At 06:16 AM 30-10-01, John Kelly wrote:

>Pali to English
>24. Tu.n.dena pi.takamhaa maccha.m aaka.d.dhitu.m
>icchanto kaako sunakhamhaa bhaayati.
>Ans: The crow wishing to drag the fish from the basket
>with its beak fears the dog.
>
>Dog in this sentence (sunakhamhaa) is in the ablative
>case - an interesting construction after the verb
>bhaayati.

Duroiselle in "A Practical Grammar of the Paali Language" says:

>(i) The primary meaning of the Ablative is that expressed by the word "from"; that is, it expresses separation; it expresses also many other relations, in which the principal idea of separation is more or less discernible.

In relation to the above, he says:

>(x) Verbs meaning "to abstain, to avoid, to release, to fear, to abhor", also govern the Abl.:.. corehi bhaayaami, I am afraid of thieves.

My teacher says, "That's the way it is in Paali."

It does appear odd to us who are used to English and other languages. But if we put aside our ideas of how it should be expressed based on our English background, we may find that the Pali way is quite reasonable. (It's the English one that is odd.)

>English to Pali
>20. Virtuous men give food to the monks who approach
>their houses.
>Ans: Sappurisaa gehaani upasa"nkamantaana.m
>sama.naana.m odana.m dadanti.
>
>The exercise uses the word "food", which the key
>translates as "odana.m". Odana was introduced as
>"cooked rice", which is a little more specific than
>the more general food.
>
>Any comments?

While Pali Primer is probably the most friendly book to a new learner of Pali, teaching of vocabulary is certainly not among its strong points. Also, it seems that proofreading has been poorly done especially towards the end where the accumulated teaching points become a bit more difficult to manage.

As John pointed out, the answer key is mistaken in using "odana.m". Instead, it should be "bhatta.m", which can cover the meaning of (cooked) rice, (prepared) food, and meal.

peace

Ven Kumaara