Abbreviations used

These are the abbreviations used on this website

Especially in the pages giving the original Pāli text of the early Buddhist writings.

Nikāya collections of suttas

• DN Dīgha Nikāya, the "Collection of Long Discourses"
• MN Majjhima Nikāya, the "Collection of Middle-length Discourses"
• SN Saṃyutta Nikāya, the "Collection of Linked (or Grouped) Discourses"
• AN Aṅguttara Nikāya, the "Collection of Numerical Discourses"
• KN Khuddaka Nikāya, the "Collection of 'Minor' Discourses"

Dictionaries

• CPD The Critical Pāli Dictionary, by V. Trenckner and other scholars, 1924–2010 Copenhagen. [only covers A to Kār]
  – an online version is at: https://cpd.uni-koeln.de
• DOP The Dictionary of Pāli, Margaret Cone, published by the Pāli Text Society
• PED The Pāli–English Dictionary, by T. W. Rhys–Davids and William Stede, published by the Pāli Text Society, 1921
  –25; an online version is at: https://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/

Grammatical terms

With English examples. Pāli is much more particular in giving different grammatical forms to nearly all words, and it's vital to know these forms if they are to be translated correctly. That's why these forms are usually given in the notes.

• f feminine noun — English nouns (naming words) don't have grammatical gender
• m masculine noun — English nouns (naming words) don't have grammatical gender
• n neuter noun — English nouns (naming words) don't have grammatical gender
  naming words include, e.g. Bob, bicycle, possessions, qualities, thing, person, etc.
• pron pronoun — e.g. I, you, she it (a word used in place of a person's or thing's name)
• nom nominative — e.g. he walked, she spoke (the subject of the verb)
• acc accusative — e.g. we saw him, I heard her (the indirect object)
• gen genitive — e.g. his bicycle, the dog's hair (possessive)
• dat dative — e.g. she spoke to me, he brought a bone for the dog (the direct object)
• inst instrumentative — e.g. he travelled by bicycle (what is used to do something)
• loc locative — e.g. we are in the house (the place in or at)
• voc vocative — e.g. Hi! Angela, Bob please come here (a person or object being addressed). Used much more frequently in Pāli than in English.
• sg singular — e.g. one thing
• pl plural — e.g. two or more things
• adj adjective — e.g. he rode a black bicycle (qualifying a noun)
• adv adverb — e.g. she was speaking quietly (qualifying a verb) or, he rode a shiny black bicycle (qualifying an adjective)
• vb verb — e.g. he rides a bicycle, she spoke to us (a doing or action word)
• pp past participle — e.g. she has spoken, he has ridden his bike
• pres.ptc. present participle — e.g. she is speaking, thinking about it
• gerund gerund — riding his bike is what Bob enjoys most (a verb ending in -ing which acts like a noun, here as the subject of the sentence and of 'is')
• trans transitive — e.g. he has ridden his bike (with a direct object, the thing ridden: "his bike"), she is speaking nonsense (what is spoken: nonsense)
• intrans intransitive — e.g. she is speaking quietly (with no direct object)