is a Middle
Indo-Aryan Dialect or
Prakrit . It is most famous as the
Liturgical Language in which the scriptures of
Theravada Buddhism (also known as the
Pāli Canon or in Pāli the
Tipitaka ) were written down in
Sri Lanka in the
1st Century BCE . Pāli has been written in a variety of
Scripts , from
Brahmi ,
Devanagari and other
Indic scripts through to a
Romanised (western) form devised by
T. W. Rhys Davids of the
Pali Text Society .
The word Pāli itself signifies "line" or "(canonical) text", and this name for the language seems to have its origins in commentarial traditions, wherein the "Pāli" (in the sense of the line of original text quoted) was distinguished from the commentary or the vernacular following after it on the Manuscript page. As such, the name of the language has caused some debate among scholars of all ages; the spelling of the name also varies, being found with both long "ā" (
and short "a" ([a ), and also with either a
Retroflex (
or non- Retroflex ([l ) "l" sound. To this day, there is no single, standard spelling of the term; all four spellings can be found in textbooks.
Pāli is a
Literary Language of the
Prakrit language family; it is not now (and never was) an informal, spoken language, in the sense of a
Mother Tongue . Despite excellent scholarship on this problem, there is persistent confusion as to the inter-relation of Pāli to the vernacular of ancient
Magadhi .
Pāli was considered by early
Buddhist s to be linguistically similar to Old
Magadhi or even a direct continuation of that language. Many
Theravada sources refer to the Pāli language as “Magadhan” or the “language of Magadhi”. However,
Magadhi is an Eastern Indian language whereas Pāli most closely resembles Western Indian inscriptions. Oskar von Hinuber has speculated that Pāli may have originated as a form of
Lingua Franca or trade language used at the time of the
Ashoka n Empire. By the time of the spread of Buddhism to
Sri Lanka (by missionaries sent by King
Ashoka (
Aśoka ), according to
Buddhist sources), Pāli was a significant enough literary language that it had already been used to record the complete
Tipitaka . After the Pāli Canon was transmitted to
Sri Lanka , it continued to be preserved entirely in Pāli, while the commentarial tradition that accompanied it (according to the information provided by
Buddhaghosa ) was translated into
Sinhalese and preserved in local languages for several generations.
However it was ultimately supplanted by
Sanskrit as a literary and religious language following the formulation of Classical
Sanskrit by the scholar
Panini in
India . In
Sri Lanka , Pāli is thought to have entered into a period of decline around the 5th Century (as
Sanskrit rose in prominence), but ultimately survived. The work of
Buddhaghosa was largely responsible for its reemergence as an important scholarly language in
Buddhist thought. The
Visuddhimagga and the other commentaries that
Buddhaghosa compiled codified and condensed the
Sinhalese commentarial tradition that had been preserved and expanded in
Sri Lanka since the 3rd Century.
Today Pāli is studied mainly to gain access to ,
Sri Lanka ,
Thailand ,
Laos , and
Cambodia . Pāli scholarship in Northern
India generally ended with the rise of the
Sena Dynasty , with an uncertain process of decline in peninsular
India , perhaps lasting the longest in
Orissa , i.e., eventually ending (along with
Buddhist practice itself) with the fall of the last resistance to the expanding
Muslim empires on the subcontinent. Since the 19th century, various societies for the revival of Pāli studies in
India have promoted awareness of the language and its literature, perhaps most notably the
Maha Bodhi Society founded by
Anagarika Dhammapala .
In
Europe , the
Pali Text Society has been a major force in promoting the study of Pāli by Western scholars since its founding in
1881 . Based in the
United Kingdom , the society publishes romanised Pāli editions, along with many
English translations of these sources. The
Pali Text Society was in part founded to compensate for the very low level of funds allocated to
Indology in late 19th century
England ; incongruously, the English were not nearly so robust in
Sanskrit and
Prakrit language studies as
Germany ,
Russia and even
Denmark —a situation that many would say continues to this day. Without the inspiration of colonial holdings such as the former
British occupation of
Sri Lanka and
Burma , institutions such as the
Danish Royal Library have built up major collections of Pāli manuscripts, and major traditions of Pāli studies.
