Kenneth Roy Norman
FBA (1925–2020) was a British
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...
. He was Professor Emeritus of Indian Studies at the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, and was a leading authority on
Pali
Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist '' Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Bud ...
and other
Middle Indo-Aryan languages
The Middle Indo-Aryan languages (or Middle Indic languages, sometimes conflated with the Prakrits, which are a stage of Middle Indic) are a historical group of languages of the Indo-Aryan family. They are the descendants of Old Indo-Aryan (OIA; ...
.
Life
Norman was educated at
Taunton School
Taunton School is a co-educational independent school in the county town of Taunton in Somerset in South West England. It serves boarding and day-school pupils from the ages of 13 to 18.
The current headmaster is Lee Glaser, appointed in the a ...
in
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lor ...
. After military service in
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
and
Malaya, he was admitted to
Downing College, Cambridge, where he studied
classics, receiving his
M.A.
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. ...
in 1954.
The whole of his academic career was spent at Cambridge. He was appointed Lecturer in Indian Studies in 1955, Reader in 1978, and Professor of Indian Studies in 1990. He retired in 1992.
From 1981 to 1994 he was President of the
Pali Text Society
The Pali Text Society is a text publication society founded in 1881 by Thomas William Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pāli texts".
Pāli is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism are preserved. The ...
, and from January to March 1994 he was the Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai Visiting Professor at the
School of Oriental and African Studies
SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury are ...
.
He was made a Foreign Member of the
Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
{{Infobox organization
, name = The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
, full_name =
, native_name = Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab
, native_name_lang =
, logo = Royal ...
in 1983 and a
Fellow of the British Academy
Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are:
# Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom
# C ...
in 1985.
Notable works
Translations
*''Elders' Verses: Vol. I'' (1969, 2nd ed. 2007), a translation of the
Theragāthā
*''Elders' Verses: Vol. II'' (1971, 2nd ed. 2007), a translation of the
Therīgāthā''The Word of the Doctrine''(1991), a translation of the
Dhammapada
The Dhammapada ( Pāli; sa, धर्मपद, Dharmapada) is a collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form and one of the most widely read and best known Buddhist scriptures. The original version of the Dhammapada is in the Khuddaka ...
''The Group of Discourses''(1992, 2nd ed. 2001), a translation of the
Suttanipāta
*''Pātimokkha'' (2001), a translation of the
Pātimokkha
*''Overcoming Doubts: Vol. I: The Bhikkhu-Pātimokkha Commentary'' (with P. Kieffer-Pülz and W. Pruitt, 2018), a translation of the
Kaṅkhāvitaraṇī
Other books
''Pali Literature''(1983)
''A Philological Approach to Buddhism: The Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai Lectures 1994''(1997)
*''Collected Papers: Vols. IVIII'' (19902007)
Papers
Samprasāraṇa in Middle Indo-Aryan(1958)
Notes on Aśoka's Fifth Pillar Edict(1967)
Dr. Bimala Churn Law(1969)
Some Aspects of the Phonology of the Prakrit Underlying the Aśokan Inscriptions(1970)
Notes on the Bahapur Version of Aśoka's Minor Rock Edict(1971)
Notes on the Greek Version of Aśoka's Twelfth and Thirteenth Rock Edicts(1972)
Aśoka and Capital Punishment: Notes on a Portion of Aśoka's Fourth Pillar Edict, with an Appendix on the Accusative Absolute Construction(1975)
Two Pali Etymologies(1979)
A Note on Attā in the Alagaddūpama-sutta(1981)
The Nine Treasures of the Cakravartin(1983)
The Pāli Language and the Theravādin Tradition(1983)
The Pratyeka-Buddha in Buddhism and Jainism(1983)
The Origin of Pāli and Its Position among the Indo-European Languages(1988)
Aspects of Early Buddhism(1990)
Pāli Philology and the Study of Buddhism(1990)
Studies in the Minor Rock Edicts of Aśoka(1991)
On Translating from Pāli(1992)
Theravāda Buddhism and Brahmanical Hinduism: Brahmanical Terms in a Buddhist Guise(1992)
‘ Solitary as Rhinoceros Horn ’(1996)
The Four Noble Truths(2003)
Why are the Four Noble Truths Called “Noble”?(2008)
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, K. R.
1925 births
2020 deaths
Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge
British Indologists
British orientalists
British philologists
Fellows of the British Academy
Pali scholars
Pali
People educated at Taunton School