Re: Paali

Dear D. C.,

K. R. Norman has a discussion on the origin of the word Pāli in reference to the language on page 1-2 of his Pāli Literature:

"The word pāli is found in the chronicles and the commentaries upon the canon, but there it has the meaning of "canon" and is used in the sense of a canonical text or phrase as opposed to the commentary (aṭṭhakattha) upon it. ...

"It would seem that the name "Pāli" is based upon a misunderstanding of the compound pāli-bhāsā "language of the canon," where the word pāli was taken to stand for the name of a particular bhāsā, as a result of which the word was applied to the language of both canon and commentaries..."

The first person to use the word Pāli in this sense was Simon de la Loubère who visited Thailand in the late seventeenth century.

You can read more about it with all the references in Norman's work,

Best wishes, Bryan

From: "Dc Wijeratna dcwijeratna@... [palistudy]" <palistudy@yahoogroups.com>
To: palistudy@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, November 6, 2014 11:03 AM
Subject: [palistudy] Paali

Pali is an English word; Paali is a Pali word

PTSD dictionary gives it the meaning language of the Theravaada canon.

It also says that paali is not found in the Canon. It is in the commentaries.

I have some doubt about the meaning of paali.

Grateful for a clarification.

D.C. Wijeratna

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