ភាសាបាលី: ដើមកំណើត និង ការប្រែក្លាយ

ដើមកំណើត និង ការប្រែក្លាយ 

 និរុត្តិសាស្ត្រនៃឈ្មោះ 

ពាក្យថា បាលី បានសេចក្តីថា ជួរ ឬដងព្រៃ ,ស្ពាន , របៀប , ភាសាដ៏មានរបៀបមួយ ។ This name for the language seems to have its origins in commentarial traditions, wherein the Pali (in the sense of the line of original text quoted) was distinguished from the commentary or vernacular translation that followed it in the manuscript. As such, the name of the language has caused some debate among scholars of all ages; the spelling of the name also varies, being found with both long "ā"  and short "a" , and also with either a retroflex  or non-retroflex  "l" sound, as in the ISO 15919/ALA-LC rendering, Pāli. To this day, there is no single, standard spelling of the term; all four spellings can be found in textbooks. R.C. Childers translates the word as "series" and states that the language "bears the epithet in consequence of the perfection of its grammatical structure".Hazra, Kanai Lal. Pali Language and Literature; a systematic survey and historical study. D.K. Printworld Lrd., New Delhi, 1994, page 19.

 ចំណាត់ថ្នាក់ 
Pali is a literary language of the Prakrit language family. When the canonical texts were written down in Sri Lanka in the first century BCE, Pali stood close to a living language; this is not the case for the commentaries.Students' Britannica India, . Despite excellent scholarship on this problem, there is persistent confusion as to the relation of  to the vernacular spoken in the ancient kingdom of Magadha, which was located around modern-day Bihār.

Pali as a Middle Indo-Aryan language is different from Sanskrit not so much with regard to the time of its origin as to its dialectal base, since a number of its morphological and lexical features betray the fact that it is not a direct continuation of  Vedic Sanskrit; rather it descends from a dialect (or a number of dialects) that was, despite many similarities, different from .Oberlies, Thomas Pali: A Grammar of the Language of the , Walter de Gruyter, 2001.

 ប្រវត្តិដើម 

 នៅក្នុងពុទ្ធសាសនាថេរវាទ 
នៅក្នុងប្រភពនៃ ថេរវាទ ត្រូវបានស្គាល់ភាសាបាលីជាភាសា មគធៈ (Magadha). ភាសានេះត្រូវបានសរសេរនៅក្នុងព្រះត្រៃបិដក, អដ្ឋកថា ជាដើម, ហើយ​នឹង​ត្រូវ​បាន​ព្យាយាម​ប្រើ​ប្រាស់​ដោយ​ពុទ្ធ​សាសនិក​ជន​​ជា​ច្រើន ដើម្បី​ងាយ​ស្រួល​ក្នុង​ការ​ប្រាស្រ័យ​ទាក់​ទង​នឹង​សាសន៍​ដទៃ​ដែល​​កាន់​​ព្រះពុទ្ធ​សាសនា​ដូចគ្នា ។ ព្រះ​ពុទ្ធ​បង្រៀន, ប្រទាន​ឱវាទ ដល់​ជន​ទាំង​ឡាយ​ជា​ភាសា​មគធៈ ប៉ុន្តែ​ទី​ស្ថាន​សំខាន់​ៗ​ ៤ ​កន្លែង​របស់​ព្រះអង្គ​ ស្ថិត​នៅ​ក្រៅ​តំបន់​នេះ​ទាំង​អស់ ។ វា​ប្រហែល​ជា​ភាសា​បាលី​ជា​គ្រាម​ភាសា​ដែល​ធ្វើ​អោយ​​មាន​ការ​ងាយ​ស្រួល​ក្នុង​ការ​ពន្យល់​ និង ​ងាយ​យល់​ពីសំណាក់​ប្រជាជន ឥណ្ឌូអារ្យមជ្ឈិម ។ គេ​ពុំ​ទាន់​ឃើញ​មាន​​ភស្តុតាង​​ណា​មួយ​ដែល​អាច​បញ្ជាក់ពីភាសា​ដទៃ​របស់​ពួក​ ឥណ្ឌូអារ្យមជ្ឈិម​ ដែល​ប្រសើរ​​ជាង​​ភាសា​បាលី​ទេ ។ គេ​ឃើញ​មាន​​ភាសា​បាលី​នៅ​ក្នុង​សិលា​ចារឹក​​ជា​ច្រើន​​របស់​ព្រះបាទ​អសោកនៅ ​Girnar​ ផ្នែកខាងលិចប្រទេសឥណ្ឌា, និង c នៅខាងកើត ។ Similarities to the Western inscription may be misleading, because the inscription suggests that the Ashokan scribe may not have translated the material he omreceived from មគធៈ into the vernacular of the people there. Whatever the relationship of the Buddha's speech to Pali, the Canon was eventually transcribed and preserved entirely in it, while the commentarial tradition that accompanied it (according to the information provided by ព្រះពុទ្ធឃោសៈ) was translated into olkភាសាសីហឡៈ and preserved  local languages for several generations.

