An Elementary Pali Course
Lesson I
A. Declension of Nouns ending in "a"
| Nara*: m**. man | ||
| SINGULAR | PLURAL | |
| Nominative | naro*** | narΠ|
| a man, or the man | men, or the men | |
| Accusative | naraµ | nare |
| a man, or the man | men, or the men | |
| Terminations | ||
| SINGULAR | PLURAL | |
| Nominative | o | Π|
| Accusative | µ | e |
*In PŒÂi nouns are declined according to the terminated endings a, Œ, i, ´, u, è, and o. There are no nouns ending in "e". All nouns ending in "a" are either in the masculine or in the neuter gender.
**There are three genders in PŒÂi. As a rule males and those things possessing male characteristics are in the masculine gender, e.g., nara, man; suriya, sun; gŒma, village. Females and those things possessing female characteristics are in the feminine gender, e.g., itthi, woman; gangŒ, river. Neutral nouns and most inanimate things are in the neuter gender, e.g., phala, fruit; citta, mind.
***Nara + o = naro. Nara + Œ = narŒ.
When two vowels come together either the preceding or the following vowel is dropped. In this case the preceding vowel is dropped.
| Masculine Substantives: | ||
| Buddha | The Enlightened One | |
| DŒraka | child | |
| Dhamma | Doctrine, Truth, Law | |
| GŒma | village | |
| GhaÊa | pot, jar | |
| Janaka | father | |
| Odana | rice, cooked rice | |
| Putta | son | |
| Sèda | cook | |
| YŒcaka | beggar | |
B. Conjugation of Verbs
PRESENT TENSE - ACTIVE VOICE
| 3rd Person Terminations | ||
| SINGULAR | ti | |
| PLURAL | anti | |
| paca: to cook | ||
| SINGULAR | So pacati* | he cooks, he is cooking |
| SΠpacati | she cooks, she is cooking | |
| PLURAL | Te pacanti | they cook, they are cooking |
*The verbs are often used alone without the corresponding pronouns since the pronoun is implied by the termination.
| Verbs: | |||
| DhŒvati* | (dhŒva) | runs | |
| Dhovati | (dhova) | washes | |
| Vadati | (vada) | speaks, declares | |
| Vandati | (vanda) | salutes | |
| Rakkhati | (rakkha) | protects |
*As there are seven conjugations in PŒÂi which differ according to the conjugational signs, the present tense third person singulars of verbs are given. The roots are given in brackets.
| Illustrations*: | |
| 1. | Sèdo pacati |
| The cook is cooking | |
| 2. | SèdŒ pacanti |
| The cooks are cooking | |
| 3. | Sèdo odanaµ pacati |
| The cook rice is cooking | |
| 4. | SèdŒ ghaÊe dhovanti |
| The cooks pots are washing | |
*In PŒÂi sentences, in plain language, the subject is placed first, the verb last, and the object before the verb.
Exercise 1-A
Translate into English.
1. Buddho
vadati.
2. Dhammo rakkhati.
3. SΠdhovati.
4. YŒcako dhŒvati.
5. SèdŒ pacanti.
6. JanakΠvadanti.
7. Te vandanti.
8. NarΠrakkhanti.
9. PuttŒ dhŒvanti.
10. DŒrako vandati.
11. Buddho dhammaµ rakkhati.
12. DŒrakŒ Buddhaµ
vandanti.
13. Sèdo ghaÊe dhovati.
14. NarŒ gŒmaµ rakkhanti.
15. SŒ odanaµ pacati.
16. BuddhŒ dhammaµ vadanti.
17. PuttΠjanake vandanti.
18. YŒcakŒ ghaÊe dhovanti.
19. Te gŒme rakkhanti.
20. Janako Buddhaµ vandati.
Exercise 1-B
Translate into PŒÂi.
1. He protects.
2. The man salutes.
3. The child is washing.
4. The son speaks.
5. The beggar is cooking.
6. They are running.
7. The children are speaking.
8. The fathers are protecting.
9. The sons are saluting.
10. The cooks are washing.
11. The men are saluting the Buddha.
12. Fathers protect men.
13. The cook is washing rice.
14. The truth protects men.
15. She is saluting the father.
16. The Enlightened One is declaring the Doctrine.
17. The boys are washing the pots.
18. The men are protecting the villages.
19. The beggars are cooking rice.
20. The cook is washing the pot.