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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.
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UKT: Burmese-Myanmar does not have gender, and Burmese-Myanmar speakers learning French find it strange that every noun has to be either masculine (not necessarily male sex), or feminine (again, not necessarily female sex). Of course, neuter gender is unthinkable.
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> // {na.ra.} -- PMDict279
[suriya] - <sun> // {thu-ri.ya.} -- PMDict501
[gāma] - <village> // {ga-ma.} -- PMDict197
Females and those things possessing female characteristics are in the feminine gender, e.g.,
[itthi] - <woman> // {It~hti} PMDict113
[gangā] - <river> // {gïn~ga} PMDict191 (See Romabama Rule 06 for {king:si:} vowel-sign)
Neutral nouns and most inanimate things are in the neuter gender, e.g.,
[phala] -- <fruit>
[citta] -- <mind>
UKT: Though Ashin Narada stated: "As a rule males and those things possessing
male characteristics are in the masculine gender", generally, gender in a
language does not reflect sex. The following is on the French language from:
http://french.about.com/library/begin/bl_nouns.htm
"A noun is a word that represents a thing, whether that thing is
concrete (e.g., a chair, a dog) or abstract (an idea, happiness). In French, all
nouns have a gender "ak-rim01med/-- they are either
masculine or feminine. It is very important to learn a noun's gender along with
the noun itself because articles, adjectives, and some verbs have to agree
with nouns; that is, they change depending on the gender of the noun they
precede or follow. The gender of some nouns makes sense ( homme
<English: man> is masculine, femme <English: woman> is feminine)
but others don't: personne <English: person> is always feminine,
even if the person is a man! The best way to learn the gender of nouns is to
make your vocabulary lists with the definite or indefinite article."
Myanmars are lucky: Burmese-Myanmar has no gender. Ashin
Narada stated: "It is not so easy to distinguish the gender in Pali as in English."
This section is based on: http://www.learnenglish.de/Level1/GrammarText/CASETEXT.htm
Case is the grammatical function of a noun or pronoun.
The three cases in modern English are:
1.subjective or nominative
<he>
2. objective or accusative
<him>
3. possessive or genitive
<his>.
See table below for more. There is no dative case in modern English.
First though the good news. You cannot really go wrong here, we have shed most of our cases and as a result English is easier than many other languages because nouns and some indefinite pronouns (anyone, someone, everyone, and so on) only have a distinctive case form for the possessive. However, a remnant of old English is that pronouns have distinctive forms in all three cases and must be used with care.
The personal pronouns, and who and its compounds, are the only words that are inflected in all three cases (subjective, objective, possessive). In nouns the first two cases (subjective and objective) are indistinguishable, and are called the common case. One result of this simplicity is that, the sense of case being almost lost, the few mistakes that can be made are made often, even by native speakers — some of them so often that they are now almost right by prescription.
Subjective/Nominative | Objective/Accusative | Possessive/Genitive |
- referring to the subject in a sentence | - referring to the object in a sentence | The apostrophe form of the word "Helen's, David's" |
I | me | my, mine |
you | you | your, yours |
he | him | his |
she | her | her, hers |
it | it | its |
we | us | our, ours |
they | them | their, theirs |
This section is based on:
• http://www.geocities.com/derekacameron/pali.html
• An Elementary Pali Course, by Ashin Narada
Pali is an inflected language. The grammatical function of nouns is indicated by case endings rather than (as in English) by prepositions or word order. Pali distinguishes between eight cases. Case endings vary according to the stem of the noun in question. There are 8 cases in Pali.
1.
[pathamā] <first>
nominative abbr.
nom. also known
as
subjective abbr. subj. case
• Direct subject
•
Grammar Of, relating to, or belonging to a case of the subject of a finite
verb (as I in I wrote the letter ) and of words identified with
the subject of a copula, such as a predicate nominative (as children in
These are his children ).
-- AHTD
2.
[dutiyā] <second>
accusative abbr.
acc. also known as objective abbr. obj. case.
• Direct object
• Grammar Of,
relating to, or being the case of a noun, pronoun, adjective, or participle that
is the direct object of a verb or the object of certain prepositions.
-- AHTD
3.
[tatiyā] <third>
instrumental
abbr. inst.
[karana]
• (by - )
•
Grammar Of or designating a case used typically to express means, agency, or
accompaniment. 5. Of or relating to instrumentalism. -- AHTD
4. [catutthi] <fourth>
dative abbr. dat.
