Hi All
Does anyone here know of any scholars that have applied the Linguistic
theory of Semantic Shift and Change [that words have additional meanings
added over time and often loose their origninal meaning] to words in the
Paali texts? I have asked the Paali Text Society and they said they
don't know any, which I was shocked to hear.
The ones I have considered are below. We have records that the Buddha
gave some of the definitions suggested below as the originals, the
others come from the comparative study he seems to have suggested for
his teaching that I have practiced for a while.
Word: x
Time frame: Suggested use by the Buddha -> subsequent uses, one being
the majority use by Buddhaghosa's time -> present day use
sati
memory -> memory and awarenss -> awareness
jhaana
awareness -> awarenss and concentration -> concentration
samaadhi
meditation -> meditation and onepointed -> onepointed
ekodhibhaava -> ekagattaa
become one -> become one and onepointed -> onepointed
dhamma
process -> process, teaching and mental object=mental form -> teaching
and mental object -> same
sangha
fourfold noble community -> fourfold noble community and community of
monks only -> community of monks only
ruupa
form [subtle=mental and gross=physical] -> physical only, i.e. the body
-> same
loka
the world of the mind/body complex -> the world of the mind/body complex
and external human, god and demon worlds -> external human, god and
demon worlds
dhammacakkhu -> dhammacakka
vision of the process [an internal quality] -> the wheel of the process
or teaching [an external thing]
The last four changes typify the shift from internal to external focus
in the development of religion and ritual.
----------------------------------------------------
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