Acknowledgements

I would like to thank, first and foremost, ven. Ariyadhammika (Austria) as saṅghanāyaka (“leader of the community”) of Sāsanārakkha Buddhist Sanctuary (SBS), especially for the freedom of schedule and the allowance to pursue my studies in full-time. I also wish to express my thanks to ven. Bodhirasa (South Africa) for pointing out flaws in the chapters “Sandhi” and “Morphology” and to ven. Pāladhammika (U.S.A.) for reading through a preliminary draft, giving perceptive feedback. Sayalay Cālā Therī (Aggācāra International Education and Meditation Centre, Myanmar) readily responded to numerous of my queries with insightful comments. I value and recognize her input. Ven. Sujāta (Germany) and Mrs. Looi Sow Fei (Malaysia) also went through a draft of the entire book; I am thankful for all the mistakes they spotted.

I appreciate and am grateful for the discussions with Dr. Bryan Levman (University of Toronto, Canada) about many points and his exceedingly kind willingness to fully review an earlier draft version – the quality of this work would have suffered much without his suggestions. Despite his teaching obligations, Prof. Dr. Thomas Oberlies (Universität Göttingen, Germany) kindly undertook to review substantial parts of the present grammar; I prize his insightful assistance, without which it would have suffered a sizable degradation in quality as well. I wish to thank Dr. Alastair Gornall for his occasional help. The efforts of Dulip Withanage and his wife Kanchana Ranasinghe (both Sri Lanka) are recognized with gratitude. They helped with needed book scans from the University of Heidelberg’s library, thus being a prop for the completion of my studies. Much thanks is also due to Stefan (Germany) and Lamai (Thailand) Köppl who, in like manner, acted very supportively. May the spiritual merit (puññaṃ) generated with the creation and donation of this work be dedicated to the welfare of Stefan and Laimai Köppl’s recently deceased father (Rudolf Köppl, dec. 2020) and mother (Malai Namnuan, dec. 2021) respectively, all beings as a whole and for the longevity of the Buddha’s teaching: buddhasāsanaṃ ciraṃ tiṭṭhatu – “May the Buddha’s dispensation endure for long!”

Introduction

Grammar and phonetics are a vital part of the indigenous Buddhist traditions, right from the era of the Teacher’s (i.e. the Buddha’s) floruit and throughout history up until modernity, constituting not only the foundation for preaching the dhamma to the people but also for understanding the subtleties of it in the first place (Subhūti, 2018, p. 4). Thus we find evidence that those disciplines were invested with integral significance already in the nearly ubiquitously accepted earliest layers of Buddhist lore, to quote the Aṅguttaranikāya:

These two things, bhikkhus, lead to the confusion and disappearance of the good dhamma (saddhammo), which two? Badly- (or “wrongly”, “incorrectly”) settled words and syllables (or “letters”) and misinterpreted meaning. Bhikkhus, the meaning of badly-settled words and syllables is misinterpreted […] These two things, bhikkhus, lead to the continuance of the good dhamma, what two? Well-settled words and syllables and well-interpreted meaning. Bhikkhus, the meaning of well-settled words and syllables is well interpreted (AN II – dukanipātapāḷi, p. 7 [AN 2.20]).Dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā saddhammassa sammosāya antaradhānāya saṃvattanti. katame dve? dunnikkhittañca padabyañjanaṃ attho ca dunnīto. dunnikkhittassa, bhikkhave, padabyañjanassa atthopi dunnayo hoti […] dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā saddhammassa ṭhitiyā asammosāya anantaradhānāya saṃvattanti. katame dve? sunikkhittañca padabyañjanaṃ attho ca sunīto. sunikkhittassa, bhikkhave, padabyañjanassa atthopi sunayo hoti […]

Bearing that in mind, the attempt to elucidate, elaborate upon and enrich the grammar of the Pāḷi language as undertaken with the present work seems a meaningful endeavor.

This Māgadhabhāsā (Pāḷi) grammar, as it is named, was originally not intended to reach the extent it has now. The initial prospect was to create an informal and more or less makeshift conglomerate of relevant material mainly for personal studies and general use. However, the inspiration roused by the thought about the spiritual merit (puññaṃ) gained by creating and sharing something more fundamental and reliable by investing just some extra labor (quite a bit in the end actually) led to the initial makeshift design being worked upon to lose its rough edges and growing in bulk.

With that, the aims, methods and rationales of the present Pāḷi grammar are as follows: (a) Lubricating access to the information contained in numerous modern Pāḷi grammars written in English by collating the dispersed material contained within them. People who wish to learn about grammatical rules and principles – either on a broader spectrum or at all – are compelled to track them down in the thicket of the widely scattered grammar inventories as separately given by the various available grammars. These works, mostly fine and outstanding works of scholarship in their own right, each individually often contain valuable data and perspectives not found in the other ones, and these are attempted to be distilled and presented with this Pāḷi grammar. (b) Facilitating identification of and providing explicit reference to most of the grammatical rules contained in the KaccāyanabyākaraṇaṃAlso Kaccāyanavyākaraṇaṃ: kaccāyana + vyākaraṇaṃ → kaccāyanavyākaraṇaṃ (“the grammar of Kaccāyana”). The 19ᵗʰ century Sri Lankan scholar bhikkhu Subhūti (2018, p. 4) explains: “Vyākaraṇa is the science of writing and speaking a language without fault and of understanding the intentions of texts by knowing all the divisions and syntactic relations of a language’s expressions. Vyākaraṇa is not exclusive to one language but is for all languages. Some languages that were used in former times, however, do not have complete grammars since the principal users of these languages were uncivilised and were of weak intellect. The existence of a very complete and pristine grammatical literature in Sanskrit and Pali, by contrast, is a testament to the sharp intellects of the users of these languages.” (Kaccāyana), the oldest extant Pāḷi grammar, as well as to selected ones from other traditional grammars. The complete lack of or just sporadic referencing to the indigenous grammars – a commendable exception to this being Collins’s A Pali Grammar for Students (2006) – is not a trifling defect. Not to say that the content which is tendered in such manner is thereby flawed per se, but it possibly presents disbenefits for a variety of individuals, such as those who wish to gain familiarity also with the source grammars, or those who are more skeptical by nature about the validity of unreferenced material. To my knowledge, neither such a blend as attempted here nor the consistent referencing to classical grammars has been effected as of this writing, so that some benefit – however small – might hopefully be derived for the reader from the following pages. This potential benefit will, it is hoped as well, not suffer much from the following limitations of the present grammar.

• It does not throughout throw into relief the different ancient grammarian’s views and presentations (that of Moggallāna, Aggavaṃsa etc.)
• Some informative modern grammars have not been taken into consideration.
• It does not deal with prosody.

The structure is primarily modelled after that of Kaccāyana and references (incl. page numbers) to works in the Pāḷi language as well as quotations from them are directed to and from the Chaṭṭhasaṅgāyana editions (PDF files) of the Vipassana Research Institute, Igatpuri, India, also commonly known as the Burmese edition (Bᵉ), with the exception of one quotation from a European edition (Eᵉ). Since traditionally proper names and titles of books are not capitalized in the Pāḷi language, this practice is continued here for the actual Pāḷi texts quoted; however, it is, for obvious reasons, discontinued for such individual Pāḷi words contained in the running text written in English.

Those who are not interested in word formation and derivation but mainly wish to have an avenue quickening access to specific rules – and thereby to the Pāḷi texts themselves – may skip entire chaptersPrimarily the chapters “Sandhi”, “Morphology”, “Kita and Taddhita Affixes” and “Uṇādi Affixes.” and/or the sections on formation contained within most of the remaining ones. They may directly proceed to those parts of the book discussing actual usage, holding the most relevant information for comprehending the syntax and meaning of the Pāḷi text one wishes to understand. Let it be finally remarked, however, that a proven way to gain a broader and deeper grasp of the Pāḷi language is to get also familiar with word formation and derivation principals; therefore, it is recommended.

Pāḷi – Historical Backdrop

Pāḷi is one of the Middle Indo-Aryan (MIA) languages, itself part of the Indo-Aryan language family. The broad classification of Indo-Aryan languages can, on linguistic grounds,This classification scheme is not strictly applicable on historical grounds; MIA languages are older than Classical Sanskrit. be chronologically subdivided in the following way (Das, 2006, p. 3; Gair, 2007, p. 847; Oberlies, 2007, p. 164; Witzel, 2009, p. 47):

1. 1500 BCE – 600 BCE: Old Indo-Aryan – Vedic (Ṛgvedic Sanskrit and its dialects), Classical and Epic Sanskrit.
2. 600 BC – 1200 CE: Middle Indo-Aryan – Pāḷi, Prākṛt (Prakrit), Ardha-Magadhī, Māharāṣṭrī, Gāndhārī, Sinhala Prakrit, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit etc.
3. 1200 CE – present: New Indo-Aryan – Hindu/Urdu, Sinhala, Dardic, Panjabi, Dogri, Nepali, Bengali etc.

The corpora of early Buddhism have initially and in the first few centuries after the demise of the Teacher been transmitted in four of these Indic languages at a minimum: (1) Pāḷi, (2) Classical Sanskrit, (3) Gāndhārī and (4) Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit (Edgerton, 1953, p. 1). As the title of this book suggests, only the Pāḷi language will be singled out and considered in the expositions contained in this grammar.

Basing himself upon morphological and lexical features, Oberlies (2007, p. 164) states that Pāḷi cannot be a direct continuation of Vedic, but Geiger (1916/1956, p. 1) and Pischel (1957, p. 4) stress its closer relation to Vedic rather than Classical Sanskrit, the latter from which Pāḷi, they maintain, cannot directly be derived. Wackernagel (as quoted by Karpik, 2019, p. 55) and others (Karpik, p. 55; Oberlies, p. 161) argue for a parallel development of Vedic and the Prakrits in general, among which Pāḷi and the other Middle Indo-Aryan dialects are sometimes classified (Geiger, p. 1; Norman, 1983, p. 7). Pischel (p. 4) maintains that “[…] it does not seem probable that all the Prakrit dialects sprang out from one and the same source.” Woolner (1999, p. 3) and von Hinüber (2001, p. 43), on the other hand, see them as (essentially) derived from Vedic. For Levman (2019, p. 96, n. 32) “the actual answer appears to lie in the middle.” In any case, the antiquity of Pāḷi among the Middle Indo-Aryan languages and largely Sanskrit-independent grammatical traditions were given as reasons to let Pāḷi stand apart from the Prakrits (Klein, Joseph, & Fritz, 2017, p. 319).

Pāḷi – Derivation and Orthography

The word “Pāḷi”IPA: /ˈpaːli/; abbr. “pi” (ISO 639–1) or “pli” (ISO 639–2 and 3). (also “Pāli”, “Paḷi” and anglicized “Pali”) was stated to be a Dravidian loanword meaning “row”, “line” and in the Pāḷi Buddhist tradition later also “norm”, “text” (Levman, personal communication, April 28, 2020; Mallik, 1970, pp. 78, 81; “Pāli/Pāḷi”, 1921), being an equivalent to tanti, meaning “string”, “sacred text.” We also find medieval and modern attempts to derive it from within the indigenous grammatical system of the Pāḷi language itself as well as from Sanskrit. The dictionary reference provided above sees a connection with Sanskrit pāliSkt. √ pāla. (“dam”, “dike”, “bridge”), but Gombrich (2018, p. 11) suggests a derivation from Sanskrit √ paṭha (“to recite”) instead. The autochthonous Pāḷi grammar of Moggallāna,Fl. ca. 1165 CE (Jayawardhana, 1995, p. 156). however, maintains (Mogg, S, p. 147) a connection to the Pāḷi √ pāla, explained as having the meaning of “protecting”, as it has in Sanskrit.Pāto ḷi. pātismā ḷi hoti. atthaṃ pāti rakkhatī ti pāḷi tanti – (Alastair Gornall [Trans.]; personal communication, May 4, 2020) “ḷi after the [verbal base] pā ‘to protect’. ḷi occurs after the [verbal base] pā ‘to protect’. It protects (pāti), [i.e.] guards (rakkhati), the meaning, therefore, it is pāḷi, [i.e.] a sacred text (tanti).” It explains: atthaṃ pāti rakkhatīti pāḷi – “Pāḷi: ‘It protects and keeps watch over the meaning.’” Childers (“Pāli”, 1875) quotes an anonymous grammatical work being along the same lines as Moggallāna just referred to: saddatthaṃ pāletīti pāli, which he renders as: “Text is so called because it protects the sense of the words.” If we accept Jayawickrama’s (“Pāli”, 2003) claim that it is not possible to derive “Pāḷi” from Sanskrit pāṭha (√ paṭha) since no such phonological change is attested, the constructions of Moggallāna and the dictionary explanations are the preferred choice.

