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

• 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 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