The Pali Text Society's Pali-English dictionary - Tuninst.net

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2. History of the Dictionary Scheme.
The idea of the Pali Dictionary, as now published, was first put forth by Rhys Davids in September
1902 (on the thirteenth International Oriental Congress at Hamburg). It was to be compiled on the basis
of the texts issued by the P.T.S. since its foundation in 1882, and it was conceived on an international
plan, according to which some seven or eight famous Sanskrit scholars of Europe should each contribute
to the work. Every one of them was enthusiastic about it. In 1903 Rhys Davids announced that the
Dictionary would be pubhshed in 1905, or at latest in 1906. When I was studying Pah with Ernst Windisch
in 1904 I was undecided, whether I should buy a " Childers " then, or wait until the "International
Dictionary " should be out in 1905. Little did I dream that I should have had to wait till I myself
finished the International Dictionary in 1925 ! By 1909 only one-eighth of the work had been done.
Gradually the co-workers sent back the materials which Rhys Davids had supplied to them. Some had
done nothing at all, nor even opened the packets. Only Messrs. Duroiselle, Konow, and Mrs. Bode had
carried out what they had undertaken to do. After Rhys Davids had again conferred with his colleagues
at the Copenhagen Congress in 1908, he published the fuU scheme of the Dictionary in J. P.T.S. for 1909.
Then the War came and stopped the plans for good.
The failure of the original scheme teaches us that dictionary work cannot be done en passant and
in one's spare time; it requires one's whole time. At any rate, they were very disappointing years for
my friend, and he had almost despaired of the vitality of his pet plan, when, in 1916, he asked me.
under the auspices of the P.T.S. and with his assistance, to do the Dictionary on a uniform plan. So he
left the compihng to me, and I set to work, conferring with him at frequent intervals. He revised my
work. This had become more exhaustive than was planned, because double the amount of texts had
been published by 1922 than in 1902. This was a gain for the Dictionary, but meant much more work
for the editor.
3. My Material.
The Pali Dictionary is in a certain respect the result of the work of many. It is a resume of all the
indexes to the texts, so that every indexer has his or her share in the work. But the indexes do not give
translations, and thus the main work was often left to me : to find the most correct and adequate English
term for the Pali word. It needs careful and often intricate study to accomplish this task, for even the
most skilled and well-read translators have either shirked the most diiificult words, or translated them
wrongly or with a term which does not and cannot cover the idea adequately. Thus many a crux retarded
the work, not to speak of thousands of incorrectnesses in the text of the printed editions.
A few contributors gave more (like Mrs. Bode and Professor Duroiselle), but only from scanty material
and texts up to 1909. Rhys Davids' material, copied from his copy of Childers (which was bequeathed
him by Childers, interleaved by the binder and fiiled in from 1878 to 1916), was partly old, and mostly
without the English translation, which was only to be found here and there in his translated texts.
Mrs. Rhys Davids has shown her constant sympathy with the work, and I am indebted to her for
many suggestions, especially concerning psychological termini. She also condensed and revised my
articles on vinndna and sankhdra.
To summarize what actual help I have received by using materials other than my own, I have to
state that I found the following contributions of use
(i) For the whole alphabet
All the indexes to the P.T.S. publications.^ Rhys Davids' annotations to his Childers, representing
about 10 pr cent, of all important references. Kern's additions to Childers' (Toevcegselen); to be taken
with caution in translations and explanations, but at least equal to Rhys Davids' in extent and importance.^
Hardy's occasional slips and references (5 per cent, of the whole).
(2) For single letters
Mrs. Bode's collection of B and Bh. Professor Konow's collection of S (J. P.T.S. 1909) and H (ibid.
1907), which I have used very extensively, after correcting them and bringing them up to date.
Professor Duroiselle's collection of one-half of K and Mr. E. J. Thomas' N.
* Many of these are very faulty (the Kvu trsl" word index contains 60 per cent, of error). The only index with which
I have no fault to find is that to Sn and SnA by Helmer Smith.
' It is to be re^iretted that this valuable collection is marred by any amount of errors and misprints (see also below,
4 end).