Pali Language Books & Resources - The List

Learning resources for the Pali student: primers/courses, grammar guides, dictionaries, sutta sources, translations, pdfs, and other references & aids. Including: AK Warder, Collins, Geiger, Duroiselle, & de Silva; also the DPD, DPR, & TPP...

Pali Language Books & Grammar Guides

Basic Pali courses & primers

Online: A Pali Primer, Lily de Silva;
Download: [BAUS.org:] A Pali Primer, Lily de Silva; also [archive.org:] available here.
Answers to the exercises.
Bhikkhu Bodhi's Audio tutorial of Pali Primer by De Silva
Stephen Sas's Video tutorials on the Pali Primer
James Whelan's Video tutorials on the Pali Primer
Bhante Suddhāso's Video tutorials of Pali Primer; by de Silva A publication of the Vipassana Research Institute. Basic introductory text, centered on short translation exercises. Less in-depth than some. Recommended to those with little or no experience in classical languages.

Download An Elementary Pali Course; Narada Thera;
[archive.org:] available here
[archive.org:] Answers to exercises This slender volume is intended to serve as an elementary guide for beginners.

The New Pali Course - Part I & II by Ven. Prof. Buddhadatta Maha Nayaka Thera also here and [archive.org:] pdf versions incl. Part III
[archive.org:] Answers to the Exercises.
Study guide to Part I;
Study guide to Part II; Basic introduction with exercises, written by a Sri Lankan monk who taught Pali at Ananda College in Sri Lanka.

Teach Yourself Pali in English; by Ven. Weragoda Sarada Maha Thero. [archive.org:] also available here.
Adapted from the materials in "The New Pali Course", and similar in content, this book provides a Basic introduction with exercises and answers.

Pāli for New Learners, Book 1, J.R. BhaddacakAn easy starter to Pāli studies, attempting to answer the question: “What is the quickest way to learn a language?”. It does this using simple conversational techniques, whilst maintaining traditional grammar methods.

Intermediate Courses

[archive.org:] Download A New Course in Reading Pali; James W. Gair & W.S. Karunatillake. Also availble [google drive] Here.
[archive.org:] Answers to the exercises and alternative here.
Bhikkhu Bodhi's Audio tutorials on A New Course in Reading Pali.
Also on youtube
James Whelan's Video tutorials on A New Course in Reading Pali. This book is intended as an introduction to the reading of Pali texts. It uses readings drawn largely from Theravada canon, both prose and poetry. The reading are in Roman script, and carefully graded for difficulty.

[archive.org:] An Easy Introduction to Pali; An new anonymous Pali course with simple and clear explanations.

[scribd:] Pali Made Easy; Ven. Balangoda Ananda Maitreya
[archive.org:] available hereA good course-book on Pali Language and Grammar with quizes and solutions.

Download An Introduction to Pali; A.K. Warder; - also available here
Answers to exercises and here
The sound files that accompanied Warder's Introduction to Pali
Wisdom&wonders Audio walk through.
A.K. Warder Introduction to Pali: Video Tutorial Series. The standard introductory text for learning Pali in the West. Very thorough and well designed, covers a broader range and depth than the Pali Primers. (Though can be a little advance for the novice).

Pali Grammar guides

[google books:] A Pali Grammar for students ; Steven Collins
This book is intended for modern students, inside or outside the classroom, as a work of reference rather than a "teach yourself" textbook.

A Practical Grammar Book of the Pali Language; Charles Duroiselle

[google books:] A Practical Grammar of the Pali Language ; by Charles Duroiselle.
[buddhanet.net:] available here, and [academia.edu:] here. Origonally composed in 1906, this text is long out of print, though a revised edition by Eisel Mazard is freely available. This is a very concise and thorough grammar guide though there are some typos errors. See my corrected version of a Practical Grammar of the Pali Language.

