Tzungkuen:

>I deeply appreciate your much helpful explanation.
>But what is Abhidhaanappadiipikaa? a grammar book ?

Dear Tzungkuen,

The Abhidhaanappadiipikaa is commonly referred to as the first Pali
dictionary, though it is really a thesaurus. It was composed by the
grammarian Moggallaana in 12th century Ceylon. It lists groups of synonyms
in quatrains, with nouns grouped together according to their gender. In
traditional-style Pali education the student would memorize the whole text
(1203 verses) and then study a commentary to learn what the words mean. I'm
told they still do it this way in Burma and in some of the more
conservative Pali schools in Sri Lanka.

>And can you give me the details of Childers' dictionary including its publisher.

"A Dictionary of the Pali Language" by Robert Caesar Childers (London 1874).

My own copy was published by the Buddha Sasana Council Press, Kaba-Aye,
Burma in 1974. I believe the most recent edition is from some publishing
house in India. A search of http://www.bookfinder.com/ came up with several
new and used copies, with a price range from $25 to $490 (if you want a
first edition).

The search also came up with a Pali grammar by Childers, which I hadn't
heard of before. Has anyone seen this?

In some ways I prefer Childers' dictionary to the PED, even though it came
out in the very early days of western Pali scholarship. The numerous sample
sentences he gives to illustrate the use of words are often remarkably well
translated, putting later scholars like Woodward and Mrs. Rhys Davids to
shame. In my estimation Childers was also a more careful lexicographer than
T.W. Rhys Davids and Stede. The errors and omissions in his dictionary
largely arise from the very limited range of texts he had to work with,
whereas those in the PED appear to be the result of slovenliness and haste.
Another advantage is that Childers included all the words in the
Abhidhaanappadiipikaa, some of which are omitted in the PED. This makes him
a useful source for reading post-canonical texts.

Finally, I should mention that his dictionary is in English alphabetical
order. When it was published he came in for some criticism for this from
the crustier sort of Sanskrit scholars, but it does mean a beginner in Pali
can look up words more quickly than in the PED or Buddhadatta.

Best wishes,

Robert