As you may know, I began the study of the Middle Egyptian language a few years ago, and then dipped a bit into a slightly newer form of the Egyptian language, Coptic as well. I had to put my language studies on hold for a while due to scheduling and time constraints. However my goal was to restart this year. I am happy to say, that this is still my plan, but I have decided to put Ancient Egyptian on hold for a bit, while I focus on yet another ancient language, Pali. Unlike Egpytian, Pali is a member of the Indo-European family of languages. So it is closer to Greek or Sanskrit than it is to Egyptian or Chinese. It is thought to have Vedic Sanskrit as a parent, but then developed to be the local language of the region around Magadha, one of the early 16 “Great Kingdoms” in North-east India, and a major cultural center for both Jainism and Buddhism.
So why Pali? Well, Pali has texts that I want to read. Pali has a rich textual tradition behind it including the Pali cannon, philosophical texts such as the Visuddhimagga, poetry, and the Jataka tales. Perhaps more importantly, I am looking forward to taking a class in Pali from a teacher, Dr. Aleix Ruiz-Falqués, rather than just self-study with a group (as I was doing with Middle Egyptian). There are not very many opportunities to study Pali, so I am happy to be able to take advantage of this opportunity now, as it presents itself, to take an on-line class with a renowned scholar.
If you want to join me, I believe that registration is still open at Buddhist Studies Online.
I do still plan to tackle Middle Egyptian. So, stay tuned!
/