Pāḷi – the Name of a Language

Nowhere in the canon (pāḷi), its commentaries (aṭṭhakathā) or sub-commentaries (ṭīkā) preserved within the Pāḷi tradition is mention made of a language with the name “Pāḷi.”It is also unknown to non-Buddhist traditions (von Hinüber, 1977/1994, p. 85). In the aṭṭhakathā it is used solely in the sense of “text” and predominantly as “canonical text”, but not exclusively (Norman, 1983, p. 1; von Hinüber, 1977/1994, p. 85). This can be understood from the numerous commentarial expressions making a clear distinction between canon and aṭṭhakathā.E.g.: […] pāḷiyaṃ avuttampi aṭṭhakathāyaṃ vuttavasena gahitaṃ – “[…] but it is not said in the canon (pāḷi) but taken here vis-à-vis the commentary” (Sp I – pārājikakaṇḍa-aṭṭhakathā, p. 300). See also Childers (“Pāli”, 1875) for a decent summary of further occurrances. The aṭṭhakathā and ṭīkā literature termed the language of the tipiṭaka etc. in the following ways (not exhaustive):See also von Hinüber (1977/1994) for further discussion

• Māgadhabhāsā – “the language of Magadha” (Mp-ṭ II – dukanipātaṭīkā, p. 178).E.g.: Sammāsambuddhopi hi tepiṭakaṃ buddhavacanaṃ tantiṃ āropento māgadhabhāsāya eva āropesi – “Surely, when the the Perfectly Enlightened One committed the Buddha Word, the tipiṭaka, to the canon, it was done just by means of the language of Magadha (māgadhabhāsāya).”
• Māgadhavohāro – “the current (or ‘popular’) speech of Magadha” (Kkh, p. 39).E.g.: Ettha ca ariyakaṃ nāma māgadhavohāro. Levman on the term vohāro (personal communication, April 28, 2020): “The word vohāro is derived from OI [Old Indian] vy- ava + hṛ, meaning ‘to carry on business’, ‘trade’, ‘deal in’, ‘exchange’, ‘have intercourse with’ etc. In other words, the very word vohāro confirms the existence of this koine.” What this “koine” is referring to is elaborated upon further down below.
• Māgadhiko vohāro – “the speech belonging to Magadha” (Sp IV – cūḷavagga-aṭṭhakathā, p. 23).[S]akāya niruttiyā ti ettha sakā nirutti nāma sammāsambuddhena vuttappakāro māgadhiko vohāro.
• Māgadhikā bhāsā – “the language belonging to Magadha” (Moh, p. 75).Sabhāvaniruttīti ca māgadhikā bhāsā, yāya sammāsambuddhā tepiṭakaṃ buddhavacanaṃ tantiṃ āropenti – “‘The natural tongue’: the language belonging to Magadha, with which the Perfectly Enlightened Ones commit the Buddha Word – the tipiṭaka – to the canon.”
• Ariyako – “Aryan [language].”
• Ariyavohāro – “the current Aryan speech” (Sp I – pārājikakaṇḍa-aṭṭhakathā, p. 94).E.g.: [T]attha ariyakaṃ nāma ariyavohāro, māgadhabhāsā.

This nomenclature landscape makes for the rationale behind selecting the title of the present grammar as it stands, despite most (but not all) scholars’ dislike of adopting that name for the language in which the lore of Pāḷi Buddhism was transmitted and in which it has been committed to writing – a language which was possibly even used by the Buddha himself (more on that further below in the section “Pāḷi – What is it?”). How, then, did it come about that we nowadays know that language under the name “Pāḷi” in the first place and not as it was known throughout, likely already in the nascent years of Buddhism?

Norman (1983, p. 1) figures it probable that a misunderstanding of the compound word pāḷibhāsā (“language of the canon [pāḷi]”), is responsible for the inception of the word “Pāḷi” as being used to denote the name of a language. He points to facts indicating a usage of the term “Pāḷi” in that confused sense in 19ᵗʰ century Sri Lanka and Burma (the work quoted mentioning pāḷibhāsā), in the case of the latter Burmese work likely even earlier. Cousins (2015, p. 119) draws attention to a few ambiguous instances of pāḷibhāsā in the ṭīkā literature as denoting the name of a language but follows eventually von Hinüber (1977/1994, p. 90), who made it evident that the first attested use of the word “Pāḷi”, as referring to the language in which the Pāḷi Buddhist scriptures were handed down, was in the 17ᵗʰ century CE, both pointing to a letter (d. 1672 CE) of M. Laneau (as cited by Pruitt, 1987, pp. 123–4) which relates his successful learning Siam and Pāḷi (Baly). Lastly, von Hinüber (p. 90) gives the 15ᵗʰ century CE as the terminus ante quem the term Pāḷi (or pāḷibhāsā) was not used in the sense it is nowadays and proposes a commencement at some time between the 15ᵗʰ and 17ᵗʰ centuries CE. He cites a Sinhalese work, which lists four languages among which is also the one of “Magada” [sic].

For Norman (p. 2) it seems unlikely that this usage arose independently in all three major Buddhist countries. In any case, in traditional Buddhist countries both senses – i.e. the earlier commentarial and the somewhat later confounded sense – existed parallel to each other up to the present day; thus, to use the traditional nomenclature as elaborated upon above as well as the widespread modern variant seem uncontroversial and permissible in nearly all respects. However, scholars continue to hold certain reservations as to the legitimacy of allocating much linguistically relevant weight on a potential link between the Pāḷi language and languages or dialects as they were spoken in ancient Magadha, at least the Māgadhī dialect proper, and have proposed quite a plethora of opinions on what Pāḷi is and how and from what it developed – more on that in the subsequent paragraphs.

Pāḷi – What is it?

The Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics (Klein et al., 2017, p. 318) states: “It is generally accepted that Pāli as known from the Theravāda texts was a lingua franca, not a single individual language particular to one dialect area.” However, the scholarly discussions on the subject matter that have been consulted are of course somewhat more nuanced than that generalizing statement in its depiction of the status quo. They state, more specifically, that Pāḷi is either (a) some form of either a lingua franca,Merriam Webster (“Lingua franca”, n.d.): “[A]ny of various languages used as common or commercial tongues among peoples of diverse speech.” koineMerriam Webster (“Koine”, n.d.): “[A] dialect or language of a region that has become the common or standard language of a larger area.” or standard dialect (Geiger, 1916/1956, pp. 4–6; Karpik, 2019, p. 67; Oberlies; 2007, p. 183; Roth, 1980, p. 78; Wynne, 2019, pp. 9–10), (b) some form of a vernacular (Childers, 1875, p. xiv; Roth, 1980, p. 78; Warder, 1970/2000, p. 294) or (c) based upon one of these (Levman, 2019, pp. 64–5, n. 1; Lüders, as quoted by Waldschmidt in Lüders, 1954, p. 8; Norman, 1989, p. 66; Rhys Davids, 1911, pp. 153–4). There is also a dissensus as to the question if Pāḷi predominantly constitutes an artificially crafted language (Gombrich, 2018, pp. 84–5;Gombrich holds that the Buddha was the progenitor of the Pāḷi language or at least a principle figure as it relates to its creation. Norman, p. 65; von Hinüber, 1996, p. 5Commenting on von Hinüber’s assessment of Pāḷi as an artificial language, Prof. Oberlies remarks: “The ‘artificial language’ of Mr. von Hinüber goes too far also for me” – “Die ‘Kunstsprache’ von Herrn von Hinüber geht auch mir zu weit” (personal communication, May 3, 2020).) or had developed mainly by natural means (Pischel, 1957, p. 5). It also has to be noted that the first-mentioned views under (a) above premise some actually spoken basis underlying the Pāḷi language, having been significantly morphed or superseded by contrived structures in the course of time – at least in part – and that the second-mentioned view does not assume that the language was safe from any form of change as it relates to redaction, transmission errors etc. Not one text-critically involved scholar, as far as I am aware of, is of the opinion that the Pāḷi as we know it has undergone no changes whatsoever.

The above-presented traditional accounts, reporting the language as found in the texts of the Pāḷi Buddhist tradition to be māgadhabhāsā etc., are by and large considered incorrect by modern scholars. They adduce, inter alia, the peculiar features of the Māgadhī dialect proper as inferred from the Aśokan inscriptions and the medieval descriptions of it by the Indian grammarians and determined these features to be (a) l instead of r (e.g. lāja – rāja), (b) a-stems in e for o (e.g. lāje – rājo) and (c) palatal ś for dental s. However, based upon inscriptional and other evidence, Norman (1980, pp. 68–9) demonstrated that these features were found merely within a relatively restricted area and that it is feasible to regard the home of Pāḷi as being outside the region where the true Māgadhī was spoken but still within Magadha, somewhat in the center of the east-Indian region, not far from Kaliṅga. He considers it feasible that Māgadhī – as depicted within the aṭṭhakathā tradition as the language of the tipiṭaka – is a variant of the Māgadhī dialect proper and that the Buddhist tradition can thus be correct. To similar conclusions came already Winternitz (1908/1981, p. 40), seeing the Māgadhī dialect proper at the base of Pāḷi, and Geiger (1916/1956, p. 4), to quote the latter:

A consensus of opinion regarding the home of the dialect on which Pāli is based has therefore not been achieved. Windisch therefore falls back on the old tradition and I am also inclined to do the same according to which Pāli should be regarded as a form of Māgadhī, the language in which Buddha himself had preached.

What emerges from the above is that the traditional narrative should not be and has not been dismissed outright.

Commentaries, Sub-Commentaries and Pāḷi Grammatical Literature

The aṭṭhakathā and ṭīkā traditions take the language of Magadha (māgadhabhāsā) to be a natural language – a delightful language indeed (Sv-pṭ – sīlakkhandhavaggaṭīkā, p. 6).Manoramaṃ bhāsa nti māgadhabhāsaṃ. As presented already above, the Samantapāsādikā vinaya aṭṭhakathā (Sp IV – cūḷavagga-aṭṭhakathā, p. 23) proffers the following annotation of the phrase sakāya niruttiyā as used by two Brahmins in the context of one cardinal (as it relates to linguistics) incident recorded in the vinaya, where they, still attached to things Vedic, complain about the way or language by adopting or use of which the Buddha’s teaching was spoiled: “[…] herein ‘own tongue’ is certainly the common speech belonging to Magadha (māgadhiko vohāro) in the manner spoken (vuttappakāro) by the Perfectly Enlightened One.”[…] ettha sakā nirutti nāma sammāsambuddhena vuttappakāro māgadhiko vohāro. The 12/13ᵗʰ century CE Vimativinodanīṭīkā (Vmv, p. 125) interprets the relevant portion of the episode thus: “They ruin (dūsenti) the word of the Buddha with their own language (sakāya niruttiyā) as it relates to the canon (pāḷi): ‘Surely, those of inferior birth who learn [memorize; the buddhavacana] are ruining [it] with the language of Magadha (māgadhabhāsāya) to be spoken by all with ease (sabbesaṃ vattuṃ sukaratāya)’ – this is the meaning.”Pāḷiyaṃ sakāya niruttiyā buddhavacanaṃ dūsentīti māgadhabhāsāya sabbesaṃ vattuṃ sukaratāya hīnajaccāpi uggaṇhantā dūsentīti attho. The Vinayālaṅkāra-ṭīkā (Pālim-nṭ, p. 180) from the 1600’s CE in turn as succinctly as possible glosses sakāya niruttiyā as māgadhabhāsā, the “language of Magadha.”Sakāya niruttiyā ti māgadhabhāsāya. The Samantapāsādikā on another occasion (Sp I – pārājikakaṇḍa-aṭṭhakathā, p. 94) equates māgadhabhāsā seemingly with the Aryan language as a whole, thereby possibly referring to a supra-regional language.[T]attha ariyakaṃ nāma ariyavohāro, māgadhabhāsā. The indigenous Pāḷi grammars basically concur with the above. The Padarūpasiddhi, for example, mentions explicitly that the Buddha spoke a tongue belonging to Magadha (māgadhika), as recorded in the tipiṭaka (Rūp, 1999, p. 32)Adhikāro yaṃ. Tattha pañca māre jitavāti jino, buddho. Jinassa vacanaṃ jinavacanaṃ, tassa jinavacanassa yuttaṃ jinavacanayuttaṃ , tepiṭakassa buddhavacanassa māgadhikāya sabhāvaniruttiyā yuttaṃ anurūpamevāti idaṃ adhikāratthaṃ veditabbaṃ. – for a detailed discussion concerning themes related to the last-mentioned point see Gornall (2014). The above is, as we have already seen at the beginning of this chapter, a sensible account of what language the Buddha employed, at least primarily.