Virtually every word in Pāli has
Cognate s in the other Prakritic "
Middle Indo-Aryan Languages ", e.g., the
Jain Prakrit s. The relationship to earlier
Sanskrit (e.g.,
Vedic Language ) is less direct and more complicated. Historically, influence between Pāli and
Sanskrit has been felt in both directions. The Pāli language's resemblance to
Sanskrit is often exaggerated by comparing it to later Sanskrit compositions -- which were written centuries after Sanskrit ceased to be a living language, and are influenced by developments in Middle Indic, including the direct borrowing of a portion of the Middle Indic lexicon; whereas, a good deal of later Pāli technical terminology has been borrowed from the vocabulary of equivalent disciplines in Sanskrit, either directly or with certain phonological adaptations.
Post-Canonical Pāli also possesses a few loan-words from local languages where Pāli was used (e.g. Sri Lankans adding Sinhalese words to Pāli). These usages differentiate the Pāli found in the
Suttapiṭaka from later compositions such as the Pāli commentaries on the canon and folklore (e.g., the stories of the
Jātaka commentaries), and comparative study (and dating) of texts on the basis of such loan-words is now a specialized trade unto itself.
Pāli was not exclusively used to convey the teachings of the
Buddha , as can be deduced from the existence of a number of secular texts, such as books of medical science/instruction, in Pāli. However, scholarly interest in the language has been focused upon religious and philosophical literature, because of the unique window it opens on one phase in the development of
Buddhism .
Although
Sanskrit was said, in
Brahmanical tradition, to be the unchanging language spoken by the gods, in which each word had an inherent significance, this view of language was not shared in the early
Buddhist tradition, in which words were only conventional and mutable signs. Neither the
Buddha nor his early followers shared the brahmans' reverence for the
Vedic language or its
Sacred Texts . This view of language naturally extended to Pāli, and may have contributed to its usage (as an approximation or standardization of local Middle Indic dialects) in place of Sanskrit.
In popular thought, however, Pāli recitations were often thought to have a supernatural power (which could be attributed to their meeaning, the character of the reciter, or the qualities of the language itself), and in the early strata of Buddhist literature we can already see Pāli s used as charms, e.g. against the bite of snakes. Many people in
Theravada cultures still believe that taking a vow in Pāli has a special significance, and, as one example of the supernatural power assigned to chanting in the language, the recitation of the vows of
Aṅgulimāla are believed to alleviate the pain of childbirth in
Sri Lanka . In
Thailand , the chanting of a portion of the
Abhidhammapiṭaka is believed to be beneficial to the recently departed, and this ceremony routinely occupies as much as seven working days. Interestingly, there is nothing in the latter text that relates to this subject, and the origins of the custom are unclear.
Long and short vowels are only contrastive in open syllables; in closed syllables, all vowels are always short. Short and long and '''o''' are in complementary distribution: the short variants occur only in closed syllables, the long variants occur only in open syllables. Short and long and '''o''' are therefore not distinct phonemes.
The sounds listed above, except for , '''ḷ''' and '''ḷh''' are distinct phonemes in Pāli. only occurs before velar stops. '''ḷ''' and '''ḷh''' are allophones of '''ḍ''' and '''ḍh''' when they occur singly between vowels.
:Manopubbaṅgamā dhammā, manoseṭṭhā manomayā;
:Manasā ce paduṭṭhena, bhāsati vā karoti vā,
:Tato nam dukkhaṃ anveti, cakkaṃ'va vahato padaṃ.
:Mano-pubbaṅ-gam=ā dhamm=ā, mano-seṭṭh=ā mano-may=ā;
:Mind-before-going=''m.pl.nom.''
