Pali/Bibliography

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• The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya by Maurice Walshe, Wisdom Publications, 1996, ISBN 0-8617-1103-3. See p. 17, "The Relationship between Sanskirt and Pali" and p. 47, "The Pali Language".

Learning books

• A Pali Reader with Notes and Glossary, by Dines Andersen ... 1901-7: selected practice passages, mainly from the Jātaka commentary; intended for those who already have a basic knowledge
• Introduction to Pali, A. K. Warder, London: Luzac for the Pali Text Society, 1963: graduated introduction to the canonical language as exemplified in the Dīgha-nikāya, which it tries to cover completely (not 100% successful); mostly follows Aggavaṃsa's grammar
• Pali Buddhist Texts Explained to the Beginner, Rune E A Johansson, 1st edition 1973, 2nd edition 1977, 3rd edition 1981, Curzon Press: short selections from the Canon with full linguistic explanations; each is independent of those before

Grammar

• Pali Grammar, Wilhelm Geiger, Pali Text Society, 1994; extracted and revised by K. R. Norman from Pali Literature and Language, 1943, translated (with revisions by the author) by Batakrishna Ghosh from Pali Literatur und Sprache, 1916: not confined to canonical Pali; doesn't cover syntax
• Pali Grammar by Vito Perniola S. J., published by the Pali Text Society, Oxford, 1997: canonical language, but doesn't cover the whole Canon
• Indian Philology and South Asian Studies ... Pāli: a Grammar of the Language of the Theravāda Tipiṭaka, Thomas Oberlies, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York, 2001
  • Expanded edition: Pāli Grammar. The language of the canonical texts of Theravāda Buddhism, 3 volumes, Pali Text Society, 2019- , in progress: the fullest study of the canonical language, attempting complete coverage (not 100% successful); the Netti and Peṭakopadesa are covered because of their "close proximity to the canonical texts", but the Milindapañha is not, because of many differences in language; the method is typical of Western scholarship, trying to explain the evolution from Sanskrit

Dictionaries

• A Dictionary of the Pali Language. By Robert Cæsar Childers ... 1875: largely based on a "native" dictionary, the Abhidhānappadīpikā
• The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary, ed T. W. Rhys Davids and William Stede, 4 fascicles, 1921-5, reprinted in 1 volume: covers only texts published in the West by then, i.e. most of the Canon and a selection of others
• A Critical Pali Dictionary, V. Trenckner, Dines Andersen, Helmer Smith et al., 1924-2011, 33 fascicles, reprinted in 3 volumes, Pali Text Society: the most detailed dictionary, but abandoned about quarter through
• Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, G. P. Malalasekera, 2 volumes, India Office, 1937-8
• English-Pali Dictionary, Ven. A. P. Buddhadatta, 1955, Pali Text Society
• A Dictionary of Pali, Margaret Cone and Martin Straube, 4 volumes, Pali Text Society, 2001- , in progress