An Introductory Grammar of the Pāḷi Language; Allan Bomhard

[academia.edu:] An Introductory Grammar of the Pāḷi Language; 2018; by Allan R. Bomhard
[archive.org:] (2018) also available here
[scribd:] (2012) edition available here; A clear introduction to the grammatical structure of the Pāḷi language.Large portions of this book are based upon the third revised edition of A Practical Grammar of the Pāḷi Language by Charles Duroiselle.

[pariyatti.org:] Māgadhabhāsā (Pāḷi) – A Compendious Grammar on the Language of Pāḷi Buddhism by A. Bhikkhu,
[academia.edu:] also available here and [archive.org:] here
A thorough compendium based on numerous Pāḷi grammars both modern & ancient. The structure is primarily modelled after that of Kaccāyana.

[pariyatti.org:] Manual of Pāli Grammar (I) Pāli nouns, Book-A by A. Thitzana,
[pariyatti.org:] Manual of Pāli Grammar (I) Pāli nouns, Book-B
Manual of Pāli Grammar, a three-volume set, with free pdf download. containing detailed explanations of Pāli grammar.

[pariyatti.org:] Kaccāyana Pāli Grammar Volumes 1 - 2 by A. Thitzana,
The complete ancient grammatical text of the Pāli language which was used for centuries as a handbook for learning Pāli. The volume has been prepared in a format that is accessible to contemporary readers.

[scribd:] Pali Grammar; E Müller, Edited By Deepak Jain (2003)

[archive.org:] Pali Grammar; Vito Perniola This Grammar of Pali Language represents the research work done during the author's ten years (1955-65) of lecturing in Pali and Buddhism in Columbo, Sri Lanka.

[scribd:] A Pali Grammar; Wilhelm Geiger
Also available here and [archive.org:] here or on [google drive] Here..Originally published in German in 1916. Historical examination of the phonology and morphology of the language.

Download Syntax of the Cases in the Pali Nikayas; A. Wijesekera

Pali Inflection Tables & Shortforms

by Bhikkhu Nyanatusita: Pali Verb Conjugation and Noun/Pronoun Declension Tables, zipped
by Dhammadarsa Bhikkhu: Pali Grammar Summary Card: Nouns,
Pali Grammar Summary Card: Pronouns, Adverbs, and Particles,
Pali Grammar Summary Card: Verbs
tipitaka.net: Pāli Primer Language Guide Edition 1; - also here
Buddha-Vacana.org: Declension of nouns
Conjugation of verbs
by Ānandajoti Bhikkhu: A Practical Guide to Pāḷi Grammar; - also
A New Collection of Sentences; -also here and here
Others:
: A New Course in Reading Pāḷi: Grammar Summaries

Pali-English Dictionaries - pdfs

[archive.org:] Pali-English Dictionary (PED); The Pali Text Society, T.W. Rhys Davids and W. Stede. Also here.
PED Online (searchable version) Still the comprehensive standard - representing more than 20 years effort on the part of T.W Rhys Davids. Contains most Pali words to be found in the Tipitaka, with English definitions and Sanskrit roots.

[scribd:] A Dictionary of Pali A-Kh - Margaret Cone
[scribd:] A Dictionary of Pali G-N - Margaret Cone
Volumes I-III search online: Margaret Cone's DOP Online A major new dictionary of Pali from the Pali Text Society. This is a truly significant publication for both Pali studies and Buddhist studies more generally. Set to replace the Rhys Davids PED dictionary, though only three of the planned 4 volumes are yet published.

The Concise Pali English Dictionary (CPED) by Buddhadatta
[scribd:] also here
CPED Online (searchable version) Much smaller than the Rhys Davids PED dictionary. Written by a monk, aimed at the student. focuses on the meanings of Pali terms as they are traditionally conceived in the Theravada tradition, but makes note of modern Western interpretations as well.

[archive.org:] A Dictionary of the Pali Language; R.C. Childers
[google books:] Also here .