Dharma =''m.pl.nom.'', mind-foremost=''m.nom.pl.'' mind-made=''m.nom.pl.''
:Manas=ā ce paduṭṭh=ena, bhāsa=ti vā karo=ti vā,
:Mind=''n.sg.inst.'' if corrupted=''n.sg.inst.'' speak=''3.sg.pr.'' either act=''3.sg.pr.'' or,
:Ta=to naṃ dukkhaṃ anv-e=ti, cakkaṃ 'va vahat=o pad=aṃ.
:That=from him suffering after-go=''3.sg.pr.'', wheel as carrying(beast)=m.sg.gen. foot=n.sg.acc.
The three compounds in the first line literally mean:
:manopubbaṅgama "whose precursor is mind", "having mind as a fore-goer or leader"
:manoseṭṭha "whose foremost member is mind", "having mind as chief"
:manomaya "consisting of mind" or "made by mind"
The literal meaning is therefore: "The
Dharmas have mind as their leader, mind as their chief, are made of/by mind. If
either speaks or acts with a corrupted mind, from that [cause suffering goes after him, as the wheel
a cart follows the foot of a draught animal."
A slightly freer translation by Acharya Buddharakkhita
:Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought.
:If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts suffering follows him
:like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox.
Although Pāli cannot be considered a direct descendant of either Classical
Sanskrit or of the older Vedic dialect, the languages are obviously very closely related and the common characteristics of Pāli and Sanskrit were always easily recognized by those in India who were familiar with both. Indeed, a very large proportion of Pāli and Sanskrit word-stems are absolutely identical in form, differing only in details of inflection.
The connections were sufficiently well-known that technical terms from Sanskrit were easily converted into Pāli by a set of conventional phonological transformations. These transformations mimicked a subset of the phonological developments that had occurred in Proto-Pāli. Because of the prevalence of these transformations, it is not always possible to tell whether a given Pāli word is a part of the old
Prakrit lexicon, or a transformed borrowing from Sanskrit. The existence of a Sanskrit word regularly corresponding to a Pāli word is not always secure evidence of the Pāli etymology, since, in some cases, artificial Sanskrit words were created by back-formation from Prakrit words.
The following phonological processes are not intended as an exhaustive description of the historical changes which produced Pāli from its Old Indic ancestor, but rather are a summary of the most common phonological equations between Sanskrit and Pāli, with no claim to completeness.
- Sanskrit and '''au''' always monophthongize to Pāli '''e''' and '''o''', respectively
::Examples: → '''mettā''', '''auṣadha''' → '''osadha'''
- Sanskrit and '''ava''' likewise often reduce to Pāli '''e''' and '''o'''
::Examples: → '''dhāreti''', '''avatāra''' → '''otāra''', '''bhavati''' → '''hoti'''
- Sanskrit becomes Pāli '''e''' (i.e. → '''ai''' → '''e''')
::Example: → '''thera'''
- Sanskrit appears in Pāli as '''a''', '''i''' or '''u''', often agreeing with the vowel in the following syllable. also sometimes becomes '''u''' after labial consonants.
::Examples: → '''kata''', '''tṛṣṇa''' → '''taṇha''', '''smṛti''' → '''sati''', '''ṛṣi''' → '''isi''', '''dṛṣṭi''' → '''diṭṭhi''', '''ṛddhi''' → '''iddhi''', '''ṛju''' → '''uju''', '''spṛṣṭa''' → '''phuṭṭha''', '''vṛddha''' → '''vuddha'''
- Sanskrit long vowels are shortened before a sequence of two following consonants.
