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Paali Primer
Preface
Contents
Introduction
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5
Lesson 6
Lesson 7
Lesson 8
Lesson 9
Lesson 10
Lesson 11
Lesson 12
Lesson 13
Lesson 14
Lesson 15
Lesson 16
Lesson 17
Lesson 18
Lesson 19
Lesson 20
Lesson 21
Lesson 22
Lesson 23
Lesson 24
Lesson 25
Lesson 26
Lesson 27
Lesson 28
Lesson 29
Lesson 30
Lesson 31
Lesson 32
For free distribution, as a gift of Dhamma.

Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammaasambuddhassa.
Homage to the Blessed One, the Worthy One, The Fully Self-enlightened One.

Paali Primer

The Alphabet

Paali is not known to have a special script of its own. In countries where Paali is studied, the scripts used in those countries are used to write Paali: in India the Naagari, in Sri Lanka the Sinhalese, in Burma the Burmese and in Thailand the Kamboja script. The Pali Text Society, London, uses the Roman script and now it has gained international currency.

The Paali alphabet consists of 41 letters, 8 vowels and 33 consonants.

Vowels

a, aa, i, ii, u, uu, e, o

Consonants

Gutturals k, kh, g, gh, `n
Palatels c, ch, j, jh, ~n
Cerebrals .t, .th, .d, .dh, .n
Dentals t, th, d, dh, n
Labials p, ph, b, bh, m
Miscellaneous y, r, l, v, s, h, .l, .m

The vowels a, i, u are short; aa, ii, uu are long; e, o are of middle length. They are pronounced short before double consonants, e.g. mettaa, khetta, ko.t.tha, sotthi; and long before single consonants, e.g. deva, senaa, loka, odana.

Pronunciation

a is pronounced like u in cut
aa is pronounced like a in father
i is pronounced like i in mill
ii is pronounced like ee in bee
u is pronounced like u in put
uu is pronounced like oo in cool
k is pronounced like k in kite
g is pronounced like g in good
`n is pronounced like ng in singer
c is pronounced like ch in church
j is pronounced like j in jam
~n is pronounced like gn in signor
.t is pronounced like t in hat
.d is pronounced like d in good
.n is pronounced like n in now
t is pronounced like th in thumb
d is pronounced like th in they
n is pronounced like n in now
p is pronounced like p in put
b is pronounced like b in but
m is pronounced like m in mind
y is pronounced like y in yes
r is pronounced like r in right
l is pronounced like l in light
v is pronounced like v in vine
s is pronounced like s in sing
h is pronounced like h in hot
.l is pronounced like l in light
.m is pronounced like ng in sing

kh, gh, ch, jh, .th, .dh, th, dh, ph, bh are aspirate consonants which have to be pronounced with an audible breath.