In this connection it appears relevant to mention that the aṭṭhakathā tradition is not just an alternative scholarly opinion but rather constitutes strong additional evidence (cf. Karpik, 2019, p. 74), as Norman (1983, p. 119) spelled it out:

[…] some parts of the commentaries are very old, perhaps even going back to the time of the Buddha, because they afford parallels with texts which are regarded as canonical by other sects, and must therefore pre-date the schisms between the sects. As has already been noted, some canonical texts include commentarial passages, while the existence of the Old Commentary in the Vinaya-piṭaka and the canonical status of the Niddesa prove that some sort of exegesis was felt to be needed at a very early stage of Buddhism.

Furthermore, Buddhaghosa’s Samantapāsādikā contains over 200 quotations of earlier material, according to the indigenous tradition harkening back in parts to the first council (paṭhamasaṅgīti) held shortly after the demise of the Buddha (von Hinüber, 1996, p. 104). Surely Geiger must have based his deliberations to some extent upon the exegeses of the aṭṭhakathā, ṭīkā and grammatical traditions showcased throughout this section when he wrote (1916/1956, pp. 4–6):

[…] Pāli should be regarded as a form of Māgadhī […] Such a lingua franca naturally contained elements of all the dialects […] I am unable to endorse the view, which has apparently gained much currency at present, that the Pāli canon is translated from some other dialect (according to Lüders, from old Ardha-Māgadhī). The peculiarities of its language may be fully explained on the hypothesis of (a) a gradual development and integration of various elements from different parts of India, (b) a long oral tradition extending over several centuries, and (c) the fact that the texts were written down in a different country. I consider it wiser not to hastily reject the tradition altogether but rather to understand it to mean that Pāli was indeed no pure Māgadhī, but was yet a form of the popular speech which was based on Māgadhī and which was used by Buddha himself.

Whatever the case may be when it comes to the nature of Pāḷi, perhaps Bodhi (2020, p. 3) is right when suggesting: “If by some unexpected miracle transcripts of the original discourses should turn up in the exact language(s) in which they were delivered, one who knows Pāli well would be able to read them with perhaps 90 percent accuracy.”I am indebted to ven. Bodhi (aka Bhikkhu Bodhi) for sharing the above text with me prior to the book release and Bryan Levman for directing my attention to this passage in the first place. In thus manner the scope of modern scholarly assessments concerning the nature of Pāḷi partially extends, but a brief survey of the sociological environment and conditioning of the Buddha will conclude the account on the nature of Pāḷi as a language with the following section.

Pāḷi and the Buddha

The Pāḷi canon does not contain any record about which language the Buddha spoke, either as his native tongue, regarding potential standard dialects, a lingua franca or a koine. As a Sakyan, having possibly been nothing less than “junior allies”That this term might be a viable alternative rendering for the commonplace “vassals” to denote the relationship between the Sakyan crowned republic and the Kosalan kingdom might be gathered from Pj II (Bodhi [Trans.], 2017, p. 867): “[Ruled] by one native to the Kosalans (kosalesu niketino): Saying this, he rejects its rule by a subordinate ruler; for a subordinate ruler is not said to be native. But one for whom a particular country has been his place of residence by way of succession from early times is said to be native to it, and Suddhodana was such a king. By this, he shows, too, that it excels in wealth that has come down in succession.” DOP II (“Niketi(n)”, 2013): “having a home; (one) who has a long connection with.” Although the Dīghanikāya speaks of the Sakyans as being anuyuttā to king Pasenadi of Kosala, this does not have to refer to vassalage. The past participle anuyuttā, functioning as a predicate substantive noun in the text, can mean: (a) “applying oneself to”, “given to”, (b) “following”, “attending on”, “obedient (as a vassal or inferior king)”, with the textual variant for anuyuttā (i.e. anantarā anuyantā) designating the following: anantarā (“immediately after”, “next”); anuyantā, from anuyāti (“to follow”, “to go along through”, “then”).
   This much suffices to understand that “vassal” is a rendering which misses out on a number of possible nuances. The respective glosses found in the Sumaṅgalavilāsinī and its ṭīkā make a rendering as “junior ally” even more compelling. The former explains anuyuttā with vasavattino (“wielding power”, “dominating”), but the latter clarifies this term – commenting on the textual variant – to mean anuvattakā (“siding in with”, “one who follows or acts according to”). Bryan Levman (personal communication, July 11, 2020) suggest that: “here vasa must have the meaning of OI vaśa ‘willing, submissive, obedient, subject to or dependent on’ (MW),” but finds that the traditional exegeses represents a “commentarial apology” and that it is “trying to make palatable something unpalatable.” It appears to me, however, that the matter, as pictured above, does not seem to justify probative statements. of the Kosalan kingdom, he possibly spoke an eastern Indic dialect as his native tongue but having received a thoroughgoing education in an aristocratic or royal family, he in all likelihood was multilingual (cf. Edgerton, 1953, p. 2; Karpik, 2019, p. 21; Levman, personal communication, April 28, 2020; Rhys Davids, 1911, p. 153; Warder, 1970/2000, p. 200). There is also evidence that his clan – the Sakyas – spoke Munda (part of the Austroasiatic language family) and/or Dravidian (Levman, 2019, p. 64). Be that as it may, as Warder (p. 201) and others pointed out, the Buddha spent most of his time in the kingdom of Kosala and much less so in the Magadhan or others, and it is outside of Magadha where Buddhism at first in the main spread,An analysis of the four main nikāyas of the Pāḷi canon yields the following: 78% in Kosala and 12% in Magadha when including larger cities (such as Sāvatthi); 41% in Kosala and 20% in Magadha excluding such (Karpik, 2019, pp. 22–5). although it expanded significantly already during his lifetime and reached nearly all other ancient Indian countries before the Magadhan supremacy (ca. 410 BCEReckoned on the basis of the so-called corrected long chronology, which places the Buddha’s demise at ca. 486 BCE. This dating remains a viable alternative to the median chronology, which has gained widespread appeal at present (placing this event at around 400 BCE) and even appears preferable, especially given the review and symposium of Narain (1993; 2003), including critical assessments of several highly influential deductions of scholarly works presented during the Göttingen symposia on the subject (Bechert, 1991; 1992; 1997). and onwards; Warder, p. 202). Thus, although we cannot be certain what kind of language the Buddha habitually employed, it is at least safe to assume that he was multilingual. It is also well possible that he made regular use of a more universally established and widespread form of language – such as a pan-Indic high language, koine or lingua franca, the existence of which some scholars have argued for as we have come to see in the foregoing sections. This indeed might have been the Pāḷi language as preserved in the voluminous scriptures of Pāḷi Buddhism as we know them today, described by the tradition throughout under various names, such as māgadhabhāsā. Of that language the following grammar is a study.

The Pāḷi Alphabet or Orthography (saññā)

There are 41 phonemes to be found in the Pāḷi language, with the sequential order of them being as follows (Thitzana, 2016, p. 119): a, ā, i, ī, u, ū, e, o, ka, kha, ga, gha, ṅa, ca, cha, ja, jha, ña, ṭa, ṭha, ḍa, ḍha, ṇa, ta, tha, da, dha, na, pa, pha, ba, bha, ma, ya, ra, la, va, sa, ha, ḷa, aṃ (niggahītaṃ).

(a) The vowel a is appended traditionally to the consonants for ease of utterance, but a representation without them is also acceptable, perhaps even preferable (Thitzana, 2016, p. 121). (b) By dint of affixing this inherent vowel one may also correctly state that the Pāḷi language does not possess an alphabet – Gornall (2014, p. 511) called it a syllabary, but it rather represents a so-called abugida/syllabic alphabet (Ānandajoti, personal communication, July 15, 2020).

Pāḷi Alphabet Classification

(a) In the traditional classification system we find, to facilitate reference, a division into five groups – called vaggā (pl.) in Pāḷi – of the majority of consonants, according to the position of the tongue in producing the respective sounds (Ñāṇadhaja, 2011, p. 9; Thitzana, 2016, p. 122). (b) Kaccāyana and other traditional grammars divide all letters into vowels and consonants, the latter of which includes the niggahītaṃ (Kacc 2–3, Vidyabhusana, S. & Punnananda, 1935, p. 3). (c) One distinct sound is assigned to each letter of the Pāḷi alphabet. (d) In Roman transliterations of Pāḷi letters, the aspirates (cha, tha etc.) are represented as digraphs – i.e. two letters standing for one sound (Warder, 1963/2001, p. 1). (e) Conjunct consonants (sing. saṃyogo) are combinations of consonants without intervening vowels, either with similar (e.g. kkh, dda, ss) or dissimilar consonants (e.g. ndh, nd, mba) respectively (Kacc 2–3, 6–7; Thitzana, p. 53; Vidyabhusana, S. & Punnananda, p. 3). (f) Within the traditional Pāḷi grammatical system, the technical term saṃyogo encompasses also geminateGemination refers to the prolongation in the case of sonorant and fricative consonants (i.a. /l/, /m/, /n/ and /s/, /z/ respectively) or unreleased consonants in the case of stops (i.a. /t/, /p/, /d/, /g/; “Gemination”, n.d.; “Geminate consonants”, n.d.) consonants (Rūp, 1999, pp. 2–3). (g) The aspirated letters are not to be regarded as conjunct consonants since they only represent one separate phoneme or sound each (Ānandajoti, 2004, p. 16).

Vowels (sarā) – 8

a, ā, i, ī, u, ū, e, o

Consonants (byañjanā) – 33

ka-group (kavaggo) – ka, kha, ga, gha, ṅa.

ca-group (cavaggo) – ca, cha, ja, jha, ña.

ṭa-group (ṭavaggo) – ṭa, ṭha, ḍa, ḍha, ṇa.

ta-group (tavaggo) – ta, tha, da, dha, na.

pa-group (pavaggo) – pa, pha, ba, bha, ma.

UngroupedAs per Ñāṇadhaja (2011, p. 8). (avaggā) – ya, ra, la, va, sa, ha, ḷa.

aṃ.

(a) Only the first and second and the third and fourth letters of the same class (in that order; e.g. ka + kha but not kha + ka) can be conjoined to form a conjunct consonant (here geminates only). (b) The fifth letter (nasal) of each class can be appended to any consonant of the same classification – including itself – to form conjuncts. An exception is the letter ṅ, which cannot form a geminate consonant with itself (Yindee, 2018, p. 45). (c) The letters of the five groups are articulated with strong contact (cf. Rūp, 1999, p. 2; Ñāṇadhaja, p. 14).