::Examples: → '''khanti''', '''rājya''' → '''rajja''', '''īśvara''' → '''issara''', '''tīrṇa''' → '''tiṇṇa''', '''pūrva''' → '''pubba'''
- The Sanskrit sibilants , '''ṣ''', and '''s''' merge together as Pāli '''s'''
::Examples: → '''saraṇa''', '''doṣa''' → '''dosa'''
- The Sanskrit stops and '''ḍh''' become '''ḷ''' and '''ḷh''' between vowels (as in Vedic)
::Example: → '''cakkavāḷa''', '''virūḍha''' → '''virūḷha'''
- Many Assimilations of one consonant to a neighboring consonant occurred in the development of Pāli, producing a large number of Geminate (double) consonants. Since Aspiration of a geminate consonant is only phonetically detectable on the last consonant of a cluster, geminate and '''bh''' appear as '''kkh, ggh, cch, jjh, ṭṭh, ḍḍh, tth, ddh, pph''' and '''bbh''', not as ''khkh, ghgh'' etc.
- When assimilation would produce a geminate consonant (or a sequence of unaspirated stop+aspirated stop) at the beginning of a word, the initial geminate is simplified to a single consonant.
::Examples: → '''pāṇa''' (not ''ppāṇa''), '''sthavira''' → '''thera''' (not ''tthera''), '''dhyāna''' → '''jhāna''' (not ''jjhāna''), '''jñāti''' → '''ñāti''' (not ''ññāti'')
- When assimilation would produce a sequence of three consonants in the middle of a word, geminates are simplified until there are only two consonants in sequence.
::Examples: → '''uttāsa''' (not ''utttāsa''), '''mantra''' → '''manta''' (not ''mantta''), '''indra''' → '''inda''' (not ''indda''), '''vandhya''' → '''vañjha''' (not ''vañjjha'')
- The sequence resulting from assimilation changes to '''bb'''
::Example: → savva → '''sabba''', '''pravrajati''' → pavvajati → '''pabbajati''', '''divya''' → divva → '''dibba'''
Total assimilation, where one sound becomes identical to a neighboring sound, is of two types: progressive, where the assimilated sound becomes identical to the following sound; and regressive, where it becomes identical to the preceding sound.
- Internal Visarga assimilates to a following voiceless stop or sibilant
::Examples: → '''dukkata''', '''duḥkha''' → '''dukkha''', '''duḥprajña''' → '''duppañña''', '''niḥkrodha''' (='''niṣkrodha''') → '''nikkodha''', '''niḥpakva''' (='''niṣpakva''') → '''nippakka''', '''niḥśoka''' → '''nissoka''', '''niḥsattva''' → '''nissatta'''
- In a sequence of two dissimilar Sanskrit stops, the first stop assimilates to the second stop
::Examples: → '''vimutti''', '''dugdha''' → '''duddha''', '''utpāda''' → '''uppāda''', '''pudgala''' → '''puggala''', '''udghoṣa''' → '''ugghosa''', '''adbhuta''' → '''abbhuta''', '''śabda''' → '''sadda'''
- In a sequence of two dissimilar nasals, the first nasal assimilates to the second nasal
::Example: → '''ummatta''', '''pradyumna''' → '''pajjunna'''
- assimilates to a following '''ñ''' (i.e., '''jñ''' becomes '''ññ''')
::Examples: → '''paññā''', '''jñāti''' → '''ñāti'''
- The Sanskrit liquid consonants and '''l''' assimilate to a following stop, nasal, sibilant, or '''v'''
::Examples: → '''magga''', '''karma''' → '''kamma''', '''varṣa''' → '''vassa''', '''kalpa''' → '''kappa''', '''sarva''' → savva → '''sabba'''
- assimilates to a following '''l'''
::Examples: → '''dullabha''', '''nirlopa''' → '''nillopa'''
