An analysis of the sounds and words used in Pali Language

Abstract

Pali is the name of the language of Theravada Buddhist literature. It belongs to Indo-European language family, especially to Middle Indo-Aryan. Tripitaka, the sacred text of the Buddhist, was first handed down in this language, and from then Pali was recognized as the language of literature. After the Tripitaka many religious and secular books were written in this language and thus, Pali became the language of a vast literature. It was originated in India, however, with the spread of Buddhism, it was accrosed the boundary of India and practiced in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Vietnam and Bangladesh; and a noteworthy number of books were written in those countries in this language. Pali contains many elements or characteristics of other languages, such as Vedic, Classical Sanskrit, Shinhalese, Dravidan etc. Hence, scholars termed it as compromising speech'. The main objective of this article is to present a clear conception of the phonological and morphological characteristics of Pali language. DOI: 10.3329/dujl.v1i2.3720 The Dhaka University Journal of Linguistics: Vol. 1 No.2 August: 2008 Page: 125-146