Pronunciation guide: the Pali alphabet and its sounds

Pali has 41 letters, in this order (the dictionary’s order): a ā i ī u ū e o · k kh g gh ṅ · c ch j jh ñ · ṭ ṭh ḍ ḍh ṇ · t th d dh n · p ph b bh m · y r l ḷ v s h · ṃ. Devanagari is shown beside each word; Pali is also written in Sinhala, Burmese, Thai and other scripts.

Vowels

a	अ	a in “about” (short)
ā	आ	a in “father” (long)
i	इ	i in “sit”
ī	ई	ee in “see” (long)
u	उ	u in “put”
ū	ऊ	oo in “food” (long)
e	ए	ay in “day”; short before two consonants (mettā)
o	ओ	o in “go”; short before two consonants (sotthi)

Consonants

Throat

k	क	k in “skin”
kh	ख	k with a puff
g	ग	g in “go”
gh	घ	g with a puff
ṅ	ङ	ng in “sing”

Palate

c	च	ch in “church” (never k)
ch	छ	ch with a puff
j	ज	j in “jam”
jh	झ	j with a puff
ñ	ञ	ny in “canyon”

Tongue curled back

ṭ	ट	t, tongue tip curled back
ṭh	ठ	the same with a puff
ḍ	ड	d, tongue curled back
ḍh	ढ	the same with a puff
ṇ	ण	n, tongue curled back

Teeth

t	त	t on the teeth (French t)
th	थ	t with a puff, “at home” (never “thin”)
d	द	d on the teeth
dh	ध	d with a puff, “adhere” (never “this”)
n	न	n in “nut”

Lips

p	प	p in “spin”
ph	फ	p with a puff, “uphill” (never “f”)
b	ब	b in “bat”
bh	भ	b with a puff, “abhor”
m	म	m in “mat”

Others

y	य	y in “yes”
r	र	a light tapped r
l	ल	l in “love”
ḷ	ळ	l with the tongue curled back
v	व	between v and w
s	स	s in “sun” (never z)
h	ह	h in “hand”
ṃ	ं	niggahīta: a nasal hum (saṃgha ≈ “sang-gha”); also written ṁ

How to say a word

An h after a consonant (kh, th, dh, ph, bh…) is a puff of breath, never English “th” or “ph”.
Double consonants are held: dham·ma, bud·dha, sat·ta (like “bookcase”, not “booking”).
Long syllables have ā ī ū e o, end in ṃ, or come before two consonants; the others are short. Stress the second-last syllable if it is long (nib·bā·na, met·tā), otherwise the one before it.
Each entry shows the word split into syllables, e.g. nib·bā·na, saṅ·gha, met·tā.

Pali grammar, metre and literary devices

Grammar: genders and numbers

masculine	dhamma, buddha	most -a stems; nominative -o (dhammo)
feminine	mettā, paññā	mostly -ā, -i, -ī stems
neuter	citta, rūpa	-a stems; nominative -aṃ (cittaṃ)
singular / plural	dhammo / dhammā	Pali has two numbers; the old dual is lost

Grammar: the 8 cases (dhamma, masc.)

nominative	dhammo · dhammā	subject
accusative	dhammaṃ · dhamme	object; goal of motion
instrumental	dhammena · dhammehi	by, with
dative	dhammāya, dhammassa · dhammānaṃ	to, for
ablative	dhammā, dhammasmā, dhammamhā · dhammehi	from; because of
genitive	dhammassa · dhammānaṃ	of
locative	dhamme, dhammasmiṃ, dhammamhi · dhammesu	in, on, at; when
vocative	dhamma · dhammā	O …!

Singular · plural. buddha declines the same way: buddho, buddhaṃ, buddhena, buddhāya/buddhassa, buddhā, buddhassa, buddhe, buddha.

Grammar: verbs (bhavati / hoti “is, becomes”)

present	bhavati, hoti · bhavanti, honti	he/she is · they are; also bhavāmi/homi “I am”
aorist (past)	ahosi · ahesuṃ	he/she was · they were (also abhavi)
future	bhavissati, hessati, hohiti	will be
optative	bhaveyya	may be, should be (wishes, rules, conditions)
imperative	bhavatu, hotu · hontu	let it be · let them be
conditional	abhavissa	would have been (rare)

Grammar: non-finite forms

absolutive -tvā	bhavitvā, hutvā; gantvā, disvā	having been; having gone, having seen
infinitive -tuṃ	bhavituṃ, kātuṃ, gantuṃ	to be, to do, to go
present participle -nt / -māna	bhavanto, bhavamāna	being
past participle -ta / -na	bhūta, kata, dinna	become, done, given
future passive -tabba / -anīya	kātabba, karaṇīya	to be done, what should be done