[archive.org:] The Student’s Pali-English Dictionary; U Phe Mon Tan

[academia.edu:] A dictionary of Pali verbs - Arati Kaikini
[scribd:] A dictionary of Pali verbs

Online Pali Dictionaries & Apps

Online:: The Pali Text Society: Pali-English Dictionary (PED)
Critical Pali Dictionary (CPD) (good but incomplete! The entries cover the range from "a" to "kāpurisa".)
Concise Pali-English Dictionary (CPED)
Wisdom Library
Pali Canon E-Dictionary (PCED)
Tamil-cube: pali-dictionary
Dictionary of Proper Names (DPPN) - also here DPPN
Sanskrit-English Dictionary (SED)
Digital Pāḷi Dictionary (DPD): The Digital Pāḷi Dictionary is a feature-rich Pāḷi-English dictionary which runs on GoldenDict, or any other application that supports the Stardict format. The DPD recognises an awesome 1.1 million unique inflected forms of Pāḷi words. Once you have the hotkey setup, simply select on a word in a Pāḷi text and hit the hotkey, the DPD will automatically recognise stem words to which that inflected form belongs. Then Click the grammar tab to get more more detailed grammatical information about the word; including root information, detailed construction, derivative, phonetic changes, compound, antonyms, synonyms, commentarial glosses, non-Indo-Aryan cogantes, Sanskrit cogantes and Sanskrit root.

Pali Readers

Pali Buddhist Texts. Explained to the Beginner. R. Johansson

[scribd:] Pali Buddhist Texts. Explained to the Beginner. by R. Johansson;
[google books:] also here Aimed at the early learner, and focused on conveying key Buddhist concepts while teaching grammar and vocabulary. Includes grammar overview, vocabulary and translation for each selection; with a chapter comparing Pali and Sanskrit.

[scribd:] Download Buddhavacana; Glenn Wallis A comprehensive Pali reader intended to enable a student to move directly into reading the Pali Nikayas.

The Dhammapada; S. Radhakrishnan, with Introductory Essays, Pali Text, English Translation and Notes.. For more advanced students, a breakdown of the best known and most-read text of the Pali Cannon. Substantial analysis and explanation of the text included, but no vocabulary.

Reading of the Dhammapada The University of Taiwan's Digital Library & Museum of Buddhist Studies, A complete word by word analysis of grammar and meaning.

Audio recordings of the classes, taught by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, on the short Saṃyutta Nikāya suttas, the Dhammapada, the Itivuttaka, and still other texts.

Online Readers & Apps

Digital Pali Reader (DPR): The Digital Pāli Reader (now available online) is a tool much like the hard-copy readers above. It includes the Pāli canon and related scriptures; but also multiple dictionaries (Pali-English, English-Pali, Pali proper names, and Concise Pali Dictionary) to facilitate reading as well as inflection tables and compound analysis. The DPR allows for instant lookup of words, with built in search functions. See this series of help videos for DPR installation and use.
Tipitaka-Pali-Projector (TPP): Similar to DPR, the Tipitaka Pali Projector project by Bhante Subhuti of Pa-Auk Forest Monastery in Maymyo, aims to produce the best Pali reader possible. The TPP is a software program to help one navigate the vast amounts of Pāḷi texts. It includes, 21 English Ebooks that can be displayed side by side with the Pāḷi texts. The Dictionaries and Search functions are where TPP separates itself from the other Pāḷi readers. It is very fast and totally off-line as an installable Exe or the project can run on any operating system that supports FireFox Web Browser. For help see the TPP YouTube channel.

Histories and Literature Guides

von Hinuber's, A Handbook of Pali Literature.

[archive.org:] A Handbook of Pali Literature, Oskar von Hinüber or here. And on [google.books:] A Handbook of Pali Literature, Oskar von Hinüber A survey of the available Pali literature, with descriptions of the contents and history of the texts of the Tipitaka. Also includes a general overview of the history of the Pali language, and its scholarship in the modern era.

Pali Literature Including the Canonical Literature in Prakrit; K.R. Norman, A general survey of Pali literature, similar to that of von Hinuber, but more precise and focusing primarily on works available in Romanised editions.