- Nasals sometimes assimilate to a preceding stop (in other cases epenthesis occurs; see below)
::Examples: → '''aggi''', '''ātman''' → '''atta''', '''prāpnoti''' → '''pappoti''', '''śaknoti''' → '''sakkoti'''
- assimilates to an initial sibilant
::Examples: → '''sarati''', '''smṛti''' → '''sati'''
- Nasals assimilate to a preceding stop+sibilant cluster, which then develops in the same way as such clusters without following nasals (see below)
::Examples: → tikṣa → '''tikkha''', '''lakṣmī''' → lakṣī →'''lakkhī'''
- The Sanskrit liquid consonants and '''l''' assimilate to a preceding stop, nasal, sibilant, or '''v'''
::Examples: → '''pāṇa''', '''grāma''' → '''gāma''', '''śrāvaka''' → '''sāvaka''', '''agra''' → '''agga''', '''indra''' → '''inda''', '''pravrajati''' → pavvajati → '''pabbajati''', '''aśru''' → '''assu'''
- assimilates to preceding non-alveolar/retroflex stops or nasals
::Examples: → '''cavati''', '''jyotiṣ''' → '''joti''', '''rājya''' → '''rajja''', '''matsya''' → macchya → '''maccha''', '''lapsyate''' → lacchyate → '''lacchati''', '''abhyāgata''' → '''abbhāgata''', '''ākhyāti''' → '''akkhāti''', '''saṃkhyā''' → '''saṅkhā''' (but also '''saṅkhyā'''), '''ramya''' → '''ramma'''
- assimilates to preceding non-initial '''v''', producing vv → '''bb'''
::Example: → divva → '''dibba''', '''veditavya''' → veditavva → '''veditabba''', '''bhāvya''' → bhavva → '''bhabba'''
- and '''v''' assimilate to any preceding sibilant, producing '''ss'''
::Examples: → '''passati''', '''śyena''' → '''sena''', '''aśva''' → '''assa''', '''īśvara''' → '''issara''', '''kariṣyati''' → '''karissati''', '''tasya''' → '''tassa''', '''svāmin''' → '''sāmī'''
- sometimes assimilates to a preceding stop
::Examples: → '''pakka''', '''sattva''' → '''satta''', '''dhvaja''' → '''dhaja'''
- Sanskrit Sibilants before a stop assimilate to that stop, and if that stop is not already aspirated, it becomes aspirated; e.g. , '''st''', '''ṣṭ''' and '''sp''' become '''cch''', '''tth''', '''ṭṭh''' and '''pph'''
::Examples: → '''pacchā''', '''asti''' → '''atthi''', '''stava''' → '''thava''', '''śreṣṭha''' → '''seṭṭha''', '''aṣṭa''' → '''aṭṭha''', '''sparśa''' → '''phassa'''
- In sibilant-stop-liquid sequences, the liquid is assimilated to the preceding consonant, and the cluster behaves like sibilant-stop sequences; e.g. and '''ṣṭr''' become '''tth''' and '''ṭṭh'''
::Examples: → śasta → '''sattha''', '''rāṣṭra''' → raṣṭa → '''raṭṭha'''
- and '''p''' become '''c''' before '''s''', and the sibilant assimilates to the preceding sound as an aspirate (i.e., the sequences '''ts''' and '''ps''' become '''cch''')
::Examples: → '''vaccha''', '''apsaras''' → '''accharā'''
- A sibilant assimilates to a preceding as an aspirate (i.e., the sequence '''kṣ''' becomes '''kkh''')
::Examples: → '''bhikkhu''', '''kṣānti''' → '''khanti'''
- Any alveolar or retroflex stop or nasal followed by converts to the corresponding palatal sound, and the assimilates to this new consonant, i.e. '''ty, thy, dy, dhy, ny''' become '''cc, cch, jj, jjh, ññ'''; likewise '''ṇy''' becomes '''ññ'''. Nasals preceding a stop that becomes palatal share this change.