• (to - )
• Grammar adj.
1. Of, relating to, or being the grammatical case that in some
Indo-European languages, such as Latin and Russian, as well as in some
non-Indo-European languages, marks the recipient of action and is used with
prepositions or other function words corresponding in meaning to English to
and for. -- AHTD
5.
[pañcamī] <fifth>
ablative
abbr. abl.
•
(from - )
• Grammar
1. Of,
relating to, or being a grammatical case indicating separation, direction away
from, sometimes manner or agency, and the object of certain verbs. It is found
in Latin and other Indo-European languages. -- AHTD
6.
[chaṭṭhi] <sixth>
genitive
abbr. gen.
also known as
possessive abbr. pos. case
• (of - )
• Grammar
adj. 1. Of, relating to, or designating a case that expresses
possession, measurement, or source. 2. Of or relating to an affix or a
construction, such as a prepositional phrase, characteristic of the genitive
case.-- AHTD
7. [sattamī] <seventh>
locative abbr.
loc.
• adj.
1. Of, relating to, or being a grammatical case in certain inflected
languages that indicates place in or on which or time at which, as in Latin
dom º, “ at home. ” -- AHTD
8.
vocative abbr.
voc.
• Grammar adj.
1. Relating to, characteristic of, or used in calling. 2. Abbr.
voc. v. Relating to or being a grammatical case used in Latin and
certain other languages to indicate the person or thing being addressed. -- AHTD
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:
| | / | / | / | / | /
The following illustration is based on the following sources:
• 1. An Elementary Pali Course, by Ven. Narada Thera
http://www.vipassana.info/pali%20contents.htm
Illustration: [nara]
-- (masc. sing.) <man>
[narā]
-- (masc. plu.)
case | singular | plural | |||||
Nominative | (dir. subject) | naro | a/the man | narā | men; the men |
||
Accusative | (dir. object) | naraṃ | a/the man | nare | men; the men |
||
Vocative | nara narā |
O man! | narā | O men! | |||
Instrumental (compare abl.) |
(by - ) | narena | by/with a man | narebhi, narehi |
by/with men | ||
Dative (compare gen.) |
(to - ) | narāya narassa |
to/for a man | narānam | to/for men | ||
Ablative (compare instr.) |
(from - ) | narā naramhā narasmā |
from a man | narebhi, narehi |
from men | ||
Genitive (possessive) |
(of - ) | narassa | of a man | narānam | of men | ||
Locative | (in -, upon -) | nare naramhi narasmim |
in/upon a man | naresu | in/upon men |
The following illustration is based on the following sources:
• 1. An Elementary Pali Course, by Ven. Narada Thera
http://www.vipassana.info/pali%20contents.htm
Illustration:
[amha] -- < I >
[tumha] -- <you>
case | <I> (sing.) | <we> (plu.) | <you> (sing.) | <you> (plu> | |||
nom. | (dir. subj.) |
|
ahaṃ |
mayaṃ, amhe, (no) | tvam, tuvaṃ | tumhe, (vo) | |
acc. | (dir. obj.) |
maṃ, mamaṃ |
amhākaṃ, amhe, (no) | taṃ, tavaṃ, tvaṃ, tuvaṃ | tumhākaṃ, tumhe, (vo) | ||
voc. | |||||||
inst. (compare abl.) | (by - ) | mayā, (me) | amhebhi, amhehi, (no) | tvayā, tayā, (te) | tumhebhi, tumhehi, (vo) | ||
dat. (compare gen.) | (to - ) | mama, mayhaṃ, amhaṃ,mamaṃ, (me) | amhākaṃ, amhe, (no) | tava, tuyhaṃ, tumham, (te) | tumham, tumhākam, (vo) | ||
abl. (compare instr.) | (from - ) | mayā | amhebhi, amhehi | tvayā, tayā | tumhebhi, tumhehi | ||
gen. (possessive) | (of - ) | mama,
mayhaṃ, amhaṃ, mamaṃ, (me) |
amhākaṃ, amhe, (no) | tava, tuyhaṃ, tumham, (te) | tumham, tumhākam, (vo) | ||
loc. | (in -, upon -) | mayi | amhesu | tyayi, tayi | tumhesu |
[te] , [ṃe] , [vo] , and [no] are not used in the beginning of a sentence.
