Re: is rett_thiele signed up?

> I wonder if there is even another one like it in Roman script. I
> understand that O. Pind is currently preparing a new edition which I'm
> looking very forward to. I'm quite interested in buying traditional
> Pali grammatical and related treatises in print and available for
> mail-order purchase. If any of you can help me find where I can buy
> such books in any script, that would be truly wonderful! Perhaps those
> of you who live in Thailand may be able to help in this regard. I also
> happen to think that having this know-how will be beneficial should
> any of you become as interested as I am in getting a hold of these
> rare birds.
>
> Best wishes,
> Jim
>


Hi, Jim,

I asked a friend who has studied Paali most of his life about
traditional Pali grammar books today, he said that Paali in Thailand
is studied in the Thai script, since most men become ordained at least
once in their lifetime, traditionally, for over two thousand years
now.  The first time when Buddhism was introduced was at Nakorn
Pathom, where the innermost chedi had a short stone inscriptions
beginnig with 'ye dhamma' with a mixture of what is locally called
'Kruen' alphabets very much like those of the Asoke pilars in india,
with one letter that was the local addition to the Indian writting,
which still exist in the Thai alphabets today.  [If you wish to see
the inscription I could scan the pictures with the transcribed version
as well as the stone slabs which are now on display in a museum.]  The
name of the city at the time was Thom Tong or Thuem Tong which means
laden with gold, which is probably why the area was called
Suvannabhumi in the Tipitaka, he said.  A lot of the Sanskrit
vocabulary and spelling came later with the Khmers and was adopted
along with the Khmer language as the Thai court language, so that most
of the official or formal language was in Sanskrit, including a good
part of the translation of the Tipitaka into Thai done as recently as
a century and a half ago.  All this meandering to say that the local
study of Paali is in Thai script.  But if you are looking for
'traditional Pali grammarbooks in any script' then there are a number
available, [including the one Num spoke of some time ago here on this
list,] at the Mahamakut Bookstore at Wat Bavornives Vihara, which I
think you have the address of already, if not I think it is on the
internet and you might even order some by email.  I can get you the
address if you wish.  Do you read the Thai, though?

Anumodana with your studies,

Amara