Translation of the 5 Precepts from Pali to English

johnathan

Do I have the individual words in Pali defined properly as their commonly known translation in English?

1) Pānātipātā veramanī sikkhāpadam samadiyami
I undertake the precept to refrain from the killing of living creatures.

Pānātipātā: ‘the killing of living beings'
veramani: ‘to refrain from’
sikkhāpadam: ‘the Precept’
samadiyami: ‘I undertake’

2) Adinnadana veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami
I undertake the precept to refrain from taking that which is not given.

Adinnadana: ‘taking that which is not given’
veramani: ‘to refrain from’
sikkhāpadam: ‘the Precept’
samadiyami: ‘I undertake’

3) Kamesu micchacara veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami
I undertake the precept to refrain from sexual misconduct.

Kamesu: ‘sexual’
micchacara: ‘misconduct’
veramani: ‘to refrain from’
sikkhāpadam: ‘the Precept’
samadiyami: ‘I undertake’

4) Musavada veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami
I undertake the precept to refrain from incorrect speech.

Musavada: ‘incorrect speech’
veramani: ‘to refrain from’
sikkhāpadam: ‘the Precept’
samadiyami: ‘I undertake’

5) Suramerayamajja pamadatthana veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami
I undertake the precept to refrain from intoxicating drinks and drugs which lead to carelessness.

Suramerayamajja: ‘sura = fermented liquors, merya = distilled liquors, majja = intoxicating liquors’
Pamadatthana: ‘anything which destroys mindfulness’
veramani: ‘to refrain from’
sikkhāpadam: ‘the Precept’
samadiyami: ‘I undertake’

And if someone could, would you pleas break these Pali words down to an English phonetical spelling so I know if I am pronouncing them right.

hermitwin

'A' vowel is pronounced Ah ie like arch.
'i' is pronounced eee ie he.
've' is pronounced like very
so 'veramani' is pronounced 've-rah-money'

johnathan

I thought 'A' was pronounced Ah (ie. like in arch)

would not 'veramani' not sound more like: vair-ah-mah-knee

Vincenzi

ā is a double/long a (standard/latin a).
ī is a double/long i (like double e in english).

kamesu may be more general: sensual... which will include hedonism and similar.

johnathan

@Vincenzi Thanks but unfortunately I am not an English major (has been many years since I was in a class room) [Yes ashamedly, English is my first language] And I never studied latin...

I was hoping for a broken down sounding out of the words...

Would you say then that 'veramani' would then sound like: ver-ah-mah-knee
(with ver sounding like verge)

Vincenzi

@Johnathan

by standard/latin I meant languages that keep a one sound per vowel, like italian or spanish.

don't include h, because that means aspirated (like "h" in "hi")... it is just a long vowel.

veramanī will be veramanee/veramanii... it is not that difficult.

johnathan

Sorry Vincenzi I know you mean well but being the OP'er I am not requesting an english grammer tutorial or italian or spanish... I simply want to know what the words in Pali sound like in english and have shown an example of what I'm looking for...

does 'veramani' sound like 've-rah-money', vair-ah-mah-knee, or ver-ah-mah-knee

Vincenzi

@Jonathan

the last one, without the h's: ver-a-ma-knee. unless an "a" is written "ā", in which case it has to be prolonged.

johnathan

Ok then... Pānātipātā

Due to the ā would sound like Pay-nay-tee-pay-tay (with ti sounding like he)

To look at it I would say pa-na-ti-pa-ta (ti sounding like tip) rolls off the tongue better...

Vincenzi

no, ā is just a double a. in english I think it is ā as in father and a as in cat.

but as with double consonants in italian... you may spell it without doubling.

you may want to read this

DhammaDhatu

1) Pānātipātā veramanī sikkhāpadam samadiyami

Pānā = breathing

johnathan

OK... so here's how #1 looks/sounds to me:

Pānātipātā veramanī sikkhāpadam samadiyami

pa-na-ti-pa-ta (the a's all sound like the a in cat... ti sounding like tip)

ver-a-ma-nī (ver as in verge, a as in cat, ma as in mama, ni as in knee)

sikk-hā-pa-dam (sikk as in sick, ha as in happy, pa as in spa, dam as in Adam)

sam-a-di-ya-mi (sam as in sam, a as in arch, di as in deed, ya as in yawn, mi as in me)

Vincenzi

in sam-a-di-ya-mi, di isn't as in deed because it is not a long i.

and the syllables always end in vowel: sa-ma-di-ya-mi

johnathan

so then sa-ma-di-ya-mi would sound like sa as in sat, ma as in mat, di as in dip< ya as in yap, and mi as in mitt?