Update: 2018-08-30 06:29 PM -0400

TIL

A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary
read with Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit

MCscript-indx.htm

• by A. A. Macdonell, 1893,
- http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MDScan/index.php?sfx=jpg; 1929.
Nataraj ed., 1st in 2006, 2012.
• by F. Edgerton, 1953
- FEdgerton-BHSD<Ô> / Bkp<Ô>
The Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary, vol.2, by F. Edgerton, downloaded version is in TIL HD-PDF and SD-PDF libraries.

Edited by U Kyaw Tun (UKT) (M.S., I.P.S.T., USA), Daw Khin Wutyi, Daw Thuzar Myint and staff of Tun Institute of Learning (TIL) . Not for sale. No copyright. Free for everyone. Prepared for students and staff of TIL Research Station, Yangon, MYANMAR
- http://www.tuninst.net , www.romabama.blogspot.com

index.htm | Top
MC-indx.htm

Contents of this page

UKT 170904, 171212: I now have more additions to my collection and they are on Skt grammatical terms. They are in TIL libraries:
1. In HD-nonPDF: LearnSktOnline-GrammTerms<Ô> / Bkp<Ô>
2. In HD-PDF: KVAbhyankar-DictSktGramm<Ô> / Bkp<Ô>
and for those who would like to know of Mahayana:
The website http://www.ishwar.com/buddhism/holy_mahayana_texts/ 171212
has texts which can be downloaded:
• The Amitâyus Dhyâna Sûtra
• The Buddha-karita of Asvaghosha
• The Larger Pragñâ Pâramitâ Hridaya Sûtra
• The Smaller Pragñâ Pâramitâ Hridaya Sûtra
• The Larger Sukhâvatî Vyûha
• The Smaller Sukhâvatî Vyûha
• The Vagrakkhedikâ (Diamond-Cutter)

UKT to TIL editor 170827: The following are in txt-in-file form. If any are to be expanded, separate it as a nested folder.

Deficiency of graphemes compared to phonemes in BEPS languages
Nepali dictionaries
Language comparison and roots of languages being compared
Sanskrit speaking Buddhists
The Speech (mother tongue) of Gautama Buddha
Hand-written Skt-Dev Akshara
• Burmese Grammar and Grammatical Analysis 1899
by A. W. Lonsdale, Rangoon: British Burma Press, 1899 xii, 461, in two parts.
Part 1. Orthoepy and orthography -- BG1899-1-indx.htm - update 2016Sep (link chk 170902)
Part 2. Accidence and syntax -- BG1899-2-indx.htm - update 2012Nov (link chk 170902)

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Nepali Dictionaries

Downloaded files TIL HD-nonPDF and SD-nonPDF libraries:
- Turn-NepalDict<Ô> / bkp<Ô> (link chk 170729)
To refer to this dictionary use: Turn-Nepxxxx

The my progress on Turner's dictionary can be monitered:
- Turn-NepalDict-indx.htm (link chk 170729)

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Language comparison and roots of languages being compared

For comparing Pali and Sanskrit, it necessary to go into the Roots, and Verb-forms, for which I rely on:
¤ The Roots, Verb-Forms and Primary Derivatives of the Sanskrit Language, by William Dwight Whitney, 1885. In TIL HD-PDF & SD-PDF libraries:
- WDWhitney-RootsVerbForm<Ô> / Bkp<Ô> (link chk 170801)
See an example of incorporating Roots in page-by-page files on p077.htm
• √«kṣam» - 'endure' - Whit028.

For comparison to Pali, see UHS PMD in Appendix'Ka on {þak~ka.ta. Daat} 'Sanskrit Roots' . You can also browse through Practical Grammar of the Pali Language by Charles Duroiselle, 1906, in TIL HD-PDF and SD-PDF libraries:
- CDuroiselle-PaliGramm<Ô> Bkp<Ô> (link chk 170608)
Since the layout of Macdonell and Whitney is somewhat different, and the process of comparison is not smooth. To smooth out the process, I've given Whitney is given on the first page some entries on basic consonant. For example on:
- {ka.} - p060-3.htm , {ka} - p065.htm ,
¤ Pali Roots: from http://obo.genaud.net/backmatter/glossology/pali_roots.htm
Downloaded txt in TIL non-PDF library
- PaliRoots<Ô> (link chk 170607)

