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Translation of the 5 Precepts from Pali to English

johnathanjohnathan Canada Veteran
edited March 2011 in Philosophy
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.

Comments

  • hermitwinhermitwin Veteran
    edited March 2011
    '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'
  • johnathanjohnathan Canada Veteran
    I thought 'A' was pronounced Ah (ie. like in arch)

    would not 'veramani' not sound more like: vair-ah-mah-knee
  • VincenziVincenzi Veteran
    edited March 2011
    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.
  • johnathanjohnathan Canada Veteran
    @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)
  • @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.
  • johnathanjohnathan Canada Veteran
    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
  • @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.
  • johnathanjohnathan Canada Veteran
    edited March 2011
    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...
  • VincenziVincenzi Veteran
    edited March 2011
    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
  • 1) Pānātipātā veramanī sikkhāpadam samadiyami
    Pānā = breathing

    :)
  • johnathanjohnathan Canada Veteran
    edited April 2011
    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)
  • 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
  • johnathanjohnathan Canada Veteran
    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?
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