A Dictionary of Pali.

• Author: Collins, Steven
• Position: A Critical Pali Dictionary, vol. 3 - Book review

A Dictionary of Pali, pt. 2: g-n. By MARGARET CONE. Bristol: PALI TEXT SOCIETY, 2010. Pp. x + 653. [pounds sterling]40.

A Critical Pali Dictionary, vol. 3, fasc. 8, Kamadhatu-kareti. Edited by OSKAR VON HINUBER). Bristol: PALI TEXT SOCIETY, 2011. Pp. xv-xxxvii + 387-474. [pounds sterling]15.

In JAOS 123.3 (2003): 687-90, it was my privilege to celebrate the publication of part 1 of Margaret Cone's new Dictionary of Pali (= DOP). There is no need to repeat here the remarks about the history of Pali lexicography made in the earlier review. But one can repeat the celebration: this is another landmark in the study of Pali, a required reference tool for anyone working on Pali texts, at whatever level. Part 2 has author and title details on the front cover as well as the spine as was the case with part 1, and--a most welcome addition--running heads at the top of pages, which makes it easier to use than part 1. Part 2 has a list of addenda to part 1 (pp. 645-53). Many of the entries are major research contributions, with many centrally important terms: part 1, for example, has long and extremely useful entries on kamma and related terms; part 2 has entries on dhamma and nibbana. Dr. Cone has been working on the dictionary since 1984. At the time of writing this review, I gather (October 2011) she has reached the letter p (s.v. parama). Let us hope that part 3 will be published in the not-too-distant future.

In the previous review T mentioned the Critical Pali Dictionary (= CPD), begun in 1926 (not 1924 as is stated on the title page), which had at the time of that writing reached vol. 3, fasc. 6, to kasavacunna, published by the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters. The year 2001 saw the appearance of vol. 3, fasc. 7, kasavacurma-kamadhatu, then published by the Department of Asian Studies, University of Copenhagen, reviewed in JAOS 123.4 (2003): 932. 2011 brought the appearance of volume 3, fasc. 8, kamadhatu-kareti, now published by the Pali Text Society. Here the tone must be elegiac as well as celebratory, for this will be the last fascicule to appear: CPD has now come to an end. The entire CPD to date is available in hard copy from the Pali Text Society: see http://www.palitext.com; entries from all fascicules up to the penultimate (vol. 3, lase. 6) are also available on-line at http://pali.hum.ku.dk/cpd/. (This site also contains the prefaces to the three volumes, abbreviations, obituaries, and other useful material.) The...