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Sanskrit speaking Buddhists

- UKT 170425, 180725

There were Sanskrit-speakers among the followers of Buddha. F. Edgerton in his Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary has dubbed their language (speech) as Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit aka BHS:
- BHS-vol01-indx.htm - update 160229 (link chk 180725)

I am using Vol. 1 as a bridge from Macdonell's work to Pal-Myn. Go thru the TOC to see its coverage:
Introduction
i01. Languages used in early Buddhism -- i01early.htm
i02. An 'original language' of Buddhism -- i02original.htm

UKT 160807: In BHS we find, Rāhula {ra-hu.la.} has an equivalent, Lāghula {la-Gu.la.}. It is an evidence for pronunciations of Lateral (L-like) plane changing into those of Rhotic (R-like) plane.

i03. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit -- i03BHS.htm
i04. Changes in the course of tradition -- i04changes.htm
i05. Plan and methods of this work -- i05plan-methods.htm
i06. Sanskrit vs Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit -- i06Skt-vs-BHS.htm
i07. The Prakrit underlying BHS -- i07Prakrit-BHS.htm
i08. BHS lexicon -- i08BHS-lex.htm

UKT 140315: I am finding Edgerton's Vol. 1, to be a very useful introduction. The small print was too much for my eyes until my able assistant Daw KhinWutyi started to digitize them from my research station in Yangon. The pages were scanned from the ink-on-paper book by my son Dr. Zin Tun. They are sent via email to Yangon to Wutyi who digitized them into html. Back they came to me in Canada to be checked, edited and included in this work.

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The Speech (mother tongue) of Gautama Buddha

-- UKT 120924, 130912, 140710, 151123, 170425

Imagine yourself listening to a sermon in Magadhi preached by Gaudama Buddha himself. How would your brain have recorded the sounds? Unless, you belong to the same linguistic group as the Buddha, your brain would not be able to record it perfectly. The Tib-Bur speakers would hear the speech and reproduce it in a non-rhotic non-hissing form, whereas IE (Indo-European) speakers, and Dravidian speakers (Aus-Asi) would have heard and recorded it in a rhotic hissing form. Since Magadha Mahajanapada {ma-ga.Da. ma.ha-za.na.pa.da.} 'foothold of of Magadha people' (c. 600 BCE - c. 300 BCE), is within "walking distance" from Tagaung Kingdom {ta.kaún:præN} in northern Myanmarpré, Pyus and others from our land, would surely be among his audience. And what they heard was brought back into Myanmarpré, and so our Pal-Myan is more close to the Buddha's speech than that of International Pali, Pal-Lat, which was derived from Lankan Pali. Pali in Lanka was invented from Old Magadhi and Lankan speech for use by the Theravada Buddhists after the missionaries from Magadha Kingdom of King Asoka centuries after the death of the Buddha.

Though there were no sound recording machines during the time of Magadha Mahajanapada {ma-ga.Da. ma.ha-za.na.pa.da.}, we can still get a fair idea how speech of the people would have sounded from the Abugida-Akshara script of King Asoka - a perfect phonetic script of the period which preceded by thousands of years the IPA alphabet of our modern times. Please note I am not saying that Pal-Myan and Bur-Myan are the same, but since our peoples share many genetic and cultural aspects, our phonologies would be the same.
See downloaded pdf in TIL SD-Library
- ACunningham-Asoka-inscrip«Ô» / bkp<Ô> (link chk 160222)

What Macdonell has given in his dictionary is mostly surface meanings which he undoubtedly got from the Hindu religionist sources. Sanskrit must have changed over the centuries as the speakers came into contact with new cultures and new religions, and Sanskrit of northern India of Buddha's time would be different from the "modern" Sanskrit of southern India thanks to the religionists writing and rewriting the religious texts over the centuries. However it is my expectation that I can get a fair idea of underlying meanings if I were to compare two contemporary (or almost contemporary) works such as that of Macdonell and of U Hoke Sein. A word such as {a.da-na.} & its antonym {da-na.}, is an example on how I would like to proceed. Example:

• अदान «a-dāna» --> {a.da-na.}
¤ Skt: n. not giving, withholding; a. not giving; not exuding juice from the temples [of elephant]. -- Mac09c1
¤ Pal: {a.da-na.} - n. not giving, not giving charity - UKT from UHS-PMD0041
¤ Pal antonym: {da-na.} - ¹. n. giving, giving liberally, giving charity. ². n. cutting (meaning "cutting of attachment"), cutting of family ties, must (a secretion from the temple of a male elephant which becomes excessive during must or mating season). ³. n. elimination - UKT from UHS-PMD0465

In the above example, • अदान «a-dāna» --> {a.da-na.}, we can use aks-to-aks to get from Skt-Dev to Pal-Myan.