Pāḷi Alphabet – General Descriptions

Vowels

(a) Short (rassaṃ) or light (lahu) are: a, i, u generally as well as e and o before geminate consonants (kkh, cch, kk, yy etc.; e.g. bhāseyya – “He should speak”). Exceptions for e and o: occurrences before conjuncts with end-group nasals are long (e.g. meṇḍo – “sheep”; soṇḍo – “drunkard”; see above the last letters of each group for the end-group nasals). (b) According to the so-called law of mora, long vowels are usually not followed by conjunct consonants (one exception out of many is: svākkhāto – “well taught”) — mora being a translation of the Pāḷi term mattā (“measure”). (c) One mattā denotes the time it takes to pronounce one short vowel, two mattā it takes for a long one as well as a short vowel before geminate and conjunct consonants (e.g. n akkh amati – “He does not approve of”, Sp V – parivāra-aṭṭhakathā, p. 56; Kacc 602; Rūp, 1999, p. 2; Ñāṇadhaja, 2011, pp. 6–8; Oberlies, 2001, p. 17). (d) In verse compositions, however, the short vowels take one and a half mattā to be vocalized: “‘In reference (gahaṇa) to light [form]’: herein, however, it might be one and a half mattā as the employed (gahaṇa) use if it relates to verse”Lahu ggahaṇañcettha chandasi diyaḍḍhamattassāpi gahaṇatthaṃ. The short vowel a, i, u are explained to be “light” (lahu). (Rūp, p. 2). (e) Regarding the long vowels, the same length “of one and a half mattā is also a well-supported use”Aññaggahaṇaṃ diyaḍḍhamattikānampi saṅgahaṇatthaṃ. The long vowels are referred to as “others” (añña). (Rūp, p. 2). (f) “Short” is said because it takes only a short time to speak one mattā, corresponding to the time it takes to blink only once (Kacc 4; Rūp, p. 2; Ñāṇadhaja, pp. 6–8).

(a) LongVowel length is indicated by the diacritic sign called a “macron” (¯) above the vowel. (dīghaṃ) or heavy (garu) are: ā, ī, ū generally as well as e and o at the end of words (e.g. vane – “in the forest”; putto – “son”), before single consonants (e.g. kāmesu – “regarding sensuality”; odanaṃ – “rice”) and, again, the nasal conjuncts mentioned just above (Sp V – parivāra-aṭṭhakathā, p. 56; Ñāṇadhaja, 2011, p. 7). (b) “Long” is said since it takes a long time to articulate two mattā. (c) The time passage of these long vowels equals that of two short ones, i.e. to blink twice (Sp V – parivāra-aṭṭhakathā, p. 56; Ñāṇadhaja, p. 7). (d) All vowels are voiced in the Pāḷi language (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 4).

There are differences in opinion regarding the points just mentioned, even among the ancient grammarians. Kaccāyana, for example, mentions e and o as only being long (Kacc 5; Thitzana, 2016, p. 120), whereas Buddhappiya (Rūp, 1999, p. 12) in his medieval Pāḷi grammar Padarūpasiddhi – being part of the Kaccāyana tradition – maintains their shortness before geminate but not conjunct consonants (as above) without allowing exceptions. However, Moggallāna asserts, in contradistinction to the Kaccāyana tradition, that short vowels e and o count as separate letters and therefore reports a total of 43 phonemes to be existent in the Pāḷi language.“At the end of his discussion, Moggallāna rejects Buddhappiya’s standpoint by arguing that ‘e’ and ‘o’ cannot have a long duration and then, in certain situations, be short. If ‘e’ and ‘o’ are ever short these sounds must be acknowledged as completely different sounds from long ‘e’ and ‘o’” (Gornall, 2014, p. 519). See Ñāṇadhaja (2011, p. 7) for an account of the again differing views held by modern grammarians. Here we mainly take the explanations of Kaccāyana, Buddhappiya and the ven. Ñāṇadhaja (aka Ledi Sayadaw) as the basis for our expositions on phonetics (cf. Gornall, 2014, pp. 516–7).

With modern examples based upon American English pronunciation (whenever possible), the following lists tender illustrations of articulating letters in accordance to the parameters as found in the Pāḷi language. The letters in parentheses are International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols (“Pali”, n.d.), modelled after the explanations of the ancient grammarian as to the place (ṭhānaṃ), instrument (karaṇaṃ) and mode of articulation (payatanaṃ), given here to broaden the avenues for identification. The underlined parts of the words correspond phonetically.

Consonants

(a) Consonants are said to indicate the meaning. (b) Standing by themselves they take half a mattā to enunciate, with a short vowel one and a half mattā and with a long vowel two and a half (Rūp, 1999, p. 2; Ñāṇadhaja, 2011, p. 8, Oberlies, 2001, p. 17). (c) In Pāḷi, there are aspirated (e.g. kha) and unaspirated consonants (e.g. ka). (d) When letter h arises together with the letters of the groups (represented by an h in the digraphs, as in kh), or with ya, ra, la, va, it is said to be chest-born (uraja) – (e) it symbolizes aspiration (Geiger, 1916/1994, p. 2; Ñāṇadhaja, p. 12). Though most English speakers generally do not notice the difference, there are aspirated and unaspirated sounds in the English language too and it might be helpful to briefly elaborate on that at this juncture. (f) The transcriptions of the various English words are oftentimes “broad”, which means that they do not disclose as much detail as a so-called “narrow” transcription” would. With the latter, it becomes possible to discern aspiration in the written word, as can be seen a little further below. (g) To give an illustration of what is meant by aspiration in English: When respectively speaking “skirt” and “keen” closely into the palm of one’s hand, an air puff becomes palpable when producing the [kʰ] in “keen” (represented by the aspiration modifier letter “◌ʰ”) but not so with the [k] in “skirt” (showing that it is unaspirated). To clearly instance the pronunciation of the Pāḷi language, the relevant English examples are given according to a narrow transcription. (h) Note that only voiceless stops (p, t, k) occur as aspirated in English – and this just under certain conditions – not so voiced ones (b, d, g; Andersen, n.d.) (i) Double consonants are pronounced as two distinct syllables, with a noticeable pause (e.g. panna – “fallen”, “gone” ~ “unnecessary”; phassa – “contact” ~ “pus, sir”; Dhammajoti, 2018, p. 2; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 4).

Pāḷi Alphabet: Articulation

Gutturals (kaṇṭhaja)

(a) The letters of this groupKaṇṭhaja, lit. “throat-born.” are a, ā, ka, kha, ga, gha, ṅa, ha and their articulation takes place in the region of the throat, being gutturals (Rūp, 1999, p. 1; Ñāṇadhaja, 2011, p. 11) – the end-group nasal is, in addition to the throat, also produced in the nose (nāsikaṭṭhānaja; Rūp, p. 2). (b) Unvoiced (aghosa)Unvoiced: without vibration of the vocal cords. letters of the gutturals are: ka, kha, with the voiced (ghosa)Voiced: with vibration of the vocal cords. ones being: a, ā, ga, gha, ṅa, ha (Kacc 9; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 4; Vidyabhusana, S. & Punnananda, 1935, p. 5). (c) As already explained above, the letters of the five groups are articulated with strong contact (cf. Rūp, p. 2; Ñāṇadhaja, p. 14).

• a [ɐ] = nut;
• ā [aː] = calm.

• ka [k] = luck.
• kha [kʰ] ~ keel, with stronger breath pulse.

• ga [ɡ] = gear.
• gha [ɡʰ] ~ gear, with breath pulse as with kha.

• ṅa [ŋ] = thing.
• ha [h] = behind.

Palatals (tāluja)

(a) The letters of this groupTāluja, lit. “palate-born.” are i, ī, ca, cha, ja, jha, ña, ya and their articulation takes place on the palate with the tongue’s middle (instead of its tip) in contact with it (Rūp, 1999, pp. 1–2; Ñāṇadhaja, 2011, p. 11) – the end-group nasal is, in addition to the palate, also produced in the nose (nāsikaṭṭhānaja; Rūp, p. 2). (b) The letters ca and cha of the palatals are unvoiced but voiced are: ja, jha, ña, ya (Kacc 9; Vidyabhusana, S. & Punnananda, 1935, p. 5). (c) Letter ya is formed by somewhat touching, with slight contact (Rūp, p. 2; Ñāṇadhaja, p. 14).

• i [ɪ] = sit.
• ī [iː] = seek.

• ca [tʃ] = which.
• cha [tʃʰ] ~ check, with stronger breath pulse.

• ja [dʒ] = range.
• jha [dʒʱ] ~ range, with breath pulse as with cha.

• ña [ɲ] = señor.
• ya [j] = yes.

Cerebrals/Retroflexes (muddhaja)

(a) The letters of this groupMuddhaja, lit. “head-born.” are ṭa, ṭha, ḍa, ḍha, ṇa, ḷa, ra and engendered with near the tip of the tongue, curled back at the roof of the mouth’s interior (Rūp, 1999, p. 2; Ñāṇadhaja, 2011, p. 11) – the end-group nasal is, in addition to that, also produced in the nose (nāsikaṭṭhānaja; Rūp, p. 2). (b) Of these, ṭa and ṭha are unvoiced letters, whereas ḍa, ḍha, ṇa, ḷa, ra are all voiced (Kacc 9). (c) Letter ra is formed by somewhat touching, with slight contact (Rūp, p. 2; Ñāṇadhaja, p. 14). (d) The intervocalic letter ḷa usually represents ḍa, and ḷh may occur for ḍh, but only rarely. Often interchanged are ḷ and l (Collins, 2006, p. 2). (e) The way of pronouncing the letters of this class represents the typical Indian way of articulating the English alveolars, regular /t/, /d/ etc. (Warder, 1963/2001, p. 1). (f) However, when /r/ precedes /t/ and /d/ in American English, they manifest usually as retroflexes (see below for examples and, to further aid correct implementation, Figure 1 above).

• ṭa [ʈ] = heart.
• ṭha [ʈʰ] ~ barter, with stronger breath pulse.

• ḍa [ɖ] = warder.
• ḍha [ɖʰ] ~ warder, with breath pulse as with ṭha.

• ṇa [ɳ] = barn.
• ḷa [ɭ] = curl.
• ra [ɻ] = ram.

Dentals (dantaja)

(a) The letters of this groupDantaja, lit. “tooth-born.” are ta, tha, da, dha, na, la, sa and sounded with the tip of the tongue in contact with the edge of the row or line of the teeth (Rūp, 1999, p. 2; Ñāṇadhaja, 2011, p. 11) – the end-group nasal is, in addition to the teeth, also produced in the nose (nāsikaṭṭhānaja; Rūp, p. 2). (b) The unvoiced letters here are ta, tha and sa. Voiced forms are given as da, dha, na, la. (Kacc 9). (c) Letter la is formed by somewhat touching, with slight contact (Rūp, p. 2; Ñāṇadhaja, p. 14). (d) The sibilant sa produces a hissing sound and is unvoiced (Kacc 9; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 5). (e) Pāḷi has no [z] sound as found in English (e.g. “zone”; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 3). (f) An English equivalent of tongue positioning for these dentals would be in the formation of dental fricative /th/ ([ð]; [θ] – e.g. “this”; “thin” respectively) but with a plosive sound instead of the natural fricative pronunciation (Warder, pp. 2–3). (g) For illustration purposes it is worth mentioning that consonants before the mentioned /th/ tend to become dentals naturally (e.g. letter “d” in “rod thin”). (h) Thus we can gather that this class of letters does not represent the regular alveolars as articulated with the tongue on the alveolar ridge – i.e. the noticeable ridge between just behind the upper teeth and the hard palate – as with /t/, /d/ etc. (i) In the following, the Pāḷi dentals with equivalents and approximations in English:

• ta [t̪] = hit this.
• tha [t̪ʰ] ~ attack, with stronger breath pulse and the tongue in dental position.

• da [d̪] = rod thin.
• dha [d̪ʰ] ~ den, with breath pulse as with tha and the tongue in dental position.

• na [n̪] = tenth.
• la [l̪] = wealth.
• sa [s] = salt.

Labials (oṭṭhaja)

(a) The letters of this groupOṭṭhaja, lit. “lip-born.” are u, ū, pa, pha, ba, bha, ma and spoken in contact with both lips (Ñāṇadhaja, 2011, p. 12) – the end-group nasal is, in addition to that, also produced in the nose (nāsikaṭṭhānaja; Rūp, 1999, p. 2); however, the lips should be open when articulating u, ū (Ñāṇadhaja, p. 14). (b) The unvoiced and voiced letters form this class are pa, pha and u, ū, ba, bha, ma respectively (Kacc 9; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 4; Vidyabhusana, S. & Punnananda, 1935, p. 5). (c) The lips should have strong contact when forming the labials, excepting the vowels (Ñāṇadhaja, p. 14).

• u [u] = put.
• ū [uː] = fruit.

• pa [p] = stop.
• pha [pʰ] ~ prawn, with stronger breath pulse.