::Examples: → cyajati → '''cajati''', '''satya''' → sacya → '''sacca''', '''mithyā''' → michyā → '''micchā''', '''vidyā''' → vijyā → '''vijjā''', '''madhya''' → majhya → '''majjha''', '''anya''' → añya → '''añña''', '''puṇya''' → puñya → '''puñña''', '''vandhya''' → vañjhya → vañjjha → '''vañjha'''
- The sequence becomes '''mb''', via the epenthesis of a stop between the nasal and liquid, followed by assimilation of the liquid to the stop and subsequent simplification of the resulting geminate.
::Examples: → ambra → '''amba''', '''tāmra''' → '''tamba'''
An
Epenthetic vowel is sometimes inserted between certain consonant-sequences. As with , the vowel may be '''a''', '''i''', or '''u''', depending on the influence of a neighboring consonant or of the vowel in the following syllable. '''i''' is often found near '''i''', '''y''', or palatal consonants; '''u''' is found near '''u''', '''v''', or labial consonants.
- Sequences of stop + nasal are sometimes separated by or '''u'''
::Example: → '''ratana''', '''padma''' → '''paduma''' ('''u''' influenced by labial '''m''')
- The sequence may become '''sin''' initially
::Examples: → '''sināna''', '''sneha''' → '''sineha'''
- may be inserted between a consonant and '''l'''
::Examples: → '''kilesa''', '''glāna''' → '''gilāna''', '''mlāyati''' → '''milāyati''', '''ślāghati''' → '''silāghati'''
- An epenthetic vowel may be inserted between an initial sibilant and
::Example: → '''sirī'''
- The sequence generally becomes '''riy''' ('''i''' influenced by following '''y'''), but is still treated as a two-consonant sequence for the purposes of vowel-shortening
::Example: → arya → '''ariya''', '''sūrya''' → surya → '''suriya''', '''vīrya''' → virya → '''viriya'''
- or '''i''' is inserted between '''r''' and '''h'''
::Example: → '''arahati''', '''garhā''' → '''garahā''', '''barhiṣ''' → '''barihisa'''
- There is sporadic epenthesis between other consonant sequences
::Examples: → '''cetiya''' (not ''cecca''), '''vajra''' → '''vajira''' (not ''vajja'')
- Any Sanskrit sibilant before a nasal becomes a sequence of nasal followed by , i.e. '''ṣṇ''', '''sn''' and '''sm''' become '''ṇh''', '''nh''', and '''mh'''
::Examples: → '''taṇha''', '''uṣṇīṣa''' → '''uṇhīsa''', '''asmi''' → '''amhi'''
- The sequence becomes '''ñh''', due to assimilation of the '''n''' to the preceding palatal sibilant
::Example: → praśña → '''pañha'''
- The sequences and '''hv''' undergo Metathesis
::Examples: → '''jivhā''', '''gṛhya''' → '''gayha''', '''guhya''' → '''guyha'''
- undergoes metathesis with a following nasal
::Example: → '''gaṇhāti'''
- is geminated between '''e''' and a vowel
::Examples: → '''seyya''', '''Maitreya''' → '''Metteyya'''
- Voiced aspirates such as and '''gh''' on rare occasions become '''h'''
::Examples: → '''hoti''', '''-ebhiṣ''' → '''-ehi''', '''laghu''' → '''lahu'''
- Alveolar and retroflex sounds sporadically change into one another
:: Examples: → '''ñāṇa''' (not ''ñāna''), '''dahati''' → '''ḍahati''' (beside Pāli '''dahati''') '''nīḍa''' → '''nīla''' (not ''nīḷa''), '''sthāna''' → '''ṭhāna''' (not ''thāna''), '''duḥkṛta''' → '''dukkaṭa''' (beside Pāli '''dukkata''')
There are several notable exceptions to the rules above; many of them are common Prakrit words rather than borrowings from Sanskrit.
- → '''ayya''' (beside '''ariya''')
- → '''garu''' (adj.) (beside (n.))
