary).

Derivatives are nouns formed by combining either a verbal or nominal stem with an affix, and then inflected/declined by applying noun endings.

@startebnf
complex_noun =
  compound (* samāsanāma *) |
  noun_derivative (* taddhitanāma *) |
  verb_derivative (* kitanāma *) ;
compound = 
  ?avyayībhāva : Adverbial? |
  ?kammadhāraya : Apposidonal? |
  ?digu : Numerical? |
  ?tappurisa : Determinative? |
  ?bahubbīhi : Relative? |
  ?dvandva : Copulative? ;
verb_derivative = verb_stem (* liṅga *), primary_affix, noun_ending ;
noun_derivative = noun_stem (* liṅga *), secondary_affix (* taddhita *), noun_ending ;
primary_affix = kita | kicca | unadi;
@endebnf

Prefixes

Prefixes can be used as words in a sentence (in which case they are indeclinable), or embedded in another word (in which case they act as prepositions and form part of the word).

Particles

@startebnf

(* avyaya *)
indeclinable = particle (* nipāta *) | prefix (* upasagga *);
particle = conjunction | preposition | adverb | indeclinable ;
@endebnf

References

This appendix is drawn upon information provided in the following sources

• Kaccāyana Pāli Vyākaraṇaṁ (Kaccāyana Pāli Grammar), Vols I and II, A. Thitzana, Pariyatti Press (2018)
• Technical Terms and Technique of the Pali and the Sanskrit Grammars, Mahesh A Deokar, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (2008)
• RŪPASIDDHI: A study of some aspects, Phramaha Sriporn Rachiwong, Department Of Sanskrit And Prakrit Languages, University Of Pune (1995)
• Pāli Grammar and Grammarians from Buddhaghosa to Vajirabuddhi: A Survey, O.H. Pind, The Journal of the Pali Text Society, Vol. XXXI (2012), pp. 57–124
• MĀGADHABHĀSĀ (PĀḶI): A Compendious Grammar on the Language of Pāḷi Buddhism, A. Bhikkhu, Sāsanārakkha Buddhist Sanctuary (SBS), Revised 2nd Edition (2023)

8 - D: `dhātu` (roots)

9 - E: `sandhi` Rules

Key

• → = “becomes,” “changes into,” “results in.” ⎯ → ∅ = elision.
• ∅ → = insertion.
• / = “in the environment of.”
• • = meeting.
• # = word boundary.
• [] = optionality (only after symbols).
• (V̆ ) = short vowel.
• (V̄ ) = long vowel.
• (C) = consonant.
• (CC) = double consonant.

“vowel → (V̄ ) [usually] / __ vowel [same class]”

says that any vowel (vowel) in the environment before another vowel (/ __ vowel) of the same class is usually lengthened (→ (V̄ ) [usually]).

(TBD: incomplete)

10 - F: `upasagga ` meanings

pa

parā

ni

nī