• ba [b] = hub.
• bha [bʰ] ~ hub, with breath pulse as with pha.

• ma [m] = moon.

Gutturo-palatal (kaṇṭhatāluja)

(a) The letter is e and its articulation happens in the throat (as with all other vowels) and the palate (Ñāṇadhaja, 2011, p. 12), with open lips (Rūp, 1999, p. 2). (b) It was stated already that all vowels are voiced in the Pāḷi language (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 4).

• e [ɛ] = fell.
• e [eː] = Seele (German).I am not aware of any American English equivalent.

Gutturo-labial (kaṇṭhoṭṭhaja)

(a) The letter is o and is produced in the throat (as with all other vowels) and the lips, with an effort to keep the lips open (Rūp, 1999, p. 2; Ñāṇadhaja, 2011, pp. 12, 14). (b) Again, all vowels need to be voiced in the Pāḷi language (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 4).

• o [o] = oko (Czech).See previous footnote.
• o [oː] ~ home (hoʊm; corresponding to [o] before the sound change to [ʊ]).

Dento-labial (dantoṭṭhaja)

(a) The letter is va and is generated with the teeth and the lips (Ñāṇadhaja, 2011, p. 12), voicing occurs (Kacc 9; Vidyabhusana, S. & Punnananda, 1935, p. 5). (b) It is formed by somewhat (tholaṃ) touching, with slight contact (Rūp, 1999, p. 2; Ñāṇadhaja, p. 14). (c) Duroiselle (1906/1997, p. 6) and Warder (1963/2001, p. 3) mention that when this letter is preceded or combined with another consonant (e.g. as in tvā), it is instead pronounced as a pure labial.

• va [v] = vine.
• va [w] = wind.

The Pure Nasal (niggahītaṃ)

(a) This letter (aṃ)The letter a is, again, just added for ease of pronunciation. is called niggahītaṃ or anunāsiko in PāḷiIn Pāḷi there is no difference between the anunāsiko and the niggahītaṃ, both can be used interchangeably. This can be gathered from numerous passages where the anunāsiko stands for the niggahītaṃ. To quote the Paramatthajotikā I (p. 63) as an example, relating that the anunāsiko, there clearly representing the niggahītaṃ, was inserted for metrical reasons: sabbattha sotthiṃ gacchantī ti […] anunāsiko cettha gāthābandhasukhatthaṃ vuttoti veditabbo. (Kacc 8) and is listed by all Pāḷi grammarians as a consonant (Kacc 6; Rūp, 1999, p. 3; Deokar, 2008, p. 113). (b) It is never of long duration when pronouncing it (Geiger, 1916/1956, p. 63) and is described as neither voiced nor unvoiced (Deokar, 2009, p. 179). (c) Traditionally it is held that a dot (bindu) after a short vowelIf it happens that a long vowel falls before a niggahītaṃ, it is shortened (“Pali”, n.d.) or the dot itself represent the niggahītaṃ – with the ṃ being a transliteration of the dot, referring to some traditional orthographical representations of the phoneme (e.g. in the Sinhala script), equal to the anusvāraḥ and anunāsikaḥ in SanskritThis depends, however, on which definition one refers to (cf. Deokar, 2009, p. 180). (Mogg, S, p. 42; Rūp, p. 3; Deokar, 2008, pp. 114, 116; cf. “Anusvāra”, n.d.) (d) In fact, manuscripts vary greatly in representing this letter; thus we find, for example, variants for the word “other” as aṃño, añño or for the word “question” as paṃha, pañha and paṇha (Frankfurter, 1883, p. 7). (e) In the different modern American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) transliteration schemes, it is represented in a number of alternative ways – this, nevertheless, makes no difference whatsoever as to pronunciation. In the following, a selection of the more popular schemes:

• International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST): ṃ.As in the Romanized editions of the Chaṭṭhasaṅgāyana (Sixth Buddhist Council) and also in those of the later Pali Text Society.
• International Organization for Standardization (ISO; ISO 15919): ṁ.This rendition also corresponds to the Unicode character.
• Indian Languages Transliteration (ITRANS): M; N; .m.
• Velthuis: .m.

(a) The niggahītaṃ is capable of forming homorganic nasals, i.e. the place of articulation when pronouncing the niggahītaṃ is assimilated to that of the end-group nasals in the Pāḷi alphabet, thereby being displaced by them, these and the niggahītaṃ thus becoming distinct phonetically (Kacc 31, 466, 537; Rūp, 1999, p. 28; cf. Deokar, 2008, p. 113; Levman, 2020, p. 29; Thitzana, 2016, p. 52). (b) These are the respective parameters for the assimilation of the niggahītaṃ to the end-group nasals:

• ṅ before a velar stop (k, kh, g, gh).
• ñ before a palatal stop (ca, cha, ja, jha).
• ṇ before a retroflex stop (ṭa, ṭha, ḍa, ḍha).
• n before a dental stop (ta, tha, da, dha).
• m before a labial stop (pa, pha, ba, bha).

(a) The place of articulation in the case of the niggahītaṃ is the nose (n āsikaṭṭhānaja – “born in the place of the nose” or nāsikaja – “nose-born”; Rūp, 1999, p. 2; Ñāṇadhaja, 2011, p. 12). (b) The place for the pronunciation of the end-group nasals is twofold: they are verbalized in the place of the nose (n āsikaṭṭhānaja), as is the niggahītaṃ, but in addition to that also in their “own place” of articulation (sakaṭṭhānaja), as elaborated above. (c) For example, the labial [m] is verbalized in the place of the nose (n āsikaṭṭhānaja) and with the lips (oṭṭhaja – “lip-born”; Rūp, p. 2; Ñāṇadhaja, p. 12). (d) This demonstrates that the end-group nasals and the niggahītaṃ are distinct from each other.

(a) The Padarūpasiddhi mentions that this phoneme is called niggahītaṃ because the place of articulation (karaṇaṃ) is restrained (niggahīta, past passive participle of niggaṇhāti – “press”, “repress”) by an obstructed opening (mukhenāvivaṭena) and because it is based upon (nissāya) the short vowels a, i, u, taking them up (gayhati, passive form of gaṇhāti – also “seize”, “acquire”, “grasp”; Rūp, 1999, p. 3; Deokar, 2008, p. 113; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 4). (b) In fact, the 17ᵗʰ century CE Kaccāyana- vaṇṇanā (as cited by Deokar, 2009, pp. 178, 181, n. 6) explains that the nose is defined as the articulatory organ (nāsikāsaṅkhātaṃ karaṇaṃ) – and that this is what is restrained when pronouncing the niggahītaṃ. (c) This process of restraining, as per that text, also refers to the phrase “by an obstructed opening” (mukhenāvivaṭena). (d) This must refer to the partial occlusion instanced by the soft palate, restricting parts of the open airflow of an unrestrained (vimutta) or oral vowel and allowing parts to escape through the nose and the mouth respectively, since a full occlusion would produce end-group nasals, as discussed above (e.g. [m] when closing the lips or [ŋ] with occlusion of the oral cavity’s back by the tongue). (e) As a technical term, vimutta stands in direct opposition to the niggahītaṃ and denotes denasalization (Deokar, 2008, p. 118). (f) This must inform our understanding of the commentarial contrast of oral vowels with the niggahītaṃ (Sp V – parivāra-aṭṭhakathā, p. 56): “Released (vimutta): that which, not having nasalized, is spoken with an unobstructed opening, having let loose, [and] unrestrained (aniggahetvā) the articulatory organs […] ‘pattakallaṃ’ should be spoken having nasalized with obstructed opening, [but] ‘pattakallā’ is called an utterance freed (vimuttavacanaṃ) from the niggahītaṃ [i.e. ‘the restrained’], having not nasalized by an unobstructed opening.”Vimutta nti yaṃ karaṇāni aniggahetvā vissajjetvā vivaṭena mukhena anunāsikaṃ akatvā vucc ati. […] Pattakallan’ti avivaṭena mukhena anunāsikaṃ katvā vattabbe “pattakallā”ti vivaṭena mukhena anunāsikaṃ akatvā vacanaṃ niggahitassa vimuttavacanaṃ nāma. On this contrast see further also Deokar (pp. 112–3, 116–8).

(a) Scholars who investigated the phonetic reality of the niggahītaṃ now also seem to regard it as a nasalization of the short vowels a, i, u (Collins, 2006, p. 1; Deokar, personal communication, July 3, 2020; Geiger, 1916/1956, p. 61; Levman, personal communication, July 8, 2020). (b) Therefore, the most likely pronunciation of the niggahītaṃ corresponds to nasalized vowels as they occur in French, that is:

• aṃ [ã] = “genre.”
• iṃ [ɪ̃] = “vin.”
• uṃ [ũ] = “un.”

(c) That this phenomenon of vowel nasalization is the correct interpretation is furthermore corroborated by the probability of it not having been a foreign element in the major autochthonous language groups present during the floruit of the Buddha. (d) These groups are the ancestral prototypes of modern languages in which this is a recognized feature (as in Dravidian Tamil or Santali). (e) In a similar way this holds true for nasal assimilation (see above).

(a) What emerges from the above is that the pronunciation of the niggahītaṃ as it is commonly realized in the traditional Buddhist countries (in Sri Lanka and Thailand as [ŋ] and in Burma as [m]) does not reflect early usage. (b) However, to dismiss these articulations offhand would be too rash an approach, as can be gleaned from the instructions on what the proper methods for giving the Three Refuges (tisaraṇaṃ) within the bounds of the going forth as a sāmanera (sāmaṇerapabbajjā) and the ordination as a bhikkhu (upsampadā) imply: “But with the giving these ‘buddhaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi’ as being joined as one (ekasambandhāni) they should be given having nasalized the end [of each word]; ‘buddhaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi,’ having broken up [the words] (vicchinditvā) they should be given, having produced the letter m.” (c) Within the field of monastic legislation (vinaya), these two methods represent different but equally valid approaches to giving the Three Refuges during the mentioned procedures.From a linguistic standpoint, however, articulating an [m] at the end of a Middle Indic (MI, incl. Pāḷi) word does not constitute regular pronunciation. According to the operant rules of MI, it changes into the niggahītaṃ. (d) However, it is important to note that fastidious attention and adherence to proper pronunciation – apart from the just-provided instance of leeway – is an essential part of Theravāda legislative speech (kammavācā), insofar that an invalidation happens if “instead of an unaspirated sound [e.g. ka, pa, ba] an aspirated sound [kha, pha, bha], instead of an aspirate an unaspirate one, instead of an oral one (vimutta) a niggahītaṃ, instead of a niggahītaṃ an oral one is produced […]” (Sp V – parivāra-aṭṭhakathā, pp. 55–6).[…] sithile kattabbe dhanitaṃ, dhanite kattabbe sithilaṃ, vimutte kattabbe niggahitaṃ, niggahite kattabbe vimuttanti imāni cattāri byañjanāni antokammavācāya kammaṃ dūsenti. However, other confusions of letters such that of long ā for short a do not upset (kuppati) legislative speech. There is also a difference of opinion between the suttanta and vinaya elders in that the former group accepts a confusion of da for ta, ta for da, ca for ja, ja for ca, ya for ka and ka for ya, but for legislative speech this is not suitable, whence the latter group avoids these faults (Sp V – parivāra-aṭṭhakathā, pp. 55–6). (e) So, the statement of Deokar (2009, p. 181) that “convention always supersedes grammar” might be at least a good principle to adopt for everyday monastic activities such as chanting but less so for legislative speech.

Sandhi

(a) Sandhi denotes the process of euphonic (or “pleasing”, “harmonious”) changes that may occur when two letters meet during the formation of words and compound words (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 6; Thitzana, 2016, p. 35; Perniola, 1997, p. 7) and may be translated as “euphonic combination”, “union”, “junction” or “connection.” (b) The changes transpire by means of elisions, substitution, augmentation etc. (Yindee, 2018, p. 46). (c) When it occurs within a word, it is called akkharasandhi (“sandhi of letters”, aka “internal sandhi”) and padasandhi (“sandhi of words”, aka “external sandhi”) when two words meet, either to form compound words or to remain separate (Gair & Karunatillake, 1998, p. 9; Nhu Lien, 2007, p. 28) – examples for internal sandhi: saṃ + yuttaṃ → saññuttaṃ; and external sandhi: tassa + iti → tassāti. (d) There are four types of sandhi:

1. Vowel sandhi (sarasandhi): meeting of two vowels, as final and initial member.
2. Consonantal sandhi (byañjanasandhi): meeting of final vowel and initial consonant.
3. Niggahītasandhi: meeting of the niggahītaṃ (ṃ) as final member and vowel or consonant as following initial.
4. Natural sandhi (pakatisandhi): retention of the structural pattern with no union taking place.

