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104-570: According to Bhikkhu Bodhi , a modern Theravāda scholar, the Abhidhamma is "simultaneously a philosophy , a psychology and an ethics , all integrated into the framework of a program for liberation." There are different textual layers of Abhidhamma literature. The earliest Abhidhamma works are found in the Pali Canon . Then there are exegetical works which were composed in Sri Lanka in

208-624: A Theravāda bhikkhu or monk. In 1984, succeeding co-founder Nyanaponika Thera , Bodhi was appointed English-language editor of the Buddhist Publication Society (BPS, Sri Lanka). He became its president in 1988. In 2002, he retired from the society's editorship while still remaining president. In 2000, at the United Nations' first official Vesak celebration, Bodhi gave the keynote address. In 2002, after retiring as editor of BPS, Bodhi returned to

312-565: A pitch-register language like Shanghainese . There are four contrastive tones in Burmese. In the following table, the tones are shown marked on the vowel /a/ as an example. For example, the following words are distinguished from each other only on the basis of tone: In syllables ending with /ɰ̃/ , the checked tone is excluded: In spoken Burmese, some linguists classify two real tones (there are four nominal tones transcribed in written Burmese), "high" (applied to words that terminate with

416-645: A second language by another 10 million people, including ethnic minorities in Myanmar like the Mon and also by those in neighboring countries. In 2022, the Burmese-speaking population was 38.8 million. Burmese is a tonal , pitch-register , and syllable-timed language , largely monosyllabic and agglutinative with a subject–object–verb word order. It is a member of the Lolo-Burmese grouping of

520-463: A "merely conceptualized" ( parikappa-siddha ) "product of the mind's synthesizing function", and "exists only by virtue of conceptual thought." There are two kinds of mutually interdependent conceptualizations: Names can be assigned to everything, including dhammas, however, unlike with everyday objects, names given to dhammas do not have a corresponding attha - paññatti, because dhammas are "profound." According to Karunadasa, " what this seems to mean

624-608: A B.A. in philosophy from Brooklyn College . In 1972, he obtained a PhD in philosophy from Claremont Graduate University . In 1967, while still a graduate student, Bodhi was ordained as a sāmaṇera (novice) in the Vietnamese Mahayana order. In 1972, after graduation, he traveled to Sri Lanka , where, under Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero , he received sāmaṇera ordination in the Theravada Order and, in 1973, received full ordination ( upasampadā ) as

728-562: A common set of tones, consonant clusters, and written script. However, several Burmese dialects differ substantially from standard Burmese with respect to vocabulary, lexical particles, and rhymes. Spoken Burmese is remarkably uniform among Burmese speakers, particularly those living in the Irrawaddy valley, all of whom use variants of Standard Burmese. The standard dialect of Burmese (the Mandalay - Yangon dialect continuum ) comes from

832-411: A denomination, the assigning of a name, an interpretation, a distinctive mark of discourse on this or that dhamma." The pali commentary adds that this means "the process of predicating", and that things such as "I", "mine", "another", "a person", "a monastery" and "a chair" are all predications. These conceptual designations depend on the mind and are not themselves the dhammas, the ultimate realities, that

936-453: A fuller ontological account of nibbāna. The Theravada position is first found in the Dhammasaṅgaṇī , which describes nibbāna as the unconditioned element ( asankhata-dhatu ), completely outside of the five aggregates. It is a dhamma which "is neither skilful nor unskilful, associated neither with feeling nor with cognition, neither resultant nor giving result, does not require any object,

1040-550: A lesser extent, Burmese has also imported words from Sanskrit (religion), Hindi (food, administration, and shipping), and Chinese (games and food). Burmese has also imported a handful of words from other European languages such as Portuguese . Here is a sample of loan words found in Burmese: Since the end of British rule, the Burmese government has attempted to limit usage of Western loans (especially from English) by coining new words ( neologisms ). For instance, for

1144-560: A living tradition in Theravāda nations today and modern Abhidhamma works continue to be written in modern languages such as Burmese and Sinhala . Abhidhamma studies are particularly stressed in Myanmar , where it has been the primary subject of study since around the 17th century. One of the most important figures in modern Myanmar Buddhism , Ledi Sayadaw (1846–1923), was well known for his writings on Abhidhamma (especially his commentary on

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1248-674: A monk]", Lower Burmese speakers use [sʰʊ́ɰ̃] instead of [sʰwáɰ̃] , which is the pronunciation used in Upper Burma. The standard dialect is represented by the Yangon dialect because of the modern city's media influence and economic clout. In the past, the Mandalay dialect represented standard Burmese. The most noticeable feature of the Mandalay dialect is its use of the first person pronoun ကျွန်တော် , kya.nau [tɕənɔ̀] by both men and women, whereas in Yangon,

1352-756: A number of Abhidhamma type texts not found in the Abhidhamma Piṭaka. One of these is the Paṭisambhidāmagga . Others include the Niddessa , the Nettipakaraṇa and the Peṭakopadesa . The Sri Lankan branch of the Theravāda school later developed further Abhidhamma texts, including commentaries ( Aṭṭhakathā ) on the books of the Abhidhamma and special introductory manuals. Major commentaries include

1456-475: A plurality of conditions gives rise to a plurality of effects. Applied to the dhamma theory this means that a multiplicity of dhammas brings about a multiplicity of other dhammas." According to the Atthasalini : "Dhammas bear their own particular natures ( sabhāva ). Alternatively, dhammas are borne by conditions, or according to particular natures." The use of the term sabhāva (own nature, own being) in

