A Course in the Pali Language

Pali is the language used to preserve the Buddhist canon of the Theravada Buddhist tradition,
which is regarded as the oldest complete collection of Buddhist texts
surviving in an Indian language. Pali is closely related to Sanskrit,
but its grammar and structure are simpler. Traditional Theravadins
regard Pali as the language spoken by the Buddha himself, but in the
opinion of leading linguistic scholars, Pali was probably a synthetic
language created from several vernaculars to make the Buddhist texts
comprehensible to Buddhist monks living in different parts of northern
India. It is rooted in the Prakrits, the vernacular languages, used in
northern India during the Middle period
of Indian linguistic evolution. As Theravada Buddhism spread to other
parts of southern Asia, the use of Pali as the language of the texts
spread along with it, and thus Pali became a sacred language in Sri
Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Pali has been used
almost exclusively for Buddhist teachings, although many religious and
literary works related to Buddhism were written in Pali at a time when
it was already forgotten in India.

This course is designed to help you to learn the basics of Pali
grammar and vocabulary through direct study of selections from the
Buddha’s discourses. It thus aims to enable you to read the Buddha’s
discourses in the original as quickly as possible. The textbook for the
course is A New Course in Reading Pali: Entering the Word of the Buddha
by James Gair and W.S. Karunatilleke (1998, Motilal Banarsidass
Publishers, Delhi, India. ISBN 81-208-1440-1). The Pali grammatical
tables were designed by Bhikkhu Nyanatusita.

The course proceeds sequentially through the chapters, or “Lessons,” in the textbook, each of which has three parts:

1. An initial set of readings and an accompanying glossary
2. Grammatical notes on the forms in the lesson
3. A set of further readings and a glossary

The lectures will be much more meaningful if the listener obtains a
copy of the textbook and studies each lesson before listening to the
associated set of lectures. Also, the textbook and lectures assume that
the listener has a fundamental understanding of grammar. For those whose
who feel that their knowledge of grammar needs refreshing, we recommend
Pali Grammar for Students by Steven Collins (2006, Silkworm Books, ISBN 978-974-9511-13-8).

Lesson I Lecture 1 Lecture 2 Lecture 3 Lecture 4 Recital of Initial Readings Recital of Further Readings	Lesson II Lecture 5 Lecture 6 Recital of Initial Readings Recital of Further Readings
Lesson III Lecture 7 Lecture 8 Lecture 9 Recital of Initial Readings Recital of Initial Readings	Lesson IV Lecture 10 Lecture 11 Lecture 12 Lecture 13 Recital of Initial Readings Recital of Further Readings
Lesson V Lecture 14 Lecture 15 Recital of Initial Readings Recital of Further Readings	Lesson VI Lecture 16 Lecture 17 Lecture 18 Lecture 19 Recital of Initial Readings Recital of Further Readings
Lesson VII Lecture 19 Lecture 20 Lecture 21 Lecture 22	Lesson VIII Lecture 23 Lecture 24 Lecture 25 Lecture 25 Lecture 26
Lesson IX Lecture 27 Lecture 28 Lecture 29 Lecture 30	Lesson X Lecture 31 Lecture 32 Lecture 33 Lecture 34
Lesson XI Recital of Initial Readings Recital of Further Readings	Lesson XII Recital of Initial Readings Recital of Further Readings

Tables for download
Pali Dictionary	Pali Alphabet
Pronoun Conjugation	Noun Declension 1
Noun Declension 2	Pronoun Declension
Verb Conjugation	Verb Conjugation and Pronoun Declension