(a) The rules for the blending of two consonants also belong to the category of sandhi (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 16) but will be dealt with here in the following chapter “Morphology.” (b) Let it be remarked that all the necessary morphological procedures to be elucidated in this chapter are on occasions applicable for the verbs of all roots (Kacc 517). (c) The references to Kaccāyana are as indicated after the rules, others are positioned next to the section headings. (d) Guide to the following section on sandhi:

• → = “becomes”, “changes into”, “results in.”
• → Ø = elision.
• Ø → = insertion.
• / = “in the environment of.”
• + = meeting.
• # = word boundary.
• [] = optionality (only after symbols).
• (V̆) = short vowel.
• (V̄) = long vowel.
• (C) = consonant.
• (CC) = double consonant.

(a) The underscores (__) indicate the position in the environment where the action happens that is expressed as a rule before the slash; for example, the formula: “vowel → (V̄) [usually] / __ vowel [same class]” says that any vowel (vowel) in the environment before another vowel (/__ vowel) of the same class is usually lengthened (→ (V̄) [usually]). (b) If it should express that the lengthening would happen after (instead of before) another vowel, one would simply change the element “/__ vowel” as above to “/ vowel __”, with the underscores in the posterior position. (c) If there is some additional rule after a comma, following the element which occurs after the slash, that indicates that it applies to this element when the change of the pre-slash rule has occurred or simultaneously (e.g. “vowel → Ø [occasionally] / __vowel, vowel → (V̄)” means after the vowel has been elided – which happens occasionally – when coming before another vowel, that last-mentioned vowel is also lengthened (vowel → (V̄)). (d) To give two other general examples to facilitate comprehension:For exemplification of explicit instances see just below. “vowel → Ø [usually] / o __” signifies that a vowel is usually elided in the environment after the vowel o. Formula “v → b / # __” means that v changes into b after the beginning of a word – in the following the respective rules in full.

Vowel Sandhi (sarasandhi)

1. Vowel → Ø / __vowel (e.g. yassa + indriyāni → yassindriyāni; Kacc 12).
2. Vowel / __dissimilar vowel, dissimilar vowel → Ø (e.g. cakkhu + indriyaṃ → cakkhundriyaṃ; Kacc 13).
3. Vowel → Ø [occasionally] / __vowel, vowel → (V̄) (e.g. tatra + ayaṃ → tatrāyaṃ; Kacc 15).
4. Vowel (V̆) → (V̄) [occasionally] / __ vowel, vowel → Ø (e.g. vi + atimānenti → vītimānenti; Kacc 16).
5. a or ā → Ø [occasionally] / __ i or ī, i or ī → e (e.g. upa + ikkhati → upekkhati; Kacc 14).
6. a or ā → Ø [occasionally]/ __ u or ū, u or ū → o (e.g. canda + udayo → candodayo; Kacc 14).

   Exceptions

   a → (V̄) / __ iti, i → Ø (e.g. tassa + iti → tassāti).

   a / __ i, i → Ø (e.g. pana + ime → paname).

   ā → Ø / __ i (e.g. seyyathā + idaṃ → seyyathidaṃ).

7. Vowel (V̆, V̄) → (V̄) [usually] / __ vowel [same class] (e.g. a + a → ā; i + ī → ī; ū + u → ū).
8. Vowels before particles beginning with a, i, e (e.g. atha, iva, eva) follow the rules of sandhi thus:
   • itthī + iti → itthīti.
   • e / __ e, e → Ø (e.g. sabbe + eva → sabbeva).
   • o → Ø / __ e (e.g. so + eva → sveva).
   • a → Ø / __ ettha (e.g. na + ettha → nettha).
9. e → Ø / __ dissimilar (V̄) (e.g. me + āsi → māsi).
10. e → Ø / __ dissimilar (V̆) followed by (CC) (e.g. sace + assa → sacassa).
11. Vowel → Ø [usually] / o __ (e.g. cattāro + ime → cattārome).
12. Vowel (V̄) → (V̆) [occasionally] / __ eva, eva → ri (e.g. yathā + eva → yathariva; Kacc 22).
13. abhi → abbh / __ dissimilar vowel (e.g. abhi + uggacchati → abbha uggacchati → abbhugacchati; Kacc 44, 46).
14. ti → c [occasionally], c → cc (e.g. iti + etaṃ → iccetaṃ; Kacc 19, 28, 47).
15. di → jj / __ dissimilar vowel (e.g. nadī + ā → najjā).
16. adhi → ajjha / __ dissimilar vowel (e.g. adhi + okāse → ajjhokāse; Kacc 45).

Transformation into Semi-Vowels (ādeso)

17. i → y / __ dissimilar vowel (e.g. vi + ākāsi → vyākāsi; Kacc 21).
18. e [of me, te, ke, ye etc.] → y / __ a followed by (CC) (e.g. ke + assa → kyassa).
19. e [of me, te, ke, ye etc.] → y / __ a followed by (C), a → (V̄) (e.g. me + ahaṃ → myāhaṃ: cf. Kacc 17).

    Exceptions

    e → Ø / __ vowel (V̄) (e.g. me + āsi → māsi).

    e → Ø / __ vowel (V̆) followed by (CC) (e.g. sace + assa → sacassa).

    e / __ vowel, vowel → Ø (e.g. te + ime → teme).

    e → Ø / __ a → (V̄) (e.g. sace + ayaṃ → sacāyaṃ).

20. u → v [occasionally] / __ dissimilar vowel (e.g. anu + eti → anveti; Kacc 18).
21. o → v [occasionally] / __ dissimilar vowel (e.g. yo + ayaṃ → yvāyaṃ; Kacc 18).

    Exceptions

    u → Ø / __ dissimilar vowel (e.g. sametu + āyasmā → sametāyasmā).

    u → (V̄) / __ i (e.g. sādhu + iti → sādhūti).

    o → Ø [usually] / __ vowel (V̄) followed by (CC).

    o → Ø / __ vowel (V̆) followed by (CC) (e.g. kuto + ettha → kutettha).

Consonantal Insertion (āgamo)

22. To avoid a hiatus, not seldom the following letters are inserted between two vowels: y, v, m, d, n, t, r, l (= ḷ), h (e.g. na + imassa → nayimassa; √ bhū + ādāya → bhūvādāya; idha + āhu → idhamāhu etc.; Kacc 35).
23. Vowel → Ø / __ consonant, Ø → o [occasionally] (e.g. para + sahassaṃ → parosahassaṃ; Kacc 36).
24. Vowel / __ vowel or consonant, Ø → ṃ (e.g. ava + siro → avamsiro; Kacc 37).
25. Putha, Ø → g [occasionally] / __ vowel, (e.g. putha + eva → puthageva; Kacc 42).
26. ā [of pā] → (V̆), Ø → g [occasionally] / __ vowel (e.g. pā + eva → pageva; Kacc 43).

Consonantal Sandhi (byañjanasandhi)

1. Vowel (V̄) → (V̆) [occasionally] / __ consonant (e.g. yiṭṭhaṃ vā hutaṃ vā loke → yiṭṭhaṃ va hutaṃ va loke; Kacc 26).
2. Vowel (V̆) → (V̄) / __ consonant (e.g. √ su + rakkhaṃ → sūrakkhaṃ).
3. Vowel (V̆) / __ consonant, (C) → (CC) (e.g. idha + pamādo → idhappamādo; usually after: u, upa, pari, ati, pa, a, anu, etc.)
4. Vowel (V̆) → (V̄) [occasionally] / __ consonant (e.g. muni + care → munī care; Kacc 25).
5. Vowel → Ø and is replaced by a [occasionally] / __ consonant (e.g. eso dhammo → esa dhammo; Kacc 27).
6. Vowel → bb / __ v (e.g. ni + vānaṃ → nibbānaṃ).
7. Vowel / __ consonant, consonant (C) → (CC) (e.g. idha pamādo → idhappamādo; Kacc 28).
8. Vowel (V̄) [of particles] → (V̆) [usually] / __ reduplicated consonant (e.g. ā + kamati → akkamati).
9. o [of so, eso, ayo, mano, tamo, paro, tapo and a few others] → a [occasionally] / __ consonant (e.g. esa dhammo; sa attho; ayapattaṃ).
10. ava → o [occasionally] / __ consonant (e.g. ava + naddha → onaddha; Kacc 50).
11. dha → da [occasionally] / __ vowel (e.g. ekaṃ + idha + ahaṃ → ekamidāhaṃ; Kacc 20).
12. dha → ha [occasionally] (e.g. rudhira → ruhira; Kacc 20).
13. d → t (e.g. sugado → sugato; Kacc 20).
14. t → ṭ (e.g. pahato → pahaṭo; Kacc 20).
15. t → k (e.g. niyato → niyako; Kacc 20).
16. t → dh (e.g. gantabba → gandhabbo; Kacc 20).
17. tt → tr (e.g. attajo→ atrajo; Kacc 20).
18. tt → cc (e.g. batto → bacco; Kacc 20).
19. g → k (e.g. hatthupaga → hatthupaka; Kacc 20).
20. r → l (e.g. paripanno → palipanno; Kacc 20).
21. y → j (gavayo → gavajo).
22. y → k (e.g. saye → sake; Kacc 20).
23. vv → bb (e.g. kuvvato → kubbato; Kacc 20).
24. k → y (sake pure → saye pure).
25. j → y (nijaṃputtaṃ → niyaṃputtaṃ; Kacc 20).
26. k → kh (nikamati → nikhamati; Kacc 20).
27. p → ph (e.g. nipatti → niphatti; Kacc 20).
28. pati → paṭi [occasionally] / __ vowel (Kacc 48).
29. putha [inter alia] → puthu / __ consonant (Kacc 49).

Niggahīta Sandhi

1. ṃ / __ consonant (e.g. taṃ dhammaṃ kataṃ).
2. ṃ → respective nasal: ṅ, ñ, ṇ, n, m [occasionally] / __ consonant (e.g. raṇaṃ + jaho → ranañjaho; taṇhaṃ + karo → taṇhaṅkaro; saṃ + ṭhito → saṇṭhito; Kacc 31).
3. ṃ → l / __ l (e.g. paṭi + saṃ + līno → paṭisallīno; saṃ + lekko → sallekho).
4. ṃ → ñ [occasionally] / __ e [or h] (e.g. taṃ + eva → taññeva; evaṃ + hi → evañhi; Kacc 32; for doubling of the consonant see under “Consonantal Sandhi (byañjanasandhi)”, pt. 7.; Kacc 28).
5. ṃ → ñ [occasionally] / __ y (e. g. saṃ + yuttaṃ → saññuttaṃ; Kacc 33; for doubling of the consonant see under “Consonantal Sandhi (byañjanasandhi)”, pt. 7.; Kacc 28).
6. ṃ → d [occasionally] / __ vowel (e.g. etaṃ + attho → etadattho; Kacc 34).
7. ṃ → m [occasionally] / __ vowel (e.g. taṃ ahaṃ → tamahaṃ; Kacc 34).
8. ṃ → Ø [occasionally] / __ consonant (e.g. ariyasaccānaṃ + dassanaṃ → ariyasaccānadassanaṃ; Kacc 39).
9. ṃ → Ø [occasionally] / __ vowel (e.g. tāsaṃ + ahaṃ santike → tāsāhaṃ santike; Kacc 38).
10. Vowel → Ø [occasionally] / ṃ __ (e.g. kiṃ + iti → kinti; Kacc 40).
11. Vowel → Ø, consonant (CC) → consonant (C) / ṃ __ (e.g. evaṃ assa → evaṃsa; Kacc 41).
12. Ø → ṃ / __ vowel [or consonant] (e.g. ava siro → avaṃsiro; Kacc 37).