1560-534: A self ( attā ) and conditioned. This is spelled out in the Patisambhidhamagga , which states that dhammas are empty of sabhāva ( sabhavena suññam ). According to Ronkin, the canonical Pāli Abhidhamma remains pragmatic and psychological, and "does not take much interest in ontology " in contrast with the Sarvastivada tradition. Paul Williams also notes that the Abhidhamma remains focused on

1664-466: A stop or check, high-rising pitch) and "ordinary" (unchecked and non-glottal words, with falling or lower pitch), with those tones encompassing a variety of pitches. The "ordinary" tone consists of a range of pitches. Linguist L. F. Taylor concluded that "conversational rhythm and euphonic intonation possess importance" not found in related tonal languages and that "its tonal system is now in an advanced state of decay." The syllable structure of Burmese

1768-404: A substantial mode of being, since dhammas are not permanent, or totally discrete entities. They are always in dependently conditioned relationships with other dhammas and always changing. Therefore, it is only for the sake of description that they are said to have their "own nature" ( sabhāva ). According to Karunadasa, this usage of sabhāva is only of provisional validity, "an attribution made for

1872-478: Is analyzable further due to being dependent on the mind's synthesizing function (i.e. paññatti ), that explanation is sammuti-sacca (truth by convention), which exists in a relative or conventional sense due to mental conception ( attha-paññatti ) and linguistic construction ( nama-paññatti ). However, even these ultimate components (i.e. dhammas ) are dependently originated , "necessarily co-existent and positionally inseparable ( padesato avinibhoga )". Unlike in

1976-475: Is "only for the purposes of description" that they are postulated. They are also said to be not-self ( anatta ) and thus empty ( suññā ). After all, dhammas are interconnected and interdependent in various relationships. Thus, the Pali Abhidhamma is not a type of pluralism, since it relies on both analysis ( bheda ) and synthesis ( sangaha ). According to Karunadasa, this "has enabled it to transcend

2080-708: Is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Myanmar , where it is the official language , lingua franca, and the native language of the Bamar , the country's principal ethnic group. Burmese is also spoken by the indigenous tribes in Chittagong Hill Tracts ( Rangamati , Bandarban , Khagrachari , Cox's Bazar ) in Bangladesh, and in Mizoram state in India. The Constitution of Myanmar officially refers to it as

2184-552: Is a doctrinal innovation of the Abhidhamma, but it has its origins in some statements from the early Pāli Nikayas . This can mainly be seen in the distinction made in the Aṅguttara-nikāya between statements (not truths) that are nītattha (explicit, definitive) and neyyattha (requiring further explanation). Karunadasa notes that in the Nikayas, "no preferential value judgment is made between nītattha and neyyattha . All that

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2288-403: Is absolutely no implication here that one dialect is either higher or lower than another." The suttas do not define the nature of nibbāna in a technical and philosophical sense, but focus on explaining it psychologically and through metaphor as the 'blowing out' of greed, hatred and delusion and remain ambiguous about its metaphysical status. The various Abhidharma systems attempted to provide

2392-758: Is an American Theravada Buddhist monk ordained in Sri Lanka . He teaches in the New York and New Jersey area. He was appointed the second president of the Buddhist Publication Society and has edited and authored several publications grounded in the Theravada Buddhist tradition. In 1944, Block was born in Brooklyn , New York, to Jewish parents. He grew up in Borough Park , where he attended elementary school P.S. 160. In 1966, he obtained

2496-520: Is because it is uncreated ( appabhava ) that it is free from ageing and death. It is because of the absence of its creation and of its ageing and death that it is permanent. He argues against the view that nibbana is unreal or non-existent and quotes a famous verse found in the Itivuttaka and the Udana which states "There is an unborn, an unbecome, an unmade, an unconditioned..." Thus, the commentary to

2600-408: Is called consensual reality, and the second is called paramattha because it represents the absolute truth or ultimate reality. Therefore, in Abhidhamma, when a situation is explained in terms of what cannot be empirically analyzed further into smaller components with different characteristics ( lakkhana ) that explanation is paramattha-sacca (ultimate truth), and when it is explained in terms of what

2704-535: Is emphasized is that the two kinds of statement should not be confused." Another early source of this doctrine is the Saṅgīti-sutta of the Dīgha-nikāya , which lists four kinds of knowledge: (a) the direct knowledge of the doctrine ( dhamme ñāna ), (b) the inductive knowledge of the doctrine ( anvaye ñana ), (c) knowledge of analysis ( paricchede ñana ), and knowledge of (linguistic) conventions ( sammuti-ñana ). In

2808-439: Is not classified as past, present or future." Though it is not accessible by discursive or conceptual thought, it is a dhamma that can be cognized or attained by the mind. The Theravāda commentarial literature also further developed their view of nibbāna , where it is seen as a real dhamma with a specific own nature or characteristic as well as being completely devoid of any conditioned characteristic. According to Buddhaghosa: "it

2912-442: Is pronounced [mõ̀ũndã́ĩ] . The vowels of Burmese are: The monophthongs /e/ , /o/ , /ə/ , /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ occur only in open syllables (those without a syllable coda ); the diphthongs /ei/ , /ou/ , /ai/ and /au/ occur only in closed syllables (those with a syllable coda). /ə/ only occurs in a minor syllable , and is the only vowel that is permitted in a minor syllable (see below). The close vowels /i/ and /u/ and

