Buddhadatta A.P., Maha Nayaka Thera. The New Pali Course Book 1

Singapore Buddhist Meditation Centre, Seventh Edition 第7版, 1998. — 129 p.Pali is the language in which the oldest Buddhist texts were composed. It originated in the ancient country of Magadha which was the kingdom
which was the kingdom of Emperor Asoka and the centre of Buddhistic learning during many centuries. Pali is older than classical Sanskrit, and a
knowledge of it is very useful to students of philology and ancient history.
It is still the classical language of the Buddhists of Ceylon, Burma and Siam.
During the latter half of the last century some European scholars became interested in the study of Pali and wrote some articles and books to
encourage the study of it. At the same time the publication of Pali Texts in Europe was begun through the efforts of Professors V. Fausboll, H.
Oldenberg and T. W. Rhys Davids. Thanks to the indefatigable labours of the last mentioned scholar and the Pali Text Society, which he established
some fifty years ago, the whole of the Pali Canon (of the Theravāda School) is now found in print.