A History Of Pali Literature by Bimala Churn Law

A History Of Pali Literature; Bimala Churn Law.
Also here This book, published for the first time in 2 volumes in 1933, has become a classic in Pali studies. It presents an exhaustive picture of the Pali Literature, both canonical and post-canonical, giving summaries of all the Pali books.

Pali Resource Websites

Pali Suttas

Sutta Central - The Pali Canon in Roman script with translations in many languages, along with partial parallel versions of Chinese, Tibetan, Sanskrit etc. Full text search and even dictionary lookup.
The Pali Canon - The complete Pali Canon in multiple scripts at Tipitaka.org This is the Burmese edition finalized in May 1956.
Sri Lanka Tripitaka Project - a public domain electronic version of the Pali Canon
tipitaka.app Similarly allows full text search, dictionary look up and the choice of multiple scripts.
The Buddhas words.net Very impressive paragraph-by-paragraph Pali-English collection. Pali texts are from the Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka Buddhavasse 2500: World Tipiṭaka Edition in Roman Script.

Find.Dhamma.Gift is a search tool based on SuttaCentral.net and Theravada.ru materials. You can search in Pali, Russian, Thai and English for meanings, definitions, metaphors, explanations, people, locations etc. described in Suttas and Vinaya.

Guides to structure of Canon

Analysis of the Pāli Canon - Russel Webb.pdf
Cittadhammo Bhikkhu of the Forest Hermitage, Warwick (UK) has produced an interactive visual infographic structure of the Pali suttas. Click on the small circles to link to SuttaCentral.
Diagram of Pāli Canon.jpg

Pali-English Sutta Translations

Online:

Ajahn Thanissaro: Access to Insight
Michael Olds: Sutta Index
Bhikkhu Sujato: Sutta Central Translations in English, Chinese, Tibetan, Sanskrit.
Anandajoti Bhikkhu: Khuddakapāṭha
Dhammapada

pdf, epub etc.:

Bhikkhu Sujato: https://suttacentral.net/downloads
Bhikkhu Bodhi: The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Saṁyutta Nikāya; The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Aṅguttara Nikāya; The Suttanipata: An Ancient Collection of the Buddha’s Discourses Together with Its Commentaries
Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli: The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: a Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya
Maurice O’C. Walshe: The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya

This website reviews the modern translations of the suttas and provides links and an overview of the many Translators of the Pāli canon.

Pali Language Translation Tools

Pali Keyboard Diacritic input: [ancient-buddhist-texts.net] Diacritic Input; [tipitaka.org] Pāli Keyboard; See also [ocbs-courses.org] how-to-write-pali-diacritics
The UDP: Leigh Brasington has composed a Free Unicode Word Processor and Database tool called the Unicode Document Processor. The tool is useful for accessing an offline version of the PED dictionary, and a translated database of the suttas.
Pali Lookup: Pali Lookup also provides an offline Pali-English dictionary, but includes some other very useful functions such as providing a word usage count and inflection tables for pāli nouns, adjectives and verbs. Supposedly v 4.0 can be sourced from software.informer, but if this doesn't work (it didn't for me), you can source Pali Lookup v 2.0 here or from the BPS Library here. You may need to install CSX fonts. Download the zip file and install in windows fonts folder.
I have provided a video tutorial for Pali Lookup v2 installation here.

Karaniya Metta Sutta Snp 1.8 | translation guide

Continuing my look at the Sutta Nipata, - which contains some of the oldest portion of the canon. This translation guide analyses the Mettā Sutta (Snp 1.8) which, is perhaps the most popular discourse for reciting. It is a poem on the virtues of mettā, loving-kindness. It is a brief set of ten verse which lays out the ethical foundations for good will, and shows how to develop it in meditation. The word “Metta” is derived from the Pali word “Mitta” meaning “friend”. In the English, it has been translated as kindness, loving kindness, love and goodwill. Verse composition can throw up challenges to the amateur translator as it often employs alternate forms of words according to the needs of the metre. As such, we may find some unusual archaic endings in verse, or instances where words have been altered (vowel lengths, dropping of a niggahãta etc.) in order to meet the metre. And several examples of these can be found in the verses below.

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