Update: 2004-04-21 05:53 PM -0400

TIL

Nouns ending in [a]

L01

An Elementary Pali Course, by Ven. Narada Thera
http://www.vipassana.info/pali%20contents.htm -- in Tipitaka font
www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/ele_pali.pdf -- downloaded pdf file in TIL archive
See other sources.

Rewritten in Arial Unicode MS font and edited by U Kyaw Tun, M.S. (I.P.S.T., U.S.A.). Not for sale. Prepared for students of TIL Computing and Language Center, Yangon, MYANMAR. See referencesused.
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Declension of Nouns ending in [a]

In Pali nouns are declined according to the terminated endings a, ā, i, ī, u, ū, and o. There are no nouns ending in "e". All nouns ending in "a" are either in the masculine or in the neuter gender.

Illustration: [nara] -- (masc.) <man>

UKT: The corresponding Myanmar vowels  to a, ā, i, ī, u, ū, and o are:
| | / | / | / | / | /

There are three genders in Pali. As a rule males and those things possessing male characteristics are in the masculine gender, e.g.,

[nara] -- <man>
[suriya] -- <sun>
[gāma] -- <village>

Females and those things possessing female characteristics are in the feminine gender, e.g.,

[itthi] -- <woman>
[gangā] -- <river>

Neutral nouns and most inanimate things are in the neuter gender, e.g.,

[phala] -- <fruit>
[citta] -- <mind>

It is not so easy to distinguish the gender in Pali as in English.

		singular				plural
nominative	naro		a man; the man		narā
accusative	naraṃ		a man; the man		nare

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
dāraka	child
dhamma	doctrine
gāma	village
ghata	pot, jar
janaka	father
odana	rice, cooked rice
putta	son
sūda	cook
yācaka	beggar

Conjugation of Verbs

There are 7 conjugations in Pali which differ according to the conjugational signs.

Third person terminations:
singular -- [-ti]
plural -- [-anti]

Illustration:
[paca] <to cook>
[so pacati] <he cooks, he is cooking>
[sā pacati] <she cooks, she is cooking>
[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.

The word order In simple Pali sentences is SOV, whereas in English the word order is SVO -- where S is subject, V is verb and O is object.

An Elementary Pali Course

Lesson I

A. Declension of Nouns ending in "a"

*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.

B. Conjugation of Verbs

PRESENT TENSE - ACTIVE VOICE

*The verbs are often used alone without the corresponding pronouns since the pronoun is implied by the termination.

*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.

*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.

An Elementary Pali Course

Lesson II

A. Declension of Nouns ending in "a" (contd.)

*This form is not frequently used.

**The Instrumental case is also used to express the Auxiliary case (TatiyŒ).

***The vowel preceding "naµ" is always long.

B. Conjugation of Verbs

PRESENT TENSE - ACTIVE VOICE (contd.)

*"Thou cookest, or thou art cooking." In translation, unless specially used for archaic or poetic reasons, it is more usual to use the plural forms of modern English.

*Œ, n´, pa, etc. are Prefixes (upasagga) which when attached to nouns and verbs, modify their original sense.

Exercise 2-A

1. Tvaµ rathena gacchasi.
2. Tvaµ Œdarena Dhammaµ desesi.
3. Tvaµ gilŒnassa osadhaµ desi.
4. Tvaµ daö¶ena sunakhaµ paharasi.
5. Tvaµ vejjŒnaµ rathe pesesi.
6. Tumhe Œdarena gilŒnŒnaµ ŒhŒraµ detha.
7. Tumhe dŒsehi gŒmaµ* gacchatha.
8. Tumhe samanŒnaµ dhammaµ desetha.
9. Tumhe hatthehi osadhaµ labhatha.
10. Tumhe sunakhassa ŒhŒraµ haratha.
11. DŒrakŒ sunakhehi gŒmaµ gacchanti.
12. SèdŒ hatthehi ghaÊe dhovanti.
13. Tumhe gilŒne vejjassa pesetha.
14. DŒso janakassa ŒhŒraµ Œharati.
15. SamaöŒ Œdarena dhammaµ desenti.
16. Tumhe daö¶ehi sunakhe paharatha.
17. Vejjo rathena gŒmaµ Œgacchati.
18. DŒrakŒ Œdarena yŒcakŒnaµ ŒhŒraµ denti.
19. Tvaµ samaöehi Buddhaµ vandasi.
20. Tumhe hatthehi osadhaµ n´haratha.

*Verbs implying motion take the Accusative.

Exercise 2-B

1. You are coming with the dog.
2. You are giving medicine to the ascetic.
3. You are sending a chariot to the sick person.
4. You are striking the dogs with sticks.
5. You are preaching the Doctrine to the ascetics.
6. You give food to the servants with care.
7. You are going to the village with the ascetics.
8. You are bringing a chariot for the doctor.
9. The sick are going with the servants.
10. The dogs are running with the children.
11. The Enlightened One is preaching the Doctrine to the sick.
12. The servants are giving food to the beggars.
13. The father is going with the children to the village.
14. You are going in a chariot with the servants.
15. You are carrying medicine for the father.
16. You get medicine through* the doctor.

*Use the Instrumental case.

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