The following illustration is based on the following sources:
• 1. An Elementary Pali Course, by Ven. Narada Thera
http://www.vipassana.info/pali%20contents.htm
Illustration: [kaññā]
-- (fem. sing.) <maiden, virgin>
[kaññā]
-- (fem. plu.)
case | singular | plural | |||||
Nominative | (dir. subject) | kaññā | a/the maiden | kaññā kaññāyo |
maidens; the men |
||
Accusative | (dir. object) | kaññaṃ | a/the maiden |
kaññā kaññāyo |
maidens; the maidens |
||
Vocative | kaññe | O maiden! | kaññā, kaññāyo | O maidens! | |||
Instrumental (compare abl.) |
(by - ) | kaññāya | by/with a maiden |
kaññābhi
, kaññāhi |
by/with maidens | ||
Dative (compare gen.) |
(to - ) | kaññāya | to/for a maiden |
kaññānaṃ | to/for maidens | ||
Ablative (compare instr.) |
(from - ) | kaññāya | from a maiden |
kaññābhi , kaññāhi |
from maidens | ||
Genitive (possessive) |
(of - ) | kaññāya | of a maiden | kaññānam | of maidens | ||
Locative | (in -, upon -) |
kaññāya kaññāyaṃ |
in/upon a maiden |
kaññāsu | in/upon maidens |
The following illustration is based on the following sources:
• 1. An Elementary Pali Course, by Ven. Narada Thera
http://www.vipassana.info/pali%20contents.htm
Illustration: [muni]
-- (masc. sing.) <sage>
[munī]
-- (masc. plu.)
case | singular | plural | |||||
Nominative | (dir. subject) | muni | a/the sage | munī, munayo | sages; the sages |
||
Accusative | (dir. object) | muniṃ | a/the sage | munī, munayo |
sage; the sages |
||
Vocative | O sage! | O sages ! | |||||
Instrumental (compare abl.) |
(by - ) | muninā | by/with sage | munībhi, munīhi | by/with sages | ||
Dative (compare gen.) |
(to - ) | munino, munissa | to/for a sage | munīnaṃ | to/for sages | ||
Ablative (compare instr.) |
(from - ) |
muninā munimhā munismā |
from a sage |
munībhi munīhi |
from sages | ||
Genitive (possessive) |
(of - ) | munino, munissa | of a sage | munīnaṃ | of sages | ||
Locative | (in -, upon -) | munimhi, minismiṃ |
in/upon a sage | munīsu | in/upon sages |
The following illustration is based on the following sources:
• 1. An Elementary Pali Course, by Ven. Narada Thera
http://www.vipassana.info/pali%20contents.htm
Illustration: [ sāmī ]
-- (masc. sing.) <lord, husband>
[ sāmī ]
-- (masc. plu.)
UKT: PTS does not list [ sāmī ].
For <husband>, the following Pali words are given:
• [sāmiya] -- PTS p705.
• [ sāmi ]
--
http://www.orunla.org/tm/pali/ref/englpali.html#H2
• [ sāmika ] --
http://www.saigon.com/~anson/ebud/dict-ep/dictep-h.htm
case | singular | plural | |||||
Nominative compare voc. |
(dir. subject) | sāmī | a/the husband | sāmī, sāmino | husbands; the husbands |
||
Accusative | (dir. object) | sāmiṃ | a/the husband | sāmī, sāmino | husbands; the husbands |
||
Vocative | sāmī | O husband! | sāmī, sāmino | O husbands! | |||
Instrumental (compare abl.) |
(by - ) | sāminā | by/with
a husband |
sāmībhi, sāmīhi | by/with husbands | ||
Dative (compare gen.) |
(to - ) | sāmino, sāmissa | to/for a husband |
sāmīnaṃ | to/for husbands | ||
Ablative (compare instr.) |
(from - ) | sāminā, sāmiṃhā, sāmismā | from a husband | sāmībhi, sāmīhi | from husbands | ||
Genitive (possessive) |
(of - ) | sāmino, sāmissa | of a husband | sāmīnaṃ | of husbands | ||
Locative | (in -, upon -) | sāmini, sāmiṃhi, sāmismiṃ | in/upon a husband |
sāmīsu | in/upon husbands | ||
The loc. sing. has an additional "ni" |
The following illustration is based on the following sources:
• 1. An Elementary Pali Course, by Ven. Narada Thera
http://www.vipassana.info/pali%20contents.htm
• 2.
http://www.geocities.com/derekacameron/pali.html
Illustration: [bhikkhu]
-- (masc.
sing.) <monk>
[bhikkhu]
-- (masc. plu.)