In Sri Lanka, Pali is thought to have entered into a period of decline ending around the 4th or 5th century (as Sanskrit rose in prominence, and simultaneously, as Buddhism's adherents became a smaller portion of the subcontinent), but ultimately survived. The work of Buddhaghosa was largely responsible for its reemergence as an important scholarly language in Buddhist thought. The Visuddhimagga and the other commentaries that Buddhaghosa compiled codified and condensed the Sinhalese commentarial tradition that had been preserved and expanded in Sri Lanka since the 3rd century BCE.

 ទិដ្ឋភាពនៅដើមបស្ចឹម 
T.W. Rhys Davids in his book Buddhist India,Buddhist India, ch. 9 Retrieved 14 June 2010. and Wilhelm Geiger in his book Pali Literature and Language, suggested that Pali may have originated as a form of lingua franca or common language of culture among people who used differing dialects in North India, used at the time of the Buddha and employed by him. Another scholar states that at that time it was "a refined and elegant vernacular of all Aryan-speaking people."Hazra, Kanai Lal. Pali Language and Literature; a systematic survey and historical study. D.K. Printworld Lrd., New Delhi, 1994, page 11. Modern scholarship has not arrived at a consensus on the issue; there are a variety of conflicting theories with supporters and detractors.Hazra, Kanai Lal. Pali Language and Literature; a systematic survey and historical study. D.K. Printworld Lrd., New Delhi, 1994, pages 1-44. After the death of the Buddha, Pali may have evolved among Buddhists out of the language of the Buddha as a new artificial language.Hazra, Kanai Lal. Pali Language and Literature; a systematic survey and historical study. D.K. Printworld Lrd., New Delhi, 1994, page 29. R.C. Childers, who held to the theory that Pali was Old Magadhi, wrote: "Had Gautama never preached, it is unlikely that Magadhese would have been distinguished from the many other vernaculars of Hindustan, except perhaps by an inherent grace and strength which make it a sort of Tuscan among the Prakrits."Hazra, Kanai Lal. Pali Language and Literature; a systematic survey and historical study. D.K. Printworld Lrd., New Delhi, 1994, page 20.

According to K.R. Norman, it is likely that the viharas in North India had separate collections of material, preserved in the local dialect. In the early period it is likely that no degree of translation was necessary in communicating this material to other areas. Around the time of Ashoka there had been more linguistic divergence, and an attempt was made to assemble all the material. It is possible that a language quite close to the Pali of the canon emerged as a result of this process as a compromise of the various dialects in which the earliest material had been preserved, and this language functioned as a lingua franca among Eastern Buddhists in India from then on. Following this period, the language underwent a small degree of Sanskritisation (i.e., MIA bamhana -> brahmana, tta -> tva in some cases).K.R. Norman, Pali Literature. Otto Harrassowitz, 1983, pages 1-7.

