Which languages are derived from Pali

[Khitij]

Specifically, which Indo-Aryan Languages are derived from Pali? Is Hindi?

With great compassion,
Shre

[James the Giant]

I know English has some pali derived words, such as Therapist. Apparently from the Greeks, who had contact with monks sent by Asoka. Ashoka?

[mikenz66]

Greetings Khitij,

I'm not sure what "derived" means. I know that speakers of Indian subcontinental languages such as Bengali report that learning Pali is relatively straightforward. I presume that Sinhalese absorbed a lot of Pali words due to the influence of Buddhism, but I'm no expert on that.

Though not an Indo-European language, Thai uses quite a few "loan words" from both Pali and Sanskrit, due presumably to the spread of Buddhism. To a Thai expert (not me!) this is obvious from the particular consonants used to spell the words (just as French-derived words are obvious to native English speakers).
E.g.
Pali: Jīvita
Thai: ชีวิต chee-wít [Noun, Classifier, of Pali/Sanskrit origin]: life ; existence ; living
http://www.thai2english.com/dictionary/1293088.html
Presumably Burmese, Lao, and Cambodian languages contain similar borrowing.


Mike