Dear Yong Peng,

It is an academic question whether Pali is a dead language or not. Technically, a
dead language was once a living spoken language. Pali however was never a "living
spoken" language. It was a Kunstsprache used by monks probably from the Avantii
region, with additions and modifications to recite the Buddha's Teachings. The
language spoken by the Avantii people is probably dead by now or evolved into
something modern.

As such, I think it is more correct to call Pali a "sacred language" that is, we use
it only for scriptural purposes, and not as a spoken language. Although I remember my
abbot, the present acting Sangharaja of Thailand speaking Pali to the Sinhalese monks
in Sri Lanka since neither side was conversant with the language of the other.

Sukhi

Piya

Ong Yong Peng wrote:

> Dear Ed and friends,
>
> Pali, not doubt, is a "dead language". But, it is still liturgical,
> i.e. used in chanting in Theravada countries, preserving its spoken
> aspect. Buddhist texts are still written in Pali, preserving its
> written aspect (with South Asian, Southeast Asian and Roman
> scripts). Further insights into its grammatical structure and
> etymological aspects can all be derived from comparative language
> studies. Most of the Pali texts have also been translated into other
> languages, such as Chinese and Tibetan (and then to Japanese and
> Korean). Hence, the doctrinal authenticity is preserved too.
>
> metta,
> Yong Peng
>
> --- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, emillersa1 wrote:
>
> I am confused. How is it that scholars can provide correct
> pronunciation and correct grammatical structure, yet it is a "dead
> language" that was only a spoken language. At least with Latin and
> ancient Greek there are written records left to compare to modern
> languages.
>
>
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