My name is

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Ceisiwr
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My name is

Post by Ceisiwr »

How would you say "my name is" and "how are you?" in Pali?
“Knowing that this body is just like foam,
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
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frank k
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Re: My name is

Post by frank k »

here's a good example from SN 8.9:
Ekaṃ samayaṃ bhagavā rājagahe viharati veḷuvane kalandakanivāpe.
At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha, in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels’ feeding ground.
Atha kho āyasmā aññāsikoṇḍañño sucirasseva yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavato pādesu sirasā nipatitvā bhagavato pādāni mukhena ca paricumbati, pāṇīhi ca parisambāhati, nāmañca sāveti:
Then Venerable Koṇḍañña Who Understood approached the Buddha after a very long absence. He bowed with his head to the Buddha’s feet, caressing them and covering them with kisses, and pronounced his name:
“koṇḍañño-'haṃ, bhagavā, koṇḍaññohaṃ, sugatā”ti.
“I am Koṇḍañña, Blessed One! I am Koṇḍañña, Holy One!”
two key words:
nāma = name, just like in nama rupa.
aham = pronoun "I"
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Coëmgenu
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Re: My name is

Post by Coëmgenu »

My guess would be "ahamasmi X," with X being your name. "My name is X" would maybe involve a genetive we can obviously imagine.
What is the Uncreated?
Sublime & free, what is that obscured Eternity?
It is the Undying, the Bright, the Isle.
It is an Ocean, a Secret: Reality.
Both life and oblivion, it is Nirvāṇa.
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Dhammanando
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Re: My name is

Post by Dhammanando »

In modern spoken Pali:

Kinnāmo'si?
Ahaṃ Devadatto nāma.
Kathaṃ tava sarīrapavatti?
Thuti atthu; aham'accantanirogī viharāmi.

What is your name?
My name is Devadatta.
How are you?
Thank you; I am quite well.
Yena yena hi maññanti,
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.


In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
(Sn. 588)
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Ceisiwr
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Re: My name is

Post by Ceisiwr »

Dhammanando wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:22 pm In modern spoken Pali:

Kinnāmo'si?
Ahaṃ Devadatto nāma.
Kathaṃ tava sarīrapavatti?
Thuti atthu; aham'accantanirogī viharāmi.

What is your name?
My name is Devadatta.
How are you?
Thank you; I am quite well.
Thank you Bhante.
“Knowing that this body is just like foam,
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
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mjaviem
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Re: My name is

Post by mjaviem »

Excuse me. What is modern spoken Pali? Is Pali really spoken? I thought it was found only in books.
Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammā Sambuddhassa
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Dhammanando
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Re: My name is

Post by Dhammanando »

mjaviem wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:32 pm Excuse me. What is modern spoken Pali? Is Pali really spoken? I thought it was found only in books.
It's the creation of a handful of 20th century Sri Lankan and Burmese monks, notably Rev. A.P. Buddhadatta. It's used by Asian scholar monks of different nationalities if they have no other language in common. I've also heard that Richard Gombrich required his students to speak exclusively in Pali after they'd completed the first semester of his course.
Yena yena hi maññanti,
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.


In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
(Sn. 588)
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Sam Vara
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Re: My name is

Post by Sam Vara »

Dhammanando wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:44 pm
mjaviem wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:32 pm Excuse me. What is modern spoken Pali? Is Pali really spoken? I thought it was found only in books.
It's the creation of a handful of 20th century Sri Lankan and Burmese monks, notably Rev. A.P. Buddhadatta. It's used by Asian scholar monks of different nationalities if they have no other language in common. I've also heard that Richard Gombrich required his students to speak exclusively in Pali after they'd completed the first semester of his course.
I witnessed something similar at a pro-life conference in London. I heard two men speaking in a strange language, one fluently and the other a little more hesitantly. Two Catholic priests, one Polish and one Filipino, rattling away in Latin.
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mjaviem
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Re: My name is

Post by mjaviem »

I see. Thank you Bhante.
Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammā Sambuddhassa
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Dhammanando
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Re: My name is

Post by Dhammanando »

For anyone interested in learning spoken Pali, Rev. Buddhadatta's Aids to Pali Conversation and Translation is available online.

https://dhamma.ru/paali/aids_to_pali_conversation.pdf

And if you want to converse about things like the English Restoration (Aṅgalikarājapaṭisaṅkharaṇa), the Labour Party (Āyāsapakkha), cinematography (calacittavijjā), the enfranchisement of women (itthībhujissakaraṇa), the Episcopal Church (dhammādhikārāyatta-devāyatana), helicopters (vyomayānavisesā) and nuclear submarines (paramāṇuvisayantodakanāvā), then you'll also need Buddhadatta's English-Pali Dictionary.

https://archive.org/details/MahatheraEn ... ictionary2
Yena yena hi maññanti,
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.