Because I am a Buddhist not only by birth but by conviction, I have been curious about the language used by the historical Buddha - the Gautama Buddha. Forget the Mahayana Buddhas, such as the Adhi Buddha. They are nothing but axiomatic entities such, like the Hindu gods and goddesses, such as Mahabrahma, Vishnu and Siva, and the Médaws of the pre-Brahminical incursion into the Indian subcontinent extending into Myanmarpré.

It is obvious that the historical Gautama Buddha spoke mostly in his own language, the Magadhi, the language of {ma.ga.Da.teín:} 'Magadha-country' where he was born. The language is now recognized as the older form of Pali-Prakrit. What was its script?

It is accepted that the oldest script found in the Indian subcontinent was the script on Asoka pillars which is now dubbed Brahmi script. However, when one Magul king asked the Brahmins {poaN~Na:} to decipher the script on the Asoka pillars, they could not. This shows that it was not their script, and I must object to the name the "Brahmi". I prefer to call it "Asokan". Or, if you are stuck with Brahmi , call it is Asokan-Brahmi. This would differentiate it from another similar script, the Tamil-Brahmi. My interest in Telugu and Tamil languages are because of their similarity to Mon-Myan language.
See Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil-Brahmi 170228
" Tamil-Brahmi, or Tamili, is a variant of the Brahmi script used to write the Tamil language. These are the earliest documents of a Dravidian language, and the script was well established in the Chera and Pandyan states, in what is now Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Sri Lanka. Inscriptions have been found on cave beds, pot sherds, Jar burials, coins, seals, and rings. The language is Archaic Tamil, and led to classical Sangam literature.. [1]

"Tamil Brahmi differs in several ways from Ashokan Brahmi. It adds several letters for sounds not found in Prakrit [Magadhi?]: ṉ ṟ ṛ ḷ. Secondly, in many of the inscriptions the inherent vowel has been discarded: A consonant written without diacritics represents the consonant alone, whereas the Ashokan diacritic for long ā is used for both ā and short a in Tamil Brahmi. This is unique to Tamil Brahmi and Bhattiprolu among the early Indian scripts. [2] This appears to be an adaptation to Dravidian phonotactics, where words commonly end in consonants, as opposed to Prakrit, where this never occurs. According to Mahadevan, in the earliest stages of the script the inherent vowel was either abandoned, as above, or the bare consonant was ambiguous as to whether it implied a short a or not. Later stages of Tamil Brahmi returned to the inherent vowel that was the norm in India. [1]"

Macdonell using an older transliteration represents palatal plosive-stop {sa.} च as «ka» [«k» is slanted or in italics]. Note Bur-Myan uses the same glyph {Sa.} ष for dental fricative-sibilant. This transcription system was used by Indologists of his period, and if you are interested in Indology you should know about this transcription system.

The article that finally settled my query on the language of Buddha is from Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary , by Franklin Edgerton, 1885-1963,
- BHS-indx.htm (link chk 17042)

(p002c2)
1.15. The Buddha himself was an 'easterner'; his family lived at Kapilavastu, in northeaster Kosala (Oudh); his wanderings seem to have been chiefly bounded on the west by Srāvastī (also in Kosala, though considerably to the west of Kapilavastu) and on the east by Rājagrha, the capital of Magadha (Bihar south of the Ganges). All this region belongs linguistically to what is now called modern Bihari (except that Srāvastī may perhaps be just over the line in Eastern Hindi). Doubtless most of his disciples belonged to the same general region, and we may assume that, during the Buddha's lifetime, the Buddhist texts were mainly, at least, recited in eastern dialects. Yet no one knows just what dialect the Buddha spoke; and it seems clear that the dialects of his disciples differed perceptibly.

Realizing that his teachings would have to be spread among peoples speaking with differing phonologies, Buddha summarized,

and his disciple came up with his well known motto:

which I've put in BEPS version, using "Super Thawehto", and substituting "letters" with "akshara" to affirm the difference between Alphabet-Letter system of writing and Abugida-Akshara system: