Texts with diacritics

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simsapa
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Texts with diacritics

Post by simsapa »

Where can I find official Pali texts that include all the necessary diacritics? The reason I ask is that some texts I'm working with seem to just drop necessary marks for some reason. Or aren't very careful about including them.
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mikenz66
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Re: Texts with diacritics

Post by mikenz66 »

Hi simsapa,

I'm not quite clear what you are asking. The Pali Tipitaka texts on https://suttacentral.net/ is from the Mahāsaṅgīti edition of the Sixth Council. It has diacriticals, obviously, and now also has the facility to change to different alphabets if you prefer (such as Burmese, Sinhala, Thai). It also has some notes on variants in Thai, Sri Lankan, PTS etc, versions. https://www.accesstoinsight.org/index.html has (I think) a Thai version (which uses slightly different numbering in some areas of the SN and AN).

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simsapa
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Re: Texts with diacritics

Post by simsapa »

I'll rephrase it then.

Let's say I go to this site here:

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitak ... html#v.179

Can I safely rely on its proper use of diacritics? I've noticed some texts just omit them and some only add a few. So is this text here authoritative?
sphairos
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Re: Texts with diacritics

Post by sphairos »

simsapa wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 2:38 pm I'll rephrase it then.

Let's say I go to this site here:

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitak ... html#v.179

Can I safely rely on its proper use of diacritics? I've noticed some texts just omit them and some only add a few. So is this text here authoritative?
Yes, you can rely on that (the mistakes and different readings are rare). But it seems to be the PTS (Pāli Text Society) edition, and PTS editions were made more than 100 years ago on the base of just a couple of manuscripts, and they are simply worse than that of the Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana, which compared thousands of manuscripts (but they are still considered obligatory for scholarly work in many places).
But most Pāli scholars use the Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana edition now.

You can always go to https://tipitaka.org/

And quickly check the Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana edition (works quicker and is simpler than suttacentral). It is the best edition we have.
Last edited by sphairos on Fri Apr 16, 2021 10:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Bhikkhu Pesala
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Re: Texts with diacritics

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

Better still, download the CST4 Tipitaka from Tipitaka.org and then you do not need to be connected to the Internet to do your research.
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simsapa
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Re: Texts with diacritics

Post by simsapa »

Better still, download the CST4 Tipitaka from Tipitaka.org and then you do not need to be connected to the Internet to do your research.
Thanks, Bhante. I notice sometimes there is blue text, which I'm guessing indicates acceptable alternative versions of certain passages. But what does "sya." or "sya. ka." mean?

How could I find the Pali equivalent of a certain passage in English?
simsapa
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Re: Texts with diacritics

Post by simsapa »

Also, how do I find the Pali text of MN 36, for example? I don't see an easy way of doing this.
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Bhikkhu Pesala
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Re: Texts with diacritics

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

Please read the help on my web site and on Tipitaka.org for details.

The text is the Burmese edition. The variant readings in blue are for other editions.
sī. = Sri Lankan
syā. = Thai
pī. = Pali Text Society
kaṃ. / ka. = Cambodian
References on this forum are given in different formats. MN 36 means Majjhimanikāya Sutta 36, which is more useful for the English translations. To find Sutta 36 in the Pāḷi text, you would open the Majjhimanikāya, Mūlapaṇṇāsa (root fifty or first fifty discourses). Select the fourth chapter of ten suttas from the dropdown Mahāyamakavaggo, which begins with Sutta 31. Scroll down to the sixth sutta of that chapter = the Mahāsaccakasuttaṃ. In the footer of the window you will find the Pāḷi text reference: PTS 1 237, which is usually given as M.i.237. (Majjhimanikāya, Book One, starting on page 237 of the Roman script edition published by the Pali Text Society).
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simsapa
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Re: Texts with diacritics

Post by simsapa »

Thank you, Bhante.
BKh
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Re: Texts with diacritics

Post by BKh »

Yes, you can rely on that (the mistakes and different readings are rare).
Actually I believe that the texts linked to on Accesstoinsight are from the Sri Lankan BJT edition and the digitized text is overwhelmed with typos. As in, it's better than nothing, but not much. Don't rely on it at all.
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