In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
(Sn. 588)
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pitakele
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Re: My name is

Post by pitakele »

mjaviem wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:32 pm Excuse me. What is modern spoken Pali? Is Pali really spoken? I thought it was found only in books.
It's not really a spoken language, but some learned folk are able to converse in it. When I was staying at Island Hermitage, Sri Lanka in 1979, the Sri Lankan abbot & a senior German monk would have long conversations in Pali at evening drinks (gilanpasa).
aniccā vata saṇkhārā - tesaṁ vūpasamo sukho
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Eko Care
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Re: My name is

Post by Eko Care »

Ceisiwr wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 4:37 pm How would you say "my name is" and "how are you?" in Pali?
I guess something like this (I'm not a pali scholar):
  • Aham Ceisiwr naama / Ceisiwr naamo aham / Ceisiwr naamo'ham
  • Aham Ceisiwr asmi / Ceisiwr aham asmi / Ceisiwr hamasmi
  • kacci te khamaniiyam / kacci te Ceisiwr khamaniiyam
  • katham te phaasu viharati'ti / katham te phaasu viharo
Gramartically we can use synonyms for each word in different combinations but hard to find such made-up phrases mentioned in texts.
my = mama/mayham/mamam/me , name=naamam/naamo
how = kacci/katham, you=tvam/tuvam/tavam/tam
...etc.
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pitakele
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Re: My name is

Post by pitakele »

Eko Care wrote: Tue Apr 06, 2021 1:20 am
  • kacci te khamaniiyam / kacci te Ceisiwr khamaniiyam
Yes, Kacci khamaṇīyaṁ, kacci yāpaṇīyam (roughly, how are you bearing up, how are you going?) would be standard. I think this the usual phrase in the suttas (?)
aniccā vata saṇkhārā - tesaṁ vūpasamo sukho
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Dhammanando
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Re: My name is

Post by Dhammanando »

pitakele wrote: Tue Apr 06, 2021 1:44 am Yes, Kacci khamaṇīyaṁ, kacci yāpaṇīyam (roughly, how are you bearing up, how are you going?) would be standard. I think this the usual phrase in the suttas (?)
It's the stock phrase when visiting a sick person. I don't think we have any record of how healthy people would make phatic enquiries after each other's health. The precise words they used have been effectively concealed by the preference for a descriptive summary,: "upasaṅkamitvā bhagavatā saddhiṁ sammodi, sammodanīyaṁ kathaṁ sāraṇīyaṁ vītisāretvā.." rather than direct speech.

"... having approached, he exchanged greetings with the Blessed One; having exchanged greetings of friendliness and courtesy..."
(MN 18)
Yena yena hi maññanti,
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.


In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
(Sn. 588)
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pitakele
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Re: My name is

Post by pitakele »

Dhammanando wrote: Tue Apr 06, 2021 3:47 am
pitakele wrote: Tue Apr 06, 2021 1:44 am Yes, Kacci khamaṇīyaṁ, kacci yāpaṇīyam (roughly, how are you bearing up, how are you going?) would be standard. I think this the usual phrase in the suttas (?)
It's the stock phrase when visiting a sick person. I don't think we have any record of how healthy people would make phatic enquiries after each other's health. The precise words they used have been effectively concealed by the preference for a descriptive summary,: "upasaṅkamitvā bhagavatā saddhiṁ sammodi, sammodanīyaṁ kathaṁ sāraṇīyaṁ vītisāretvā.." rather than direct speech.

"... having approached, he exchanged greetings with the Blessed One; having exchanged greetings of friendliness and courtesy..."
(MN 18)
I think you are correct, Bhante.

During early days in robes, I and some of my monk friends would greet each other with kacci khamaṇīyaṁ, kacci yāpaṇīyam? - which is probably why the phrase remains in memory.
aniccā vata saṇkhārā - tesaṁ vūpasamo sukho
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