- → '''purisa''' (not ''purusa'')
- → rukṣa → '''rukkha''' (not ''vakkha'')
Historically, the first written record of the Pāli canon is believed to have been composed in
Sri Lanka , based on a prior oral tradition. The transmission of written Pāli has retained a universal system of alphabetic values, but has expressed those values in a stunning variety of actual scripts. This is confusing to many westerners, who tend to assume that one script is ineluctably tied to one set of phonemes.
Early Pāli inscriptions made during the reign of the
Maurya n emperor
Ashoka were composed in the Ashokan
Brahmi script; in
Sri Lanka , Pāli texts were recorded in
Sinhala script. Other local scripts (most prominently
Burmese and
Thai ) have been used to record Pāli, and a standardized system of romanization was introduced in the 19th Century to permit Westerners to study Pāli with greater ease. In modern times, Pāli texts have also been reproduced in the
Devanagari and
Mongolian scripts to permit wider study.
The Pāli alphabetical order is as follows:
The linked pages will facilitate the comparison of the Romanized phonetic alphabet to the corresponding alphabets of the
Burmese ,
Sinhalese ,
Cambodian ,
Lao ,
Thai and other writing systems used to express the Pāli language.
There are several fonts to use for Pāli transliteration. Of them, Unicode fonts are recommended since they are interchangeable while non-unicode fonts are not, and also because Unicode seems to be the future for all fonts. Out of many Unicode fonts providing all necessary diacritics for Pāli, Times Ext Roman (serif), Courier Ext (monotype), and Vu-arial (sans-serif) seem to have the best appearance both on screen and in print.
They can be freely downloaded from
here ,
here , and
here respectively for use on Windows; the former two are Windows installers --- one just clicks on each of them, and follows the on screen directions until they are installed in the Fonts folder. The last one is a zip file, to be unzipped and installed.
: Installation files (.exe files) cannot be used on Linux. However, one can copy the font files from the Fonts folder of a Windows system into the folder /usr/share/fonts on a Linux one. In addition, some new Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu and RedHat, have packages available for Devanagari fonts and extended Latin fonts both used for Pali. Recent versions of Mac OS X also include similar font characters sets.
After the fonts have been set up, go to a wordprocessor such as Microsoft Word to set up the shortcut keys for the characters with diacritical marks in Times Ext Roman, Courier Ext or Vu-arial font.
In the case of Microsoft Word, select either font in the font combo box, then go to menu item Insert→Symbol. The Symbol dialog box pops up. Under the Symbols tab, select one out of the three in the Font combo box: under it should be a grid of characters.
For each desired character in the grid, select it by clicking on it, then click on the "Shortcut Key..." command button: the Customize Keyboard dialog box pops up. Pressing the desired shortcut key combination makes it show up in the "Press new shortcut key:" text box. Click the "Assign" command button, then click on "Close" and repeat this for each desired character. When done, close the Symbol dialog box.
Shortcut keys need be assigned only for one Unicode font. If one needs to change the font, just select the required section, go to font list, and make the change. This method will work as long as both original and target fonts are of Unicode type, and both provide certain diacritics for Pāli. This is why Unicode fonts are recommended.
The Velthuis scheme was originally developed in 1991 by Frans Velthuis for use with his "devnag" Devanagari font, designed for the TEX typesetting system. This system of representing Pāli diacritical marks has been used in some websites and discussion lists.
The following table compares various conventional renderings and shortcut key assignments:
See entries for "Pali" (written by scholar K.R. Norman of the Pali Text Society) and "India--Buddhism" in ''The Concise Encyclopedia of Language and Religion'', (Sawyer ed.) ISBN 0080431674
The standard text for studying Pāli in the English-speaking world remains A.K. Warder's ''Introduction to Pali'', published by the
Pali Text Society . (3rd ed. published 1991, ISBN 0860131971). Some students find Warder to be too complex for individuals with limited linguistic background. Lily de Silva's ''Pali Primer'' is often recommended as a more gentle introduction to the language (1st ed. published by Vipassana Research Institute Publications, 1994, ISBN 817414014X)
