This book contains a study of certain linguistic aspects of Pali language that have not been attempted hitherto. Thus it is valuable for both the students of linguistics as well as Pali. However, in the field of linguistics, this language did not attract much attention since many thought that this is ancient and dead one. Thus linguistic studies, even if pursued, did not progress much in Pali, that too, not beyond phonology and morpgology. Few however, dealt to some extent on certain aspects of syntax, but rarely on semantics, though aspect of meaning was attempted by some scholars. For the speech, to be affective in communication, it has to be meaningful. As far as syntax, the present book deals with the same primarily based on Aggavamsa’s Saddaniti. Though the present book relies on the background provided by the above, yet the findings reveal the peculiarities in Pali especially compared with its sister tongue Sanskrit on the one hand and Prakrit languages on the other. While the book deals with semantics primarily, both regarding diachronic and synchronic aspect, it was considered worthwhile to reexamine the origins of the name of the language, since it is still a mystery, despite lot of research conducted so far, why the name of language is ‘pali’. But Buddhaghosa used it as synonymous with ‘patha’. Contextually, the meaning of text is assigned to Pali because it is used as synonym of ‘patha’ by Budhaghosa. Though the meaning of this word had puzzled various scholars of the present century, yet an attempt is made afresh through purely linguistic means to arrive at the practical meaning of this word. It is for the scholars to judge these new findings.
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