Natural Sandhi (pakatisandhi)

1. Vowel / __ consonant (e.g. mano + pubbaṅgamā → manopubbaṅgamā; Kacc 23).
2. Vowel / __ vowel (e.g. ko imaṃ; Kacc 24).
3. i [and u] / __ any verb w/ vowel initial (e.g. gāthāhi ajjhabhāsi).
4. i [and u] / __ any verb.
5. Vowel / __ vocative case (e.g. kassapa etaṃ).
6. Final long vowel remains unchanged if not followed by iti or not being compounded.
7. Vowel / __ particle w/ initials other than a, i, e. (e.g. atha kho āyasmā).

Morphology

Assimilation

(a) The following morphological changes happen mostly in the formation of the passive, past passive participle, the stems built from the third class root affixes, of the infinitive, absolutive, the future passive participle and in the formation of the desiderative – also under the influence of certain affixes in the derivation of nouns.See chapters “Kita and Taddhita Affixes” and “Uṇādi Affixes.” (b) Regressive assimilation (←) is the more common. (c) The ṇ placed traditionally before all causative affixes to denote vowel increase (vuddhi) in the root (see below the chapter “Vowel Gradation”) is always to be elided (e.g. √ kara + ṇaya + ti → kārayati; Kacc 523). (d) References to Kaccāyana are again as indicated – others are placed next to the section headings. (e) The paradigms are as follows (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, pp. 17–8):

1. MuteMute because they require closure or contact (phasso) in their place of articulation and the stopping of the breath. Not to be confused with surd, i.e. unvoiced consonants. They are: k, kh, g, gh, c, ch, j, jh, ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, ḍh, t, th, d, dh, p, ph, b, bb. As with the letters in the alphabet, the a appended to the Pāḷi roots provided is just for ease of utterance. → mute / mute __ (e.g. √ saja + ta → satta).
2. Dental → guttural / guttural __ (e.g. √ laga + na → lagna → lagga).
3. Dental voiceless → cerebral / palatals __ (e.g. √ maja + ta → maṭṭha or maṭṭa); j and c → t [occasionally] / __ t (e.g. √ bhuja + ta → bhutta; √ muca + ta → mutta).
4. Dental voiceless → cerebral / cerebral __ (e.g. √ kuṭṭa + ta → kuṭṭha).
5. Dental → consonant / __ consonant (e.g. √ uda + gaṇhāti → uggaṇhāti).
6. Voiced aspirate → voiced unaspirate / __ t, t → dh (e.g. √ rudhi + ta → rud + dha → ruddha).
7. Voiceless unaspirated guttural or labial → voiceless dental / __ voiceless dental (e.g. √ tapa + ta → tatta).
8. Voiced or voiceless unaspirated dental → labial / __ labial (e.g. tad + purisa → tappurisa).
9. n → Ø [occasionally ṃ] / __ ta (of past passive participle; e.g. √ mana + ta → mata).

Assimilation of y

Assimilation of this type happens mostly in the formation of the passive voice, absolutives, verbal bases/stems of the third class and derived nouns.

10. Consonant ← y (e.g. √ divu + ya → divva → dibba). Also in the middle of a compound word (e.g. api + ekacce → apyekacce → appekacce).
11. vv → bb (e.g. √ divu + ya → divva → dibba).
12. ā [of √ dā, √ pā, √ hā, √ mā and √ ñā] → eyya [occasionally] / __ ya (e.g. √ dā + ya → deyyaṃ – “something to give”; Kacc 544).
13. Ø → ya [occasionally] / da- and dha-ending roots __ tuna, tvāna and tvā [suffixes] (e.g. u + pada + ya + tvā → uppajjitvā; Kacc 606).
14. ty → cc (e.g. √ sata + ya → satya → sacca).
15. dy → jj (only after √ mada and √ vada; e.g. √ mada + ya → madya → majja; Kacc 544).
16. dhy → jjh (e.g. √ rudha + ya → rudhya → rujjha).
17. thy → cch (e.g. tath + ya → tathya → taccha).
18. my → mma (Kacc 544).
19. jy → gga (e.g. √ yuja + ya → yogga; Kacc 544).
20. y → sibilant / sibilant __ (e.g. √ pasa + ya → pasya → passa).
21. v → b / # __ (e.g. vi + ākaraṇaṃ → vyākaraṇaṃ → byākaraṇaṃ).
22. Dental → y / __ y (e.g. √ ud + yuñjati → uyyuñjati).
23. u → (V̄) [of √ guha and √ dusa] / __ causative affixes (e.g. √ guha + aya + ti → gūhayati – “causes to protect”, “hide”; Kacc 486).
24. ya → abba / √ bhū __ (e.g. √ bhū + ya → bhabbo; Kacc 543).
25. a and v [of √ vaca, √vasa , √ vaha] → u [occasionally] / __ ya (e.g. √ vaca + ya + ti → vuccati; Kacc 487).
26. Initial vowels [of √ dā, √ dhā, √ mā, √ ṭhā, √ hā, √ pā, √ maha, √ matha] → ī / __ ya (e.g. dā + ya + ti → dīyati; Kacc 502).
27. Consonant y [of √ yaja] → i / __ ya (e.g. √ yaja + ya + ti → ijjate – “He is worshipped”; Kacc 503).

Assimilation of r

28. r → Ø / __ mute (e.g √ kara + ta → kata).
29. r → Ø, a → (V̄) / __ mute (incl. lengthening of preceding a; e.g. √ kara + tabba → kātabba).
30. n → ṇ/r __, r → ṇ (e.g. √ cara + na → carṇa → ciṇṇa).
31. r → l / __ l (e.g. dur + labho + si [o] → dullabho).
32. When any r-morpheme is appended to a root, the first component vowel of that root and its last consonant are usually elided as well the vowel and the r of the r-morpheme (Kacc 539).

Assimilation of s

33. j + sa → kkh / __ sa (e.g. bubhuj + sa → bubhukkha).
34. p + sa → c ch / __ sa (e.g. jigup + sa → jiguccha).
35. t + sa → cch / __ sa (e.g. tikit + sa → tikiccha).
36. s + sa → cch / __ sa (e.g. jighas + sa → jighaccha).
37. y → s [occasionally] / sa __ (e.g. √ nasa + ya → nassa; alasa + ya + si [aṃ]→ ālasyaṃ).
38. t → ṭ / s __ (e.g. √ kasa + ta → kaṭṭha).
39. Dental → s / __ s (e.g. √ uda + sāha → ussāha).
40. s → t / __ t (e.g. √ jhasa + ta → jhatta).
41. s → tth / __ t (e.g. √ vasa + ta → vuttha).

Assimilation of h

42. Consonant → aspirated consonant / __ h (e.g. √ uda + harati → uddharati).
43. hṇ → ṇh/ __ ṇ (e.g. √ gaha + ṇa → gahṇa → gaṇha).Kacc 490 explains it like this: h [of √ gaha] → Ø when Ø → ṇhā (e.g. gaṇhāti).
44. h ↔ y and in some instances ya → la (e.g. oruh + ya → oruyha; Kacc 488).
45. h ↔ v (e.g. jihvā → jivhā).
46. h → y [seldom]/ __ y (e.g. leh + ya → leyya).
47. h → gh [occasionally] / #__ (e.g. hammati → ghammati).
48. h + t → ddh (e.g. √ duha + ta → duddha).
49. h + t → dh (sometimes; e.g. √ liha + tuṃ → ledhuṃ).

Reduplication

1. The second and fourth consonants of the consonant groups (sing. vaggo) are added to the first and third respectively (e.g. yatra ṭhitaṃ → yatraṭṭhitaṃ; Kacc 29).Exceptions: idha, cetaso, daḷhaṃ, gaṇhāti, thāmasā.
2. Initial vowel [of roots] → (V̄) (e.g. √ ah → āha).
3. The reduplicated vowels → i, ī and a [occasionally] (e.g. jigucchati; Kacc 465).
4. A guttural is reduplicated by its corresponding palatal (e.g. √ kita + cha + ti → cikicchati; Kacc 462).
5. An unaspirate is always reduplicated by an unaspirate (e.g. √ chida → ciccheda – “It was cut”; Kacc 458, 462).
6. An aspirate is reduplicated by its unaspirate (e.g. √ bhuja → bubhukkhati; Kacc 458, 461).
7. The initial h of a root is reduplicated by j (e.g. √ hā → jahāti; Kacc 464).
8. v is reduplicated by u [usually] (e.g. √ vasa → uvāsa).
9. a or ā takes a (e.g. √ dhā → dadhā; Kacc 460).
10. i or ī takes i [occasionally] (e.g. √ kita → cikicchā; Kacc 460).
11. u or ū takes u but occasionally a (e.g. √ bhū → babhuva).
12. i → e [occasionally] (e.g. √ chida → ciccheda).
13. u → o [occasionally] (e.g. √ suca → susoca).
14. a [of a root] → (V̄) (e.g. √ vada → uvāda).
15. m [of √ māna] → v [occasionally] / __ reduplicated vowel (e.g. vīmaṃsati; Kacc 463).
16. √ māna → maṃ [occasionally] / reduplicated vowel __ sa (e.g. vīmaṃsati; Kacc 467).
17. √ pā → vā [occasionally] / reduplicated vowel __ sa (e.g. pivāsati; Kacc 467).
18. Reduplicated k [of √ kita] → t / __ reduplicated vowel (e.g. tikicchati; Kacc 463).
19. Ø → ṃ [occasionally] / reduplicated vowel __ (e.g. caṅkamati; Kacc 466).