Grammar: compounds (samāsa)

dvanda	samaṇabrāhmaṇā	“ascetics and brahmins”: X and Y
tappurisa	rājaputta	“king’s son”: Y of/by/for X
kammadhāraya	mahāpurisa	“great man”: Y that is X
digu	tiratana	“the three jewels”: a numeral first
bahubbīhi	mahāpañña	“(one) having great wisdom”: describes someone else
avyayībhāva	yathābalaṃ	“according to strength”: indeclinable, adverb-like

Grammar: sandhi (joining sounds)

vowel dropped	na + atthi → natthi	“there is not”
vowels merge	tatra + ayaṃ → tatrāyaṃ	a + a → ā
i + vowel	iti + evaṃ → iccevaṃ	i becomes y, ty → cc
ṃ + vowel	evaṃ + āha → evam āha	ṃ becomes m
ṃ + consonant	saṃ + gaha → saṅgaha	ṃ takes the nasal of the next consonant
doubling	pa + kamati → pakkamati	a consonant is doubled after a prefix

Prosody: heavy and light syllables

garu (heavy) –	ā ī ū e o; a short vowel + ṃ or two consonants	dham- in dhamma, saṃ- in saṃgha
lahu (light) ⏑	a short vowel (a i u) + at most one consonant	ma- in manasā

Metres are counted either by syllables (akkharachandas) or by morae, mattā (light = 1, heavy = 2).

Prosody: main metres

siloka (anuṭṭhubha)	4 × 8 syllables	the commonest; even lines usually end ⏑ – ⏑ x
tuṭṭhubha	4 × 11 syllables	yānīdha bhūtāni samāgatāni (Ratana-sutta, Sn 222)
jagatī	4 × 12 syllables	a tuṭṭhubha line with one more syllable; the two are often mixed in one verse
vetālīya	lines of 14 + 16 mattā	counted in morae, with the cadence – ⏑ – ⏑ –
opacchandasaka	lines of 16 + 18 mattā	like vetālīya, cadence – ⏑ – ⏑ – –
mattāchandas	metres counted in mattā	vetālīya, opacchandasaka and the old gīti/āryā forms

Dhammapada 1 (siloka): manopubbaṅgamā dhammā / manoseṭṭhā manomayā / manasā ce paduṭṭhena / bhāsati vā karoti vā: “Mind precedes things; mind is their chief, they are mind-made; if one speaks or acts with a corrupted mind …”

Literary devices in the canon

repetition, peyyāla	… pe …	repeated passages are written once and abbreviated with pe(yyāla), “and so on”
stock formulas	evaṃ me sutaṃ. ekaṃ samayaṃ bhagavā …	“Thus have I heard. At one time the Blessed One …”
numerical lists	cattāri ariyasaccāni	the Aṅguttara Nikāya is arranged by number (ones to elevens); mātikā are the Abhidhamma’s lists of headings
similes (upamā)	seyyathāpi … evam eva	“just as … even so”, e.g. the raft (kullūpama, MN 22)
verse and prose (geyya)	prose then summarising verses	geyya is one of the nine kinds (aṅga) of the Teacher’s word
dialogue, questions	taṃ kiṃ maññatha bhikkhave, rūpaṃ niccaṃ vā aniccaṃ vā ti? aniccaṃ bhante	teaching by question and answer (SN 22.59)
refrains	eko care khaggavisāṇakappo	“let one wander alone like the rhinoceros horn” ends each verse of Sn 35–75
chiasmus, ring structure	na hi verena verāni sammantīdha kudācanaṃ / averena ca sammanti	mirrored order (Dhp 5); many suttas end by returning to their opening
word-play	lujjatī ti kho bhikkhu, tasmā loko ti vuccati	“it crumbles (lujjati), so it is called the world (loka)” (SN 35.82)
epithets	bhagavā, tathāgata, sugata	and the ‘iti pi so’ list: arahaṃ sammāsambuddho vijjācaraṇasampanno …
framing stories	paccuppannavatthu · atītavatthu · samodhāna	a Jātaka’s present story frames the past story, then identifies the characters; Vinaya rules each have an origin story
uddāna	a mnemonic verse after each vagga	lists a key word from each sutta so the chapter can be recited from memory

Sources: A. K. Warder, Introduction to Pali (Pali Text Society, 3rd ed. 2001) and Pali Metre (PTS, 1967); W. Geiger, Pāli Literatur und Sprache (1916), rev. K. R. Norman as A Pāli Grammar (PTS, 1994); K. R. Norman, Pāli Literature (1983) and his papers on Pāli metre.