 Modern scholarship 

Bhikkhu Bodhi, summarizing the current state of scholarship, states that the language is "closely related to the language (or, more likely, the various regional dialects) that the Buddha himself spoke." He goes on to write:

According to A.K. Warder, the Pali language is a Prakrit language used in a region of western India.Warder, A.K. Indian Buddhism. 2000. p. 284 Warder associates Pali with the Indian realm (janapada) of Avanti, where the Sthavira sect was centered.Warder, A.K. Indian Buddhism. 2000. p. 284 Following the initial split in the Buddhist community, the Sthavira branch of Buddhism became influential in western and southern India, while the Mahāsāṃghika branch became influential in central and eastern India.Hirakawa, Akira. Groner, Paul. A History of Indian Buddhism: From Śākyamuni to Early Mahāyāna. 2007. p. 119 Akira Hirakawa and Paul Groner also associate Pali with west India and the Sthavira sect, citing inscriptions at Girnar in Gujarat, India, which are linguistically closest to the Pali language.Hirakawa, Akira. Groner, Paul. A History of Indian Buddhism: From Śākyamuni to Early Mahāyāna. 2007. p. 119

 បច្ចុប្បន្នភាពនៃភាសាបាលី 

បច្ចុប្បន្ននេះ មុខវិជ្ជាភាសាបាលីត្រូវបានបញ្ចូល​ក្នុង​ផ្នែកពុទ្ធសាសនា ដើម្បីអោយ​ពុទ្ធ​សាសនិក​ជន​មាន​ភាព​ងាយ​ស្រូល​ក្នុង​ការ​អាន​គម្ពីរ និង​សូត្រ​នមស្សការជា​ប្រចាំ​រាល់​ថ្ងៃ។  ក្រៅពី​ខាង​ផ្នែក​សាសនា, ​អក្សរសាស្ត្រ កាលប្បវត្តិជាភាសាបាលី, ឯកសារ​ខាង​វិជ្ជាពេទ្យ​ និង​អក្សរ​ចារឹក​មួយ​ចំនួន គឺជា​ប្រវត្តិសាស្ត្រយ៉ាង​សំខាន់​ផង​ដែរ ។ មជ្ឈមណ្ឌល​រៀន​ភាសា​បាលីដែល​គួរ​អោយ​កត់​សំគាល់​ក្នុង​ពេល​បច្ចុប្បន្ន​នេះ​ គឺ​មា​ននៅ​តែ​ក្នុង​ពុទ្ធ​សាសនា​ថេរវាទ នៅ​ប្រទេស​អាស៊ីអាគ្នេយ៍មាន​ដូច​ជា: ភូមា, ស្រីលង្កា, ថៃ, ឡាវ, និង កម្ពុជា។ ចាប់​តាំង​ពី​សតវត្យ​ទី​១៩, various societies for the revival of Pali studies in India have promoted awareness of the language and its literature, perhaps most notably the Maha Bodhi Society founded by Anagarika Dhammapala.

In Europe, the Pali Text Society has been a major force in promoting the study of Pali by Western scholars since its founding in 1881. Based in the United Kingdom, the society publishes romanized Pali editions, along with many English translations of these sources. In 1869, the first Pali Dictionary was published using the research of Robert Caesar Childers, one of the founding members of the Pali Text Society. It was the first Pali translated text in English and was published in 1872. Childers's dictionary later received the Volney Prize in 1876.

The Pali Text Society was in part founded to compensate for the very low level of funds allocated to Indology in late 19th-century England and the rest of the UK; incongruously, the citizens of the UK were not nearly so robust in Sanskrit and Prakrit language studies as Germany, Russia, and even Denmark. Without the inspiration of colonial holdings such as the former British occupation of Sri Lanka and Burma, institutions such as the Danish Royal Library have built up major collections of Pali manuscripts, and major traditions of Pali studies.