Further Morphological Changes

1. √ pā → pivā [occasionally] (e.g. √ pā + ā + ti → pivati; Kacc 469).
2. √ ñā → jā, jaṃ, nā [occasionally] (e.g. √ ñā + a + ti → jānāti; Kacc 470).
3. √ disa → passa, dissa, dakkha [occasionally] (e.g. √ disa + a + ti → passati; Kacc 471).
4. √ hara → gī / __ sa (e.g. jigīsati; Kacc 474).
5. √ brū and √ bhū change into āha and bhūva respectively / __ perfect endings (e.g. √ brū + a → āha; Kacc 475).
6. m [of √ gamu] → cch [occasionally] / __ all conjugational root affixes (e.g. √ gamu + a + māna + si [o] → gacchamāno; Kacc 476).
7. Initial vowel [of √ vaca] → o / __ aorist suffix (e.g. √ vaca + uṃ → avocuṃ; Kacc 477).
8. ū [of √ hū] → eha, oha, e [occasionally] / __ future tense suffix, future tense suffix may → Ø (e.g. √ hū + ssati → hehiti; Kacc 480).
9. √ kara may → kāha [occasionally] / __ future tense suffix, future suffix → Ø (Kacc 481).
10. ā [of √ dā] → aṃ / __ present tense suffixes mi and ma (e.g. √ dā + mi → dammi; Kacc 482; ṃ → m by Kacc 31).
11. Non-conjunct root vowels → increaseSee below the chapter “Vowel Gradation” for details. [usually] / __ non-causative affixes (e.g. √ hū + a + ti → hoti; Kacc 485).
12. Ø → kha, cha, sa [occasionally] / √ tija, √ gupa, √ kita and √ māna __ (e.g. √ tija + kha + ti → titikkhati – “He forbears [or ‘endures’]”; Kacc 433).
13. √ gaha → ghe / __ affix ppa (e.g. gheppati; Kacc 489).
14. √ kara → kāsa [occasionally] / __ aorist suffix (e.g. √ kara + ī → akāsi; Kacc 491).
15. Suffix mi → mhi [occasionally] / √ asa __ (e.g. √ asa + mi → amhi – “I am”; Kacc 492).
16. Suffix ma → mha [occasionally] / √ asa __ (e.g. √ asa + ma → amha – “We are”; Kacc 492).
17. Suffix tha → ttha [occasionally] / √ asa __, s [of √ asa] → Ø (e.g. √ asa + tha → attha – “You are”; Kacc 493).
18. Suffix ti → tthi [occasionally] / √ asa __ (e.g. √ asa + ti → atthi – “[there] is”; Kacc 494).
19. Suffix ti → ssa / √ asa __ (e.g. √ asa + ti → assa – “It should be”; Kacc 571).
20. Ø → i / √ brū __ ti (e.g. √ brū + a + ti → bravīti – “He says”; Kacc 520).
21. Suffix tu → tthu [occasionally] / √ asa __ (e.g. √ asa + tu → atthu – “Let it be”; Kacc 495).
22. s of [of √ asa] → Ø when nominative suffix siThis nominative suffix undergoes changes to o, aṃ etc. in other cases. is appended to √ asa (e.g. √ asa + si → asi – “You are”; Kacc 496).
23. Aorist suffixes ī → ttha / √ labha __ (e.g. √ labha + ī → alattha; Kacc 497)
24. iṃ → tthaṃ / √ labha __ (e.g. √ labha + iṃ → alatthaṃ; Kacc 497).
25. Aorist suffix ī → cchi / √ kusa __, s [of √ kusa] → Ø (e.g. √ kusa+ ī → akkocchi – “He reviled”; Kacc 498).
26. √ dā → dajja [occasionally] (e.g √ dā + eyya → dajjeyya; Kacc 499).
27. √ vada → vajja [occasionally] (e.g. √ vada + eyya → vajjeyya; Kacc 500).
28. √ gamu → ghamma [occasionally] (e.g. √ gamu + a + tu → ghammatu – “Let him go”; Kacc 501).
29. Aorist suffix uṃ → iṃsu / all roots __ (Kacc 504).
30. √ jara → jīra or jiyya [occasionally] (e.g. √ jara + a + ti → jīrati; Kacc 505).
31. √ mara → miyya [occasionally] (e.g. √ mara + a + ti → miyyati; Kacc 505).
32. Initial vowel a [of √ asa] → Ø [occasionally] / __ all suffixes (e.g. √ asa + a + anti → santi; Kacc 506).
33. √ asa → bhū [occasionally] (e.g. √ asa + a + ssanti → bhavissanti; Kacc 507).
34. Optative suffix eyya → iyā or ñā / √ ñā __ (Kacc 508).
35. Affix nā (fifth class active base root affix) → Ø or ya [occasionally] / √ ñā __ (Kacc 509).
36. Affix a (first class active base root affix) → Ø or e [occasionally] (e.g. √ vasa + a + mi → vademi; Kacc 510).
37. Affix o (seventh class active base root affix) → u [occasionally] / √ kara __ (e.g. √ kara + o + te → karume – “He does”; Kacc 511).
38. Component vowel a [of √ kara] → u [occasionally] (e.g. √ kara + o + ti → kurute – “He does”; Kacc 511, 512).
39. The increase morpheme o → ava / √ bhū, √ cu etc. __ vowel (e.g. √ cu + a + ti → cavati; Kacc 513).See also below the chapter “Vowel Gradation” for details.
40. The increase morpheme e → aya / √ nī, √ ji etc. __ vowel (e.g. √ ji + a + ti → jayati; Kacc 514).
41. Increase vowel o → āva, e → āya / __ causative affix [e, ya] (e.g. √ lū + e + ti → lāveti; Kacc 515).
42. Ø → i / root consonant __ asabbadhātuka suffixesSuffixes of the perfect (parokkhā), aorist (ajjatanī), future indicative (bhavissanti) and conditional (kālātipatti) are meant (Kusalagñāṇa, 2012, p. 161). (e.g. √ gamu + ssati → gamissati; Kacc 516).
43. Last component vowel [of polysyllabic roots] → Ø [occasionally] (e.g. √ mara + a + ti → marati; Kacc 521).
44. Consonants s and m [of √ isu, √ yamu] → cch [occasionally] (e.g. √ isu + a + ti → icchati; Kacc 522).
45. ima → a, samāna → sa / ima, samāna, apara __ suffixes jja, jju jja, jju (e.g. ima + jja → ajja – “today”).
46. Kita affix ta → cca or ṭṭa / √ naṭa __ (e.g. √ naṭa + ta + si [aṃ] → naccaṃ – “dancing”; Kacc 571).
47. Regarding kita affix ta:
    1. √ sāsa, √ disa → riṭṭha / __ ta (e.g. √ disa + ta → diṭṭha – “seen”; Kacc 572).
    2. ta → ṭṭha [together with final root consonant] / √ puccha, √ bhanja, √ hansa and roots ending in s etc. __ (e.g. √ bhanja + ta → bhaṭṭha; Kacc 573).
    3. ta → uṭṭha [together with final s of the root] / √ vasa __ , v → u [occasionally] (e.g. √ vasa + ta → vuṭṭha; Kacc 574–575).
    4. ta → dha and ḍha respectively / dha, ḍha, bha, ha __ (e.g. √ budha + ta + si [o] → buddho – “the Awakened One”; Kacc 576).
    5. ta → gga [together with final j of the root] / √ bhanja __ (e.g. √ bhanja + ta → bhagga – “broken”; Kacc 577).
    6. ta → (CC) / √ bhanja etc. __, final root consonant → Ø (e.g. √ caja + ta → catta – “given up”: Kacc 578).
    7. ta → (CC) / √ vaca __, v [of √ vaca] → u [occasionally], c → Ø (e.g. √ vaca + ta → utta – “said”; Kacc 579).
    8. ta → (CC) / √ vaca __, v [of √ vaca] → u [occasionally], c → Ø, Ø → v (e.g. √ vaca + ta → vutta – “said”; Kacc 579).
    9. ta → (CC) / √ gupa etc. __, final root consonsants → Ø (e.g. √ lipa + ta → litta – “annointed”; Kacc 580).
    10. ta → iṇṇa / √ tara etc. __, final root consonants → Ø (e.g. saṃ + √ pūra + ta → sampuṇṇa – “well-filled”; Kacc 581).
    11. ta → inna, anna, īṇa / √ bhida etc. __, final root consonants → Ø (e.g. √ bhida + ta → bhinna – “broken”; Kacc 582).
    12. ta → nta [occasioanlly] / prefix pa etc. + √ kamu etc. __, final root consonants → Ø (e.g. pa + √ kamu + ta → pakkanta; Kacc 584).
    13. ta → kkha and kka / √ susa, √ paca, √ saka etc. __, final root consonants → Ø (e.g. √ susa + ta → sukkha – “dried”; Kacc 583).
    14. ta → ha / ha-ending roots (except √ daha and √ naha) __, h [of the roots] → ḷ (e.g. √ baha + ta → bāḷha – “grown”; Kacc 589).
48. Initial a [of √ yaja] → i / __ ṭṭha (morphological resultant of ta; e.g. √ yaja + ta → yiṭṭha; Kacc 610; see also pt. b above for changes which result in ṭṭha).
49. Final consonants [of ha, da, bha of √ naha, √ kudha, √ yudha, √ sidha, √ labha, √ rabbha etc.] → da / __ dha (morphological resultant of ta; e.g. √ labha + ta → laddha – “obtained”; Kacc 611; see also pt. d above for changes which result in dha).
50. Final component consonants ha, ḍha [of √ daha, √ waḍha] → ḍa / __ ḍha (morphological resultant of ta; e.g. √ daha + ta → daḍḍha – “burnt”; Kacc 612; see also pt. d above for changes which result in ḍha).
51. Regarding kita affixes ta and ti:
    1. Initial vowel [of √ jana] → ā / __ ta or ti (e.g. √ jana + ta → jāta – “born”, “arisen”; Kacc 585).
    2. Final root consonant [of √ gamu, √ khanu, √ hana, √ ramu etc.] → Ø [occasionally]/ __ ta or ti (e.g. √ khanu + ti → khati – “digging”; Kacc 586). Exception: Ø → i as per pt. 64 below (Kacc 617).
    3. Final r [of √ kara, √ sara etc.] → Ø / __ ta or ti (e.g. pa + √ kara __ ti → pakati – “original [or ‘natural’] form”; Kacc 587).
    4. Vowel ā [of √ ṭhā, √ pā etc.] → i or ī respectively / __ ta or ti (e.g. √ pā + ti → pīti – “act of drinking”; Kacc 588).
52. ta [of kita affix tabba] → raṭṭha / √ sāsa, √ disa etc. __ (e.g. √ disa + tabba + si [aṃ] → daṭṭhabbaṃ; Kacc 572, elision of r according to Kacc 539).
53. tuṃ suffix → raṭṭhum / √ sāsa, √ disa etc. __ (e.g. √ disa + tuṃ = daṭṭhuṃ; Kacc 573; elision of r according to Kacc 539).
54. Regarding kita affix ṇa:
    1. nja [of √ ranja] → j / __ ṇa (Kacc 590).
    2. √ hana → ghāta / __ ṇa (e.g. go + √ hana + aka + si [o] → goghātako – “the one who kills cows”; Kacc 591).
    3. √ hana→ vadha / __ ṇa (e.g. √ hana + ṇa + si [o] → vadho – “the one who kills”; Kacc 592).
    4. vowel ā [of ā-ending roots] → āya / __ ṇa (e.g. √ dā + aka + si [o] → dāyako – “a donor”; Kacc 593).
55. √ kara → kha / pura, saṃ, upa and pari __ (e.g. saṃ + √ kara + ta → saṅkhata – “conditioned”, “prepared”; Kacc 594).
56. √ kara → kā / __ kita suffixes tave and tuna (e.g. √ kara + tuna → kātuna – “having done”; Kacc 595).
57. m and n [of √ gamu, √ khanu, √ hana etc.] → n [occasionally] / __ kita affixes tuṃ and tabba (e.g. √ gamu + tabba + si [aṃ] → gantabbaṃ – “that which should be done”; Kacc 596).
58. kita suffixes tuna, tvāna, tvā etc.:
    1. → ya [occasionally] / after all roots __ (e.g. ā + √ dā + tvā → ādāya; Kacc 597).
    2. → racca [occasionally] / all ca- and na-ending roots __ (e.g. vi + √ vica + tvā → vivicca – “having renounced”, “being far from”; Kacc 598).
    3. → svāna, svā [occasionally] / √ disa __ (e.g. ā + √ disa + tvā → disvā; Kacc 599).
    4. → mma, yha, jja, bbha, ddha [occasionally] ma-, ha-, da-, bha-ending roots __ (e.g. ā + √ gamu + tvā → āgamma – “having come”; Kacc 599).
59. Ø → i / root __ all affixes (ririya, tabba, ta, tvā etc.; e.g. √ vida + tabba → viditabba; Kacc 605).
60. The first n [of some roots] → ṃ (e.g. √ ranja + ṇa + si [o]→ raṅgo – “act of coloring”; Kacc 607).
61. √ ge → gī [whenever appropriate] (e.g. √ ge + ta + si [aṃ] → gītaṃ – “music”; Kacc 608).
62. √ sada → sīdā [always] (e.g. ni + √ sada + a + ti → nisīdati; Kacc 609).
63. √ gaha → ghara [occasionally] / __ affix ṇa. (e.g. √ gaha + ṇa + si [aṃ] → gharaṃ – “house”; Kacc 613).
64. da [of √ daha] → ḷa [occasionally] / __ affix ṇa (e.g. pari + √ daha + ṇa + si [o] → pariḷāho – “burning”; Kacc 614).
65. Final consonant [of a root] → Ø / __ kita affix kvi (i.e. other roots themselves; Kacc 615).
66. Ø → ū / √ vida __ kita affix kvi (e.g. lokavidū – “the knower of the world”; Kacc 616).
67. (a) When an inserted i (as per Kacc 605) is already positioned, the final consonants [of √ hana, √ gamu, √ ramu, √ saka, √ kara etc.] are not elided with ta affixes. (b) Applicable affixes are: tabba, tuṃ, tvā and tvāna. (c) Inapplicable exceptions are: tave, tāye, tavantu , tāvi and teyya (Kacc 617; Thitzana, 2016, p. 756).
68. r [of √ kara] → t / __ tu (e.g. √ kara + ritu + si [→ Ø] → kattā – “the one who does”; Kacc 619).
69. r [of √ kara] → t [occasionally] / __ tuṃ, tuna, tabba (e.g. √ kara + tuna → kattuna; Kacc 620).
70. The final component consonant c [of √ paca etc.] and j [of √ yaja etc.] → k and g respectively / __ affix ṇa (e.g √ yuja + ṇa + si [o]→ yogo; Kacc 623) but not / __ ṇvu affixes (Kacc 618).

Uṇādi Rules

1. Initial vowel [of √ gaha] → ge [occasionally] (e.g. √