Average Word Length as indicator of Pali text age

Discussion
63

Sure. No problem.

I’m afraid I cannot take the credit for this one. It’s Blake’s original code. I just adapted it a few times for different other purposes and for Sanskrit. If ever you want to do the same for Sanskrit and convert that to JS, here is the code: https://github.com/BuddhaNexus/buddhanexus-utils/blob/master/hyphenate.py

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64

Thank you, that’s good to know. I’m sure that this need will eventually arise as our thirst for EBTs grows.

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Hi @Vimala ! I was fascinated to see in one of your charts a new piece of evidence for the claim that the athakkavagga may be early, relating to word length rather than metrical considerations, and it got me wondering, is it possible to generate a comparison between the 3 vaggas of DN? I am curious because I am ov the view that the silakhandavagga is early relative to the other parts of DN and am curious to see how it compares with the other nikayas when assessed separately from the rest of DN.

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66

I’m afraid I did this three years ago and it would require me to dive into the code and start from scratch. That’s quite a lot of work for which I don’t have the time right now. You could try to make something yourself and share your findings here.

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67

No worries @Vimala , of course, i will give it a crack!

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