Pali Dictionary

चरति

carati

Say it: ca·ra·ti

Sanskrit equivalent

carati

Meaning

Carati

to move about, to “live and move,” to behave, to be
imper act. cara (Ja.i.152), carā (metri causa, Ja.iii.393); imper. med. carassu (Snp verse 696), pl. carāmase (= exhortative, Snp verse 32); -ppr. caranto (Ja.i.152; Pv-a.14) caraṁ (Snp verse 151; Dhp.61, Dhp.305; Iti.117); med. caramāna (Vin.i.83; Pv.10:10; Pv-a.160); -pot. careyya (Snp verse 45 Snp verse 386, Snp verse 1065; Dhp.142, Dhp.328) & care (Snp verse 35; Dhp.49, Dhp.168 Dhp.329; Iti.120); -fut. carissati (MN.i.428); -aor. sg. 1^st acariṁ (SN.iii.29), acārisaṁ (Pv.34:5), 3^rd acari (Snp verse 344) acāri (Snp verse 354; Dhp.326); cari (Ja.ii.133)
■ pl. 3^rd acariṁsu (Snp verse 809), acārisuṁ (Snp verse 284); cariṁsu (Snp verse 289) acaruṁ (Snp verse 289), acāruṁ (Ja.vi.114); -inf. carituṁ (caritu-kāma Ja.ii.103); -ger. caritvā (Ja.i.50) & caritvāna (Snp verse 816); -pp. ciṇṇa (q.v.)-Caus. cāreti (= Denom. of cara), pp. carita. 2^nd caus. carāpeti (q.v.)-See also cara, caraṇa, cariyā, cāraka, cārikā, cārin.

Meaning:

Lit.
1. to move about, to walk, travel etc.; almost synon. with gacchati in contrast to tiṭṭhati to stand still; cp. phrase carañ vā yadi vā tiṭṭhaṁ nisinno udāhu sayaṁ Iti.117 (walking, standing, sitting reclining; the four iriyāpathā); care tiṭṭhe acche saye Iti.120; tiṭṭhaṁ caraṁ nisinno vā sayāno vā Snp verse 151. Defined as “catūhi iriyāpathehi vicarati” (i.e. more generally applied as “behaviour,” irrespective of position) Dhp-a.ii.36. Expl. constantly by series viharati iriyati vattati pāleti yapeti yāpeti Cnd.237
  ■ carāmi loke I move about (= I live) in the world Snp verse 25, Snp verse 455 agiho c. I lead a homeless life Snp verse 456, Snp verse 464; eko c. he keeps to himself Snp verse 35, Snp verse 956; Dhp.305, Dhp.329; sato c. he is mindful Snp verse 1054, Snp verse 1085; gocaraṁ gaṇhanto c. to walk about grazing (see below) Ja.iii.275; gavesanto c. to look for Ja.i.61
2. With definition of a purpose piṇḍāya c. to go for alms (gāmaṁ to the village) Snp verse 386 bhikkhāya c. id. Ja.iii.82
  ■ With acc. (in etymol constr.) to undertake, set out for, undergo, or simply to perform, to do. Either with c. cārikaṁ to wander about, to travel: Vin.i.83; SN.i.305 (applied: “walk ye a walk”); Snp verse 92; Dhp.326; Pv-a.14 (janapada-cārikaṁ), Pv-a.160 (pabbata-c˚ wandering over the mountains); or with cāraṁ: piṇḍa-c.˚ carati to perform the begging-round Snp verse 414; or with caritaṁ: duccaritaṁ c. to lead a bad life Snp verse 665 (see carita). Also with acc. of similar meaning, as esanaṁ c. to beg Thag.123; vadhaṁ c. to kill Thag.138; dukkhaṁ c. to undergo pain SN.i.210.
3. In pregnant sense: to go out for food, to graze (as gocaraṁ c. to pasture, see gocara). Appl. to cows caranti gāvo Snp verse 20; Ja.iii.479; or to the bhikkhu Pv.10:10 (bh. caramāno = bhikkhāya c. Pv-a.51); Snp verse 386 (vikāle na c. buddhā: the Buddhas do not graze at the wrong time).
applied meaning:
1. abs. to behave, conduct oneself Snp verse 1080; Ja.vi.114; Mil.25 (kāmesu micchā c. to commit immorality)
2. with obj. to practise, exercise, lead a life: brahmacariyaṁ c to lead a life of purity Vin.i.17; Snp verse 289, Snp verse 566, Snp verse 1128 dhammañ c. to walk in righteousness Ja.i.152; sucaritaṁ c. to act rightly, duccaritaṁ c. to act perversely SN.i.94; Dhp.231.

Vedic carati, *qṷel to move, turn, turn round (cp. kaṇṭha & kula) = Lat. colo (incolo), Gr.; πέλομαι, πόλος (also αἰπόλος goat-herd & βουκόλος cowherd = gocara) also P. cakka, q.v. A doublet of car is cal, see calati Dhtp.243 explained car by “gati-bhakkhanesu”

Pali Text Society Pali–English Dictionary (Rhys Davids & Stede, 1921–25). Source