3016-758: Is superior or inferior to the other. Nor do they represent two parallel truths. Because of this, in Abhidhamma, even paramattha-sacca is explained through concepts, though the ultimate itself is not a product of the mind's conceptual function ( paññatti ), it cannot be explained without the medium of paññatti . Furthermore, according to Tse Fu Kuan, the Dhammasaṅgaṇi , "does not appear to uphold that dhammas are ultimate realities as against conventional constructs like persons." This text also states that “all dhammas are ways of designation ( paññatti )”, that “all dhammas are ways of interpretation ( nirutti )” and that “all dhammas are ways of expression ( adhivacana )”. Therefore,

3120-433: Is that objects of conceptual thought like tables and chairs are easily recognizable, whereas the dhammas are difficult to be grasped." It is only in deep meditation that one is said to transcend conceptuality and gain direct insight into the dhammas themselves, seeing them as empty ( suñña ) and impersonal ( nissatta, nijjīva ). It is not only everyday objects that are conceptual, but also persons ( pudgala ), time ( kala ), and

3224-544: Is the central theory or cornerstone of the Pāli Abhidhamma . According to various scholars of Abhidhamma, the main point of this theory is to provide a useful schema for meditative contemplation and insight into the nature of phenomena. "Dhammā" has been translated as "factors" (Collett Cox), "psychic characteristics" (Bronkhorst), "psycho-physical events" (Noa Ronkin) and "phenomena" ( Nyanaponika Thera ). Noa Ronkin defines dhammas as "the constituents of sentient experience;

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3328-584: Is the value of the four native final nasals: ⟨မ်⟩ /m/ , ⟨န်⟩ /n/ , ⟨ဉ်⟩ /ɲ/ , ⟨င်⟩ /ŋ/ , as well as the retroflex ⟨ဏ⟩ /ɳ/ (used in Pali loans) and nasalisation mark anusvara demonstrated here above ka (က → ကံ) which most often stands in for a homorganic nasal word medially as in တံခါး tankhá 'door', and တံတား tantá 'bridge', or else replaces final -m ⟨မ်⟩ in both Pali and native vocabulary, especially after

3432-638: Is the word "moon", which can be လ la̰ (native Tibeto-Burman), စန္ဒာ/စန်း [sàndà]/[sã́] (derivatives of Pali canda 'moon'), or သော်တာ [t̪ɔ̀ dà] (Sanskrit). The consonants of Burmese are as follows: According to Jenny & San San Hnin Tun (2016 :15), contrary to their use of symbols θ and ð, consonants of သ are dental stops ( /t̪, d̪/ ), rather than fricatives ( /θ, ð/ ) or affricates. These phonemes, alongside /sʰ/ , are prone to merger with /t, d, s/ . An alveolar /ɹ/ can occur as an alternate of /j/ in some loanwords. The final nasal /ɰ̃/

3536-496: Is to say, they are not the ultimate truth ( paramattha ). Together, the conceptual and the ultimate reality constitute the whole of the knowable ( ñeyya-dhamma ). Paññattis are seen as without sabhāva ( asabhāva ), are "distinct from both mind and matter," do not arise and fall like dhammas do and "are not brought about by conditions", are “not positively produced” ( aparinipphanna ) and are neither conditioned ( sankhata ) nor unconditioned ( asankhata ). In Abhidhamma, paññattis are

3640-402: Is unconditioned. These dhammas are divided into four main categories: Since no dhamma exists independently, every single dhamma of consciousness, known as a citta, arises associated ( sampayutta ) with at least seven mental factors ( cetasikas ). In Abhidhamma, all awareness events are thus seen as being characterized by intentionality (aboutness, direction) and never exist in isolation. From

3744-498: Is what allows us to say that the individual characteristic of the earth element is solidity. This is contrast to "universal characteristics" of all dhammas ( sāmanna-lakkhaņa ), which are those features all dhammas share. Thus, while in Theravāda Abhidhamma, dhammas are the ultimate constituents of experience, they are not seen as substances ( attena ), essences or independent particulars, since they are empty ( suñña ) of

3848-598: The Atthasālinī (a commentary on the Dhammasaṅgaṇī ), the Sammohavinodanī (a Vibhaṅga commentary) and the Pañcappakaṇaraṭṭhakathā, a commentary on the other books of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka . The Sri Lankan tradition also produced practice manuals, such as Vimuttimagga ("Path of Freedom") c. 1st or 2nd century CE. The 5th century scholar Buddhaghosa is one of the most influential Abhidhammika of

3952-491: The [ ɹ ] sound, which has become [ j ] in standard Burmese. Moreover, Arakanese features a variety of vowel differences, including the merger of the ဧ [e] and ဣ [i] vowels. Hence, a word like "blood" သွေး is pronounced [θw é ] in standard Burmese and [θw í ] in Arakanese. The Burmese language's early forms include Old Burmese and Middle Burmese . Old Burmese dates from

4056-588: The /l/ medial, which is otherwise only found in Old Burmese inscriptions. They also often reduce the intensity of the glottal stop . Beik has 250,000 speakers while Tavoyan has 400,000. The grammatical constructs of Burmese dialects in Southern Myanmar show greater Mon influence than Standard Burmese. The most pronounced feature of the Arakanese language of Rakhine State is its retention of

