Dear Piya, Matthew and friends,

thanks, Piya, for pointing that out. The Buddha did not speak Pali,
rather he spoke ancient Sanskrit and a vernacular many scholars call
Magadhi used in the Magadha empire and adjacent areas(?). The Buddha
could probably speak other dialects too. One important note is that
Pali and Sanskrit have many common characteristics. I have to leave
it here, as I am really not well-read in this area. I would be glad
to learn from better-informed members.

metta,
Yong Peng

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Piya Tan wrote:
One of the first things I learned from monastic Buddhism in Thailand
when I was there is that the Buddha did not speak Pali for the simple
reason there was no such language then. It was never a spoken
language. Please look up the works of especially KR Norman, Bechert
and others like him, or perhaps some enligtened ones amongst us might
give you a better answer.