UKT: Though Ashin Narada in An Elementary Pali Course gave the meaning of this
word as <mendicant>, I feel that <mendicant> which can also mean a "begger" is
not suitable. [bhikkhu] is a person held in high esteem and is not a despicable
beggar.
case | singular | plural | |||||
Nominative | (dir. subject) | bhikkhu | a/the monk | bhikkhavo bhikkhū |
monks; the monks |
||
Accusative | (dir. object) | bhikkhuṃ | a/the monk | bhikkhavo bhikkū |
monks; the monks |
||
Vocative | bhikkhu | O monk ! | bhikkhavo bhikkhave bhikkhū |
O monks ! | |||
Instrumental (compare abl.) |
(by - ) | bhikkhunā | by/with a monk | bhikkhūbhi bhikkhūhi |
by/with monks | ||
Dative (compare gen.) |
(to - ) | bhikkhussa bhikkhuno |
to/for a monk | bhikkhūnaṃ | to/for monks | ||
Ablative (compare instr.) |
(from - ) | bhikkhusmā bhikkhumhā bhikkhunā |
from a monk | bhikkhūbhi bhikkhūhi |
from monks | ||
Genitive (possessive) |
(of - ) | bhikkhussa bhikkhuno |
of a monk | bhikkhūnaṃ | of monks | ||
Locative | (in -, upon -) | bhikkhusmiṃ bhikkhumhi |
in/upon a monk | bhikkhūsu | in/upon monks |
The following illustration is based on the following sources:
• 1. An Elementary Pali Course, by Ven. Narada Thera
http://www.vipassana.info/pali%20contents.htm
Illustration: [abhibhū] -- (masc. sing.) <conqueror>
[abhibhū,] -- (masc. plu.)
UKT: According to 1. An Elementary Pali Course, only nom., voc. and
acc. are different from [bhikkhu]. The rest are the same.
case | singular | plural | |||||
Nominative | (dir. subject) | abhibhū | a/the conqueror | abhibhū, abhibhuvo |
conquerors; the conquerors |
||
Accusative | (dir. object) | abhibhuṃ | a/the conqueror | abhibhū, abhibhuvo |
conquerors; the conquerors |
||
Vocative | abhibhū | O conqueror ! | abhibhū, abhibhuvo | O conquerors ! | |||
Instrumental (compare abl.) |
(by - ) | by/with a conqueror |
by/with conquerors | ||||
Dative (compare gen.) |
(to - ) | to/for a conqueror |
to/for conquerors | ||||
Ablative (compare instr.) |
(from - ) | from a conqueror |
from conquerors | ||||
Genitive (possessive) |
(of - ) | of a conqueror | of conquerors | ||||
Locative | (in -, upon -) | in/upon a conqueror |
in/upon conquerors |
The following illustration is based on the following sources:
• 1. An Elementary Pali Course, by Ven. Narada Thera
http://www.vipassana.info/pali%20contents.htm
Illustration: [go]
(masc. sing.) <bull>
[gāvo]
(masc. plu.)
case | singular | plural | |||||
Nominative | (dir. subject) | go | a/the bull | gāvo, gavo | bulls; the bulls |
||
Accusative | (dir. object) | gāvuṃ, gavaṃ, gāvaṃ | a/the bull | gāvo, gavo | men; the bulls |
||
Vocative | go | O bull ! | gāvo, gavo | O bulls ! | |||
Instrumental (compare abl.) |
(by - ) | gāvena, gavena | by/with a bull | gobhi, gohi | by/with bulls | ||
Dative (compare gen.) |
(to - ) | gāvassa, gavassa | to/for a bull | gavaṃ, gunnaṃ, gonaṃ | to/for bulls | ||
Ablative (compare instr.) |
(from - ) | gāvā, gavā, gāvamhā, gavamhā, gāvasmā, gavasmā | from a bull | gobhi, gohi | from bulls | ||
Genitive (possessive) |
(of - ) | gāvassa, gavassa | of a bull | gavaṃ, gunnaṃ, gonaṃ | of bulls | ||
Locative | (in -, upon -) | gāve, gave, gāvamhi, gavamhi, gāvasmiṃ, gavasmiṃ | in/upon a bull | gosu | in/upon bulls |
End of TIL file