--- Dipa <sisterdipa@...> skrev:

> Lesson one:
> I know this by heart in Pali and I know what it
> means in English but
> in order to understand I am going ask where are the
> words "to and the" in the Pali? I understand that
> mi = I and gacchaa = go , saranam=refuge, Buddhham =
> Buddha. I only see " I go refuge Budddha". Is that
> it in Pali or am I missing something?

"To" is expressed by the fact that " sara.na"m " is in
the accusative case, which expresses direction.

"The" in English marks the distinction between
definite and indefinite forms. This distinction exists
in e. g. English, the main Teutonic and Romance
languages and in Greek; it does not exist in many
Slavic languages, nor in Latin, Hindi, Sanskrit or
Pali, just to mention a few examples.

(In Sinhalese the distincion exists, but is expressed
the other way around, the basic form being definite;
thus "miniha" means "the man", while "minihek" means
"a man".)

Gunnar







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