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PĀḶI & IPA
Pāḷi and the International Phonetic Alphabet :
A Guide to the Pronunciation System of the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka in Roman Script
with Comparative Examples of
the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka in Siam Script from the King Chulachomklao of Siam Edition 1893
by
Professor Emeritus Dr. Vichin Panupong
Postscript
Pāḷi or Dhammoti Pāḷi --the language of Dhamma-- does not have its own alphabet. Because of extensive use of the Roman alphabet throughout the world today, its adoption for the printing of the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka in the World Tipiṭaka Edition in Roman Script (2005), yeields an enormous strategic advantage in the preservation and dissemination of the Buddha’s words worldwide. For example, in 1893, when King Chulalongkorn Chulachomklao of Siam published the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka in Siam-script edition in 1893, a table of Siam-script to Roman-script transliteration, was also printed. This was of a great advantage for international scholars all over the world, allowing them not only to read but to pronounce the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka correctly even though it had been printed in Siam script.
In this present publication, the World Tipiṭaka Edition has followed the international standard set in King Chulachomklao of Siam Tipiṭaka Edition over a century ago by printing the entire Pāḷi Tipiṭaka corpus in Roman script. And for even greater standardisation, a new system using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to transcribe of the Pali sounds was also invented and printed in the World Tipiṭaka Edition for the first time in 2007.
This improved edition of the World Tipiṭaka in Roman script published in 2008, will provide an important reference for the correct pronunciation of Pāḷi sounds in the Roman-script Tipiṭaka for international scholars as well as students of Pāḷi and Tipiṭaka Studies. The introduction of the International Phonetic Alphabet for Pāḷi Transcription (IPA Pāḷi) will further assist the people of the world in correctly pronuncing Pāḷi in the recitation of the Tipiṭaka, thus contributing to the preservation of this precious heritage of humanity.
As has already been mentioned, the Dhamma language of Pāḷi does not have its own alphabet; nevertheless, the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka has been preserved and handed down intact to the present generation through suscessive Great Tipiṭaka Councils which have been written in scripts of various nations of the world. This process has thus ensured the existence and purity of the Buddha’s words to the present day. Now that the IPA Pāḷi has been created in the publication of the World Tipiṭaka Edition 2008, this universal phonetic ststem of representation will be even more useful as the universal medium for the international community.
Today, it is premature to predict the future and development of the IPA Pāḷi. Undoubtedly, the universality of this script can accord with the wishes and meritorious aspirations of the Buddha to spread the Pāḷi language of Dhamma, a supreme heritage of humankind, that extends beyond national, racial, and linguistic boundaries and is now preserved in the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka in Roman Script.
www.tipitakastudies.net
  
www.tipitakahall.org
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e-Tipiṭaka 