4160-909: The Abhidhammatthasangaha, called the Paramatthadipanitika ). This commentary, which critiqued an older 12th-century commentary from Sri Lanka (the Abhidhammattha-vibhavini-tika ) led to a lively controversy, as different figures debated on Abhidhamma topics. The books of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka were translated into English in the 20th century and published by the Pāli Text Society . The translators were C. A. F. Rhys Davids ( Dhammasaṅgaṇī , Kathāvatthu ), U Thittila ( Vibhaṅga ), U Narada ( Dhātukathā , Paṭṭhāna ), B.C. Law ( Puggalapaññatti ). [REDACTED] Religion portal In

4264-527: The Burmese alphabet began employing cursive-style circular letters typically used in palm-leaf manuscripts , as opposed to the traditional square block-form letters used in earlier periods. The orthographic conventions used in written Burmese today can largely be traced back to Middle Burmese. Modern Burmese emerged in the mid-18th century. By this time, male literacy in Burma stood at nearly 50%, which enabled

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4368-618: The English language in the colonial educational system, especially in higher education. In the 1930s, the Burmese language saw a linguistic revival, precipitated by the establishment of an independent University of Rangoon in 1920 and the inception of a Burmese language major at the university by Pe Maung Tin , modeled on Anglo Saxon language studies at the University of Oxford. Student protests in December of that year, triggered by

4472-652: The Irrawaddy River Valley, use a number of largely similar dialects, while a minority speak non-standard dialects found in the peripheral areas of the country. These dialects include: Arakanese in Rakhine State and Marma in Bangladesh are also sometimes considered dialects of Burmese and sometimes as separate languages. Despite vocabulary and pronunciation differences, there is mutual intelligibility among Burmese dialects, as they share

4576-675: The Mon people , who until recently formed the majority in Lower Burma . Most Mon loanwords are so well assimilated that they are not distinguished as loanwords, as Burmese and Mon were used interchangeably for several centuries in pre-colonial Burma. Mon loans are often related to flora, fauna, administration, textiles, foods, boats, crafts, architecture, and music. As a natural consequence of British rule in Burma , English has been another major source of vocabulary, especially with regard to technology, measurements, and modern institutions. English loanwords tend to take one of three forms: To

4680-534: The Myanma Salonpaung Thatpon Kyan ( မြန်မာ စာလုံးပေါင်း သတ်ပုံ ကျမ်း ), was compiled in 1978 by the commission. Burmese is a diglossic language with two distinguishable registers (or diglossic varieties ): The literary form of Burmese retains archaic and conservative grammatical structures and modifiers (including affixes and pronouns) no longer used in the colloquial form. Literary Burmese, which has not changed significantly since

4784-457: The Myanmar language in English, though most English speakers continue to refer to the language as Burmese , after Burma —a name with co-official status that had historically been predominantly used for the country. Burmese is the most widely-spoken language in the country, where it serves as the lingua franca . In 2007, it was spoken as a first language by 33 million. Burmese is spoken as

4888-515: The Potthapāda Sutta , where he explains that even though he uses the word "myself" ( atta ), he is not referring to an ultimate essence, only speaking conventionally and that such terms "are names ( samaññā ), expressions ( nirutti ), turns of speech ( vohāra ), and designations ( paññatti ) in common use in the world. And of these the Tathāgata makes use indeed, but is not led astray by them". Also,

4992-614: The Pyu language . These indirect borrowings can be traced back to orthographic idiosyncrasies in these loanwords, such as the Burmese word "to worship", which is spelt ပူဇော် ( pūjo ) instead of ပူဇာ ( pūjā ), as would be expected by the original Pali orthography. The transition to Middle Burmese occurred in the 16th century. The transition to Middle Burmese included phonological changes (e.g. mergers of sound pairs that were distinct in Old Burmese) as well as accompanying changes in

5096-753: The Sino-Tibetan language family . The Burmese alphabet is ultimately descended from a Brahmic script , either the Kadamba or Pallava alphabets. Burmese belongs to the Southern Burmish branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages , of which Burmese is the most widely spoken of the non- Sinitic languages. Burmese was the fifth of the Sino-Tibetan languages to develop a writing system, after Classical Chinese , Pyu , Old Tibetan and Tangut . The majority of Burmese speakers, who live throughout

5200-813: The Sutta Pitaka, which have been seen as a "proto-abhidhamma" by scholars such as Johannes Bronkhorst and Frauwallner. These suttas include the Saṅgīti Sutta and Dasuttara Sutta , the two last suttas of the Dīgha Nikāya (as well as the Saṅgīti Sūtra and Daśottara Sūtra of the Dīrgha Āgama). Tse fu Kuan also argues that certain sutras of the Aṅguttara Nikāya (AN 3.25, AN 4.87–90, AN 9.42–51) depicts an early Abhidhamma type method. The Khuddaka Nikāya includes

5304-569: The Visuddhimagga states that nibbāna is the opposite to all conditioned states. In Theravāda Abhidhamma, nibbāna is seen as totally other than the conditioned existents and as the only unique unconditioned dhamma. Therefore, Theravāda Abhidhamma holds that there is only one singular nibbāna , unlike in Vaibhasika or Mahayana Abhidharma, where there are different types of unconditioned elements and different forms of nibbāna (such as

