James Gair
Encyclopedia
James W. Gair is a linguist in South Asian linguistics. He is a specialist in Sinhala, as well as in Pali
, Tamil
and Dhivehi
. He teaches in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics of Cornell University (Ithaca, New York).
Pali language
Pāli is a Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is best known as the language of many of the earliest extant Buddhist scriptures, as collected in the Pāi Canon or Tipitaka, and as the liturgical language of Theravada Buddhism.-Etymology of the name:The word Pali itself...
, Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
and Dhivehi
Dhivehi language
Maldivian is an Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by about 350,000 people in the Maldives where it is the national language. It is also the first language of nearly 10,000 people in the island of Minicoy in the Union territory of Lakshadweep, India where the Mahl dialect of the Maldivian...
. He teaches in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics of Cornell University (Ithaca, New York).
Works
- Gordon H. Fairbanks, James W. Gair, M. W. DeSilva. Colloquial Sinhalese. Volumes 1 and 2. Ithaca, NY: South Asia Programm, Cornell University
- James W. Gair. Colloquial Sinhalese Clause Structures. ISBN 9027907331
- James W. Gair, W. S. Karunatillake. A New Course in Reading Pali: Entering the Word of the Buddha. South Asia Books, ISBN 8120814401