That's true if we are comparing the way they speak daily.

But here I am thinking of the ability and possiblity of the northern
Indians or even southern Indians, or even the Sinhalese, for that
matter, who can for example, chant the retroflex clearly.

The bottom line is that the native reciter should be clear and true to
himself or herself so that Pali becomes a tool of learning the Dharna.

Piya Tan

On Feb 13, 2008 10:41 PM, Gunnar Gällmo <gunnargallmo@...> wrote:

> > Piya Tan <dharmafarer@... <dharmafarer%40gmail.com>> wrote:
> > The "best" way of pronouncing Pali would
> > of course be by a native, an ethnic
> > north Indian. (Not a Sinhalese, although it sound
> > close.)
>
> In one respect at least, modern Sinhalese are closer
> to Old and Middle Indian pronounciation than modern
> North Indians:
>
> In Hindi, and I suppose other North Indian languages,
> a short -a at the end of a word is normally muted
> (Buddha becomes Buddh).
>
> In Sinhalese, it is pronounced (not a clear a sound,
> but still).
>
> Gunnar
>
> http://metrobloggen.se/esperanto
>
>
>
>
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