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5408-694: The apratistha or non-abiding nirvana of Mahayana and the unconditioned space element in Vaibhasika). In Early Buddhism , consciousness is a phenomenon that always arises based on conditions (i.e. it is dependently originated ) and it also never arises by itself, but is always found in relationship with the other four aggregates of personality. Likewise, it is also said to be mutually dependent on and arise together with "name and form" ( nama-rupa ) . Name refers to feeling ( vedanā ), perception ( saññā ), volition ( cetanā ), sense-impression ( phassa ) , and attention ( manasikāra ), while form refers to

5512-413: The 11th to the 16th century ( Pagan to Ava dynasties); Middle Burmese from the 16th to the 18th century ( Toungoo to early Konbaung dynasties); modern Burmese from the mid-18th century to the present. Word order , grammatical structure, and vocabulary have remained markedly stable well into Modern Burmese, with the exception of lexical content (e.g., function words ). The earliest attested form of

5616-457: The 13th century, is the register of Burmese taught in schools. In most cases, the corresponding affixes in the literary and spoken forms are totally unrelated to each other. Examples of this phenomenon include the following lexical terms: Historically the literary register was preferred for written Burmese on the grounds that "the spoken style lacks gravity, authority, dignity". In the mid-1960s, some Burmese writers spearheaded efforts to abandon

5720-410: The 19th century, in addition to concomitant economic and political instability in Upper Burma (e.g., increased tax burdens from the Burmese crown, British rice production incentives, etc.) also accelerated the migration of Burmese speakers from Upper Burma into Lower Burma. British rule in Burma eroded the strategic and economic importance of the Burmese language; Burmese was effectively subordinated to

5824-586: The 5th century. There are also later sub-commentarial works composed in later historical periods. The primary source for the Abhidhamma is the Abhidhamma Piṭaka , a set of seven texts which form the third "basket" of the Theravāda Tipiṭaka (also known as the Pāli Canon ). It is generally accepted by modern scholars that these works began to be composed during the 3rd century BCE. They therefore cannot be

5928-412: The Abhidhamma perspective, there are really only dhammas and their relations. If this is so, how can one explain common sense reality, the everyday world? To answer this, Ābhidhammikas resorted to the nominalist theory of paññatti (concepts, designations) as a way to explain such basic universal categories as unity, identity, time and space. The Buddha made use of this term in the suttas, as can be seen in

6032-503: The Abhidhamma speaks of a citta , it is understood that cetasikas are also present. This is like stating that a king has arrived, one assumes that he has arrived with his retinue as well. These two conjoined ( samsattha ) principles are said to be subtle and difficult to differentiate, like the different flavors in a soup. They arise yoked ( sampayoga ) together, have the same object and cease together. Bhikkhu Bodhi Bhikkhu Bodhi (born December 10, 1944), born Jeffrey Block ,

6136-526: The British in the lead-up to the independence of Burma in 1948. The 1948 Constitution of Burma prescribed Burmese as the official language of the newly independent nation. The Burma Translation Society and Rangoon University's Department of Translation and Publication were established in 1947 and 1948, respectively, with the joint goal of modernizing the Burmese language in order to replace English across all disciplines. Anti-colonial sentiment throughout

6240-557: The Buddhist clergy (monks) from the laity ( householders ), especially when speaking to or about bhikkhus (monks). The following are examples of varying vocabulary used for Buddhist clergy and for laity: Burmese primarily has a monosyllabic received Sino-Tibetan vocabulary. Nonetheless, many words, especially loanwords from Indo-European languages like English, are polysyllabic, and others, from Mon, an Austroasiatic language, are sesquisyllabic . Burmese loanwords are overwhelmingly in

6344-688: The Burmese language into Lower Burma also coincided with the emergence of Modern Burmese. As late as the mid-1700s, Mon , an Austroasiatic language, was the principal language of Lower Burma, employed by the Mon people who inhabited the region. Lower Burma's shift from Mon to Burmese was accelerated by the Burmese-speaking Konbaung Dynasty 's victory over the Mon-speaking Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom in 1757. By 1830, an estimated 90% of

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6448-469: The Burmese language is called Old Burmese , dating to the 11th and 12th century stone inscriptions of Pagan . The earliest evidence of the Burmese alphabet is dated to 1035, while a casting made in the 18th century of an old stone inscription points to 984. Owing to the linguistic prestige of Old Pyu in the Pagan Kingdom era, Old Burmese borrowed a substantial corpus of vocabulary from Pali via

6552-432: The Irrawaddy River valley. Regional differences between speakers from Upper Burma (e.g., Mandalay dialect), called anya tha ( အညာသား ) and speakers from Lower Burma (e.g., Yangon dialect), called auk tha ( အောက်သား ), largely occur in vocabulary choice, not in pronunciation. Minor lexical and pronunciation differences exist throughout the Irrawaddy River valley. For instance, for the term ဆွမ်း , "food offering [to

6656-402: The Niruttipatha Sutta states that the division of time into past, present and future are "three pathways of expression ( nirutti ), designation ( adhivacana ), and concept-making ( paññatti )." The first definition of the term in an Abhidhamma text is that found in the Dhammasangani: "That which is an enumeration, that which is a designation, an expression ( paññatti ), a current term, a name,

6760-431: The OB vowel *u e.g. ငံ ngam 'salty', သုံး thóum ('three; use'), and ဆုံး sóum 'end'. It does not, however, apply to ⟨ည်⟩ which is never realised as a nasal, but rather as an open front vowel [iː] [eː] or [ɛː] . The final nasal is usually realised as nasalisation of the vowel. It may also allophonically appear as a homorganic nasal before stops. For example, in /mòʊɰ̃dáɪɰ̃/ ('storm'), which

