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

स

sa

Say it: sa

Sanskrit equivalent

स्व sva, svayaṃ

Meaning

Sa¹

the letter s (sa-kāra) Snp-a.23; or the syllable sa Dhp-a.ii.6; Pv-a.280.

Sa²

base of the nom. of the demonstr. pron. that, he she. The form sg. m. sa is rare (e.g. Dhp.142; Snp verse 89) According to Geiger (P.Gr. § 105) sa occurs in Snp verse 40 times but so 124 times. In later Pāli sa is almost extinct The final o of so is often changed into v before vowels and a short vowel is lengthened after this v: svājja Snp verse 998 = so ajja; svāhaṁ Ja.i.167 = so ahaṁ; svāyaṁ Vin.i.2 = so ayaṁ. The foll. vowel is dropped in so maṁ Iti.57 = so imaṁ
■ A form se is Māgadhism for nt. acc sg. taṁ, found e.g. at DN.ii.278, DN.ii.279; MN.ii.254, MN.ii.255, and in combination seyyathā, seyyathīdaṁ (for which taṁyathā Mil.1). An idiomatic use is that of so in meaning of “that (he or somebody),” e.g. “so vata… palipanno paraṁ palipannaṁ uddharissatī ti: n’ etaṁ ṭhānaṁ vijjati” MN.i.45; cp. “sā ‘haṁ dhammaṁ nâssosiṁ” that I did not hear the Dh. Vv.40:5. Or in the sense of a cond. (or causal) part. “if,” or “once,” e.g. sa kho so bhikkhu… upakkileso ti iti viditvā… upakkilesaṁ pajahati “once he has recognised…” MN.i.37 Cp. ya˚; ii.2 b. On correl. use with ya˚; (yo so etc.) see ya˚; ii.1.

Idg. *so- (m.), *sā- (f.); nom. sg. to base *to- of the oblique cases; cp. Sk. sa (saḥ), sā; Av. hō, hā; Gr. ὁ, ἡ; Goth. sa, sō; Ags. sē “the” (= that one); pe-s = E thi-s

Sa³

prefix, used as first pt. of compounds, is the sense of “with,” possessed of, having same as; e.g. sadevaka with the devas Vin.i.8; sadhammika having common faith DN.ii.273; sajāti having the same origin Ja.ii.108. Often opposed to a- and other neg. prefixes (like nir˚;). Sometimes almost pleonastical (like sa-antara)
■ Of combinations we only mention a few of those in which a vocalic initial of the 2^nd pt remains uncontracted. Other examples see under their heading in alph. order. E.g. sa -antara inside Dhp-a.iii.788 (for santara Dhp.315); sa -Inda together with Indra DN.ii.261, DN.ii.274; AN.v.325 sq.; --uttara having something beyond, inferior (opp. an˚) DN.i.80; DN.ii.299 = MN.i.59; Ds.1292, Ds.1596; Dhs-a.50; --uttaracchada (& ˚chadana); a carpet with awnings above it DN.i.7≈; DN.ii.187 (˚ava) AN.i.181; Vin.i.192; DN-a.i.87; -udaka with water, wet Vin.i.46; -udariya born from the same womb, a brother Ja.iv.417, cp. sodariya; -uddesa with explanation Iti.99 Vism.423 (nāma-gotta-vasena sa-udd.; vaṇṇ’ādi-vasena sākāra); -upanisa together with its cause, causally associated SN.ii.30; -upavajja having a helper MN.iii.266 -upādāna showing attachment MN.ii.265; -upādisesa having the substratum of life remaining Snp verse 354; Iti.38 Ne.92. Opp. anupādisesa; -ummi roaring of the billows Iti.57, Iti.114
■ Note. sa² & sa³ are differentiations of one and the same sa, which is originally the deictic pronoun in the function of identity & close connection See etym. under; saṁ˚.

identical with saṁ˚

Sa⁴

(reflex. pron.) own MN.i.366; DN.ii.209; Snp verse 905; Ja.ii.7 Ja.iii.164, Ja.iii.323 (loc. samhi lohite), Ja.iii.402 (acc. saṁ his own viz. kinsman; C = sakaṁ janaṁ); Ja.iv.249 (saṁ bhātaraṁ) Pv.24:1 = Dhp-a.iii.277 (acc. san tanuṁ); instr. sena on one’s own, by oneself Ja.v.24 (C. not quite to the point mama santakena). Often in composition, like sadesa one’s own country Davs.i.10. Cp. saka.

Vedic sva & svayaṁ (= P. sayaṁ); Idg. *seṷo, *sṷe; cp. Av. hava & hva own; Gr. ἑός & ο ̔́ς his own; Lat. sui, suus; Goth. swēs own, sik = Ger. sich himself; etc.

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