PropertyValue
rdfs:label
  • pali
  • Pali
rdfs:comment
  • pali li tawa pi sijelo anu lawa. jan li pali la ona li kepeken e sijelo ona anu lawa ona tawa ni: ijo li lon ala, en jan li wile lon e ona. jan li ken pali tawa ni kin: ijo li ike, en jan li wile pona e ona. tenpo mute la, jan ante li pana e mani tawa jan pali. jan li pana e mani la, ona ken jo e ijo pi pali. tenpo mute la, jan li pali kepeken ilo.
  • The word Pali simply means ‘text’ but has come to be used as the name for the language that the Tipitaka used by Theravada Buddhists is written in. Traditional Buddhists believe that the Buddha spoke Pali although modern philologists have determined that Pali was actually a language of western or central India and thus could not have been known to the Buddha. Pali has long been considered a sacred language by some Theravada Buddhists and many of them believe that the Dhamma can only be fully understood by knowing Pali (See: Classical Theravada). However, the Buddha knew that no one language is better than any other in transmitting truth and thus his exhortation; ‘I allow you to learn the Buddha’s words each in your own language’ (Vin.II,139).
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Language
  • Pali
Countries
  • Originated in India. Now used as a liturgical and literary language.
Family
  • Indo-Aryan
People
  • Language of Theravada Buddhist Tipitaka
abstract
  • The word Pali simply means ‘text’ but has come to be used as the name for the language that the Tipitaka used by Theravada Buddhists is written in. Traditional Buddhists believe that the Buddha spoke Pali although modern philologists have determined that Pali was actually a language of western or central India and thus could not have been known to the Buddha. Pali has long been considered a sacred language by some Theravada Buddhists and many of them believe that the Dhamma can only be fully understood by knowing Pali (See: Classical Theravada). However, the Buddha knew that no one language is better than any other in transmitting truth and thus his exhortation; ‘I allow you to learn the Buddha’s words each in your own language’ (Vin.II,139). Although not the language of the Buddha, Pali does represent the language of the earliest, oldest teachings of the Buddha and the Pali Canon (Tipitaka) is dated earlier than any Sanskrit or Mahayana text. Until recently most books on Theravada - histories, poems, commentaries, stories, etc - were written in Pali. Any well-educated monk in Sri Lanka, Burma or Thailand will be proficient in Pali.
  • pali li tawa pi sijelo anu lawa. jan li pali la ona li kepeken e sijelo ona anu lawa ona tawa ni: ijo li lon ala, en jan li wile lon e ona. jan li ken pali tawa ni kin: ijo li ike, en jan li wile pona e ona. tenpo mute la, jan ante li pana e mani tawa jan pali. jan li pana e mani la, ona ken jo e ijo pi pali. tenpo mute la, jan li pali kepeken ilo.