6864-424: The Pāli Abhidhamma concerned itself with providing a finer and more exhaustive understanding of all phenomenal experience by explaining, analyzing and classifying all dhammas and their relationships. According to Y. Karunadasa , for the Abhidhamma, dhammas are "the basic factors into which all things can be resolved" and "elementary constituents, the ultimate realities behind manifest phenomena." This " Dhamma theory "

6968-421: The Pāli Nikayas, the Buddha teaches through a method in which experience is explained using various conceptual groupings of physical and mental processes, which are called " dhammā" . Examples of lists of dhammas taught by the Buddha in the Nikayas include the twelve sense 'spheres' ( ayatana ) , the five aggregates ( khandha ) and the eighteen elements of cognition ( dhatu ) . Expanding these various models,

7072-408: The Sanskrit-based Buddhist tradition which refer to the conventional truth as samvrti (which has the meaning of concealing or covering), the Pāli Abhidhamma term sammuti just means human convention and does not have this connotation of an inferior truth hiding a higher truth. Therefore, as pointed out by K.N. Jayatilleke , the Theravāda version of two truths "does not imply that what is true in

7176-422: The Theravāda. His Visuddhimagga (a manual on spiritual praxis based on the Vimuttimagga ) remains one of the most important Theravāda texts. Chapters XIV to XVII are a kind of summary of the Abhidhamma. His commentaries on the suttas also reflect an Abhidhamma perspective. A further period of medieval Sri Lankan scholarship also produced a series of texts called the sub-commentaries (which are commentaries to

7280-527: The U.S. After living at Bodhi Monastery ( Lafayette Township, New Jersey ), he now lives and teaches at Chuang Yen Monastery ( Carmel, New York ), and as of May 2013 he has been the president of the Buddhist Association of the United States. Bhikkhu Bodhi is founder of Buddhist Global Relief , an organization that funds projects to fight hunger and empower women across the world. Burmese language Burmese ( Burmese : မြန်မာဘာသာ ; MLCTS : Mranma bhasa ; pronounced [mjəmà bàθà] )

7384-491: The adoption of neologisms. An example is the word "university", formerly ယူနီဗာစတီ [jùnìbàsətì] , from English university , now တက္ကသိုလ် [tɛʔkət̪ò] , a Pali-derived neologism recently created by the Burmese government and derived from the Pali spelling of Taxila ( တက္ကသီလ Takkasīla ), an ancient university town in modern-day Pakistan. Some words in Burmese may have many synonyms, each having certain usages, such as formal, literary, colloquial, and poetic. One example

7488-418: The binary opposition between pluralism ( sabbam puthuttam ) and monism ( sabbam ekattam ), or as one Pāli commentary says, the binary opposition between the principle of plurality ( nānatta-naya ) and the principle of unity ( ekatta-naya )." That the Pali Abhidhamma sought to avoid both absolute pluralism and monism can be seen in various commentarial statements that warn against a one-sided focus or grasping on

7592-539: The canonical Abhidhamma Pitaka does not uphold the interpretation of the two truths as referring to primary ontological realities. Karunadasa notes how the Pali commentaries state that "the Buddha sometimes teaches the Dhamma according to conventional truth, sometimes according to ultimate truth, and sometimes through a combination of both." This is compared to a teacher using different dialects to teach his pupils. "There

7696-419: The characteristics of dhammas when considered as separate abstractions, including universal characteristics ( sāmanna-lakkhaņa ) such as impermanence ( aniccatā ) as well as the principle of dependent origination and the four noble truths. According to Y. Karunadasa , for the Theravāda, the two truths theory which divides reality into sammuti (worldly conventions) and paramattha (ultimate, absolute truths)

7800-525: The close portions of the diphthongs are somewhat mid-centralized ( [ɪ, ʊ] ) in closed syllables, i.e. before /ɰ̃/ and /ʔ/ . Thus နှစ် /n̥iʔ/ ('two') is phonetically [n̥ɪʔ] and ကြောင် /tɕàũ/ ('cat') is phonetically [tɕàʊ̃] . Burmese is a tonal language , which means phonemic contrasts can be made on the basis of the tone of a vowel. In Burmese, these contrasts involve not only pitch , but also phonation , intensity (loudness), duration, and vowel quality. However, some linguists consider Burmese

7904-535: The commentaries). There is also a genre of short introductory manuals to the Abhidhamma, like the 5th century Abhidhammāvatāra . The most influential of these manuals remains the short and succinct Abhidhammattha-saṅgaha of Ācariya Anuruddha. According to Bhikkhu Bodhi, this text has remained "the main primer for the study of Abhidhamma used throughout the Theravada Buddhist world," and various commentaries have been written on it. Abhidhamma remains

8008-403: The convenience of definition." It merely refers to the fact that "any dhamma represents a distinct fact of empirical existence which is not shared by other dhammas." According to Peter Harvey , the Theravāda view of a dhamma's sabhāva is that it refers to an individualizing characteristic ( salakkhaṇa ) that "is not something inherent in a dhamma as a separate ultimate reality, but arise due to

8112-604: The country. These varieties include the Yaw , Palaw, Myeik (Merguese), Tavoyan and Intha dialects . Despite substantial vocabulary and pronunciation differences, there is mutual intelligibility among most Burmese dialects. Below is a summary of lexical similarity between major Burmese dialects: Dialects in Tanintharyi Region , including Palaw, Merguese, and Tavoyan, are especially conservative in comparison to Standard Burmese. The Tavoyan and Intha dialects have preserved

8216-593: The description of dhammas is not found in the books of the Abhidhamma Pitaka , but does appear in other texts such as the Nettippakarana and in the commentaries. Theravāda commentaries sometimes equate the two terms, such as the Visuddhimagga which states that ‘dhamma means sabhāva ’. However, it should be remembered that the Theravāda conception of sabhāva does not mean an essence or

8320-560: The dhammas’ individuality, not their existential status". Sabhāva is therefore synonymous with salakkhaṇa (own characteristic), which is what differentiates one type of dhamma from another for the convenience of definition. Salakkhaṇa (own characteristic) is also called as "individual characteristic" ( paccatta-lakkhaṇa ), "special characteristic" ( visesa-lakkhaṇa ), "the characteristic which separates it from other characteristics" ( asādhāraṇa-lakkhaṇa ), and "intrinsic characteristic" ( āveṇika-lakkhaṇa ). For example, this mode of description

8424-416: The direct work of the Buddha himself, but of later disciples and scholars. However, according to some scholars like Rupert Gethin , it is possible that some elements found in Abhidhamma, such as the mātikās (lists, matrices of doctrinal terms) are from an earlier date than the books themselves. This has been studied by Erich Frauwallner , who argues that there are kernels of early pre-sectarian material in

8528-428: The earlier Nikayas, as opposed to the Abhidhamma, sammuti (linguistic conventions) is not analyzed down into existents called paramattha (ultimate). In the Theravāda Abhidhamma, the distinction does arise, referring to: two levels of reality, namely that which is amenable to analysis and that which defies further analysis. The first level is called sammuti because it represents conventional or relative truth or what

8632-518: The earliest Abhidhamma texts (such as in the Vibhanga , the Dharmaskandha , and the Śāriputrābhidharma ). According to Frauwallner's comparative study, these texts were possibly developed and "constructed from the same material", mainly early mātikās (Sanskrit: mātṛkā ) which forms the "ancient core" of early Abhidhamma. The extensive use of mātikā can also be found in some suttas of

8736-669: The early post-independence era led to a reactionary switch from English to Burmese as the national medium of education, a process that was accelerated by the Burmese Way to Socialism . In August 1963, the socialist Union Revolutionary Government established the Literary and Translation Commission (the immediate precursor of the Myanmar Language Commission ) to standardize Burmese spelling, diction, composition, and terminology. The latest spelling authority, named

8840-598: The form of nouns . Historically, Pali , the liturgical language of Theravada Buddhism , had a profound influence on Burmese vocabulary. Burmese has readily adopted words of Pali origin; this may be due to phonotactic similarities between the two languages, alongside the fact that the script used for Burmese can be used to reproduce Pali spellings with complete accuracy. Pali loanwords are often related to religion, government, arts, and science. Burmese loanwords from Pali primarily take four forms: Burmese has also adapted numerous words from Mon, traditionally spoken by

8944-674: The four great properties (see section on " Rupa "). In this sense, early Buddhism and Theravāda Abhidhamma, avoids both idealism or materialism , as well as any kind of dualism that sees mind and body as totally separate. Instead, it posits that mind and body are mutually dependent phenomena. Using this perspective as its basic schema, Abhidhamma analyzes the cognitive process into individual cognitive units which have two main components: consciousness events ( cittas , an intentional knowing or awareness of an object) and mental factors ( cetasikas , mentality that arises in association with cittas ). These two components always arise together, and when

9048-522: The introduction of English into matriculation examinations , fueled growing demand for Burmese to become the medium of education in British Burma; a short-lived but symbolic parallel system of "national schools" that taught in Burmese, was subsequently launched. The role and prominence of the Burmese language in public life and institutions was championed by Burmese nationalists, intertwined with their demands for greater autonomy and independence from

9152-405: The irreducible ‘building blocks’ that make up one's world, albeit they are not static mental contents and certainly not substances." According to Karunadasa, a dhamma, which can be translated as "a 'principle' or 'element' ( dhamma )", is "those items that result when the process of analysis is taken to its ultimate limits". However, this does not mean that they have an independent existence, for it

9256-515: The literary form, asserting that the spoken vernacular form ought to be used. Some Burmese linguists such as Minn Latt , a Czech academic, proposed moving away from the high form of Burmese altogether. Although the literary form is heavily used in written and official contexts (literary and scholarly works, radio news broadcasts, and novels), the recent trend has been to accommodate the spoken form in informal written contexts. Nowadays, television news broadcasts, comics, and commercial publications use

9360-443: The one sense is false in the other or even that the one kind of truth is superior to the other". As Karunadasa writes: the distinction between sammuti-sacca and paramattha-sacca does not refer to two kinds of truth as such, but to two ways of presenting what is true. Although they are formally introduced as two truths, they are explained as two modes of expressing what is true. They do not represent two degrees of truth, of which one

9464-590: The opposite error, a one-sided focus on the principle of unity. Instead, they are simply a "multiplicity of inter-connected but distinguishable co-ordinate factors." This is said to correspond to the idea that the Buddha's teaching is an ontological middle way between various extremes, such as absolute existence and non-existence, or radical plurality and absolute monism. While dhammas are said to be distinguishable (vibhāgavanta) from each other, they are said to arise together in clusters due to their inseparability (samsatthatā, avinibhogatā). This principle can also be seen in

9568-649: The population in Lower Burma self-identified as Burmese-speaking Bamars; huge swaths of former Mon-speaking territory, from the Irrawaddy Delta to upriver in the north, spanning Bassein (now Pathein) and Rangoon (now Yangon) to Tharrawaddy, Toungoo, Prome (now Pyay), and Henzada (now Hinthada), were now Burmese-speaking. The language shift has been ascribed to a combination of population displacement, intermarriage, and voluntary changes in self-identification among increasingly Mon–Burmese bilingual populations in

9672-407: The practicalities of insight meditation and leaves ontology "relatively unexplored". Ronkin does note however that later Theravāda sub-commentaries ( ṭīkā ) do show a doctrinal shift towards ontological realism from the earlier epistemic and practical concerns. The Theravāda Abhidhamma holds that there is a total of 82 possible types of dhammas, 81 of these are conditioned ( sankhata ), while one

9776-463: The principle of plurality ( nānattta-naya ). For example, the sub-commentary to the Dīgha Nikāya says that "the erroneous grasping of the principle of plurality is due to the undue emphasis on the radical separateness ( accanta-bheda ) of the dhammas." Likewise, dhammas "are not fractions of a whole indicating an absolute unity" or manifestations of a single metaphysical substratum, since this would be

9880-425: The region. Standardized tone marking in written Burmese was not achieved until the 18th century. From the 19th century onward, orthographers created spellers to reform Burmese spelling, because of ambiguities that arose over transcribing sounds that had been merged. British rule saw continued efforts to standardize Burmese spelling through dictionaries and spellers. Britain's gradual annexation of Burma throughout

9984-510: The said pronoun is used only by male speakers while ကျွန်မ , kya.ma. [tɕəma̰] is used by female speakers. Moreover, with regard to kinship terminology , Upper Burmese speakers differentiate the maternal and paternal sides of a family, whereas Lower Burmese speakers do not. The Mon language has also influenced subtle grammatical differences between the varieties of Burmese spoken in Lower and Upper Burma. In Lower Burmese varieties,

10088-764: The spoken form or a combination of the spoken and simpler, less ornate formal forms. The following sample sentence reveals that differences between literary and spoken Burmese mostly occur in affixes: Burmese has politeness levels and honorifics that take the speaker's status and age in relation to the audience into account. The suffix ပါ pa is frequently used after a verb to express politeness. Moreover, Burmese pronouns relay varying degrees of deference or respect. In many instances, polite speech (e.g., addressing teachers, officials, or elders) employs feudal-era third person pronouns or kinship terms in lieu of first- and second-person pronouns. Furthermore, with regard to vocabulary choice, spoken Burmese clearly distinguishes

10192-412: The supporting conditions both of other dhammas and previous occurrences of that dhamma". This is shown by other definitions given in the commentaries, which state that a dhamma is "that which is borne by its own conditions," and "the mere fact of occurrence due to appropriate conditions." Similarly, Noa Ronkin argues that in Theravāda Abhidhamma, " sabhāva is predominantly used for the sake of determining

10296-408: The suttas (see: Mahāvedalla Sutta, ) which state that some dhammas are said to be blended (samsattha) in such a way that they cannot be separated out. The fact that dhammas always arise together is also connected to their conditional dependence on each other. In the Abhidhamma, nothing arises without a cause, from a single cause or as a single effect. Therefore, in Abhidhamma "it is always the case that

10400-448: The traditional homeland of Burmese speakers. The 1891 Census of India , conducted five years after the annexation of the entire Konbaung Kingdom , found that the former kingdom had an "unusually high male literacy" rate of 62.5% for Upper Burmans aged 25 and above. For all of British Burma , the literacy rate was 49% for men and 5.5% for women (by contrast, British India more broadly had a male literacy rate of 8.44%). The expansion of

10504-425: The underlying orthography . From the 1500s onward, Burmese kingdoms saw substantial gains in the populace's literacy rate , which manifested itself in greater participation of laymen in scribing and composing legal and historical documents, domains that were traditionally the domain of Buddhist monks, and drove the ensuing proliferation of Burmese literature , both in terms of genres and works. During this period,

10608-527: The verb ပေး ('to give') is colloquially used as a permissive causative marker, like in other Southeast Asian languages, but unlike in other Tibeto-Burman languages. This usage is hardly used in Upper Burmese varieties, and is considered a sub-standard construct. More distinctive non-standard varieties emerge as one moves farther away from the Irrawaddy River valley toward peripheral areas of

10712-466: The wide circulation of legal texts, royal chronicles , and religious texts. A major reason for the uniformity of the Burmese language was the near-universal presence of Buddhist monasteries (called kyaung ) in Burmese villages. These kyaung served as the foundation of the pre-colonial monastic education system, which fostered uniformity of the language throughout the Upper Irrawaddy valley,

10816-410: The word "television", Burmese publications are mandated to use the term ရုပ်မြင်သံကြား (lit. 'see picture, hear sound') in lieu of တယ်လီဗီးရှင်း , a direct English transliteration. Another example is the word "vehicle", which is officially ယာဉ် [jɪ̃̀] (derived from Pali) but ကား [ká] (from English car ) in spoken Burmese. Some previously common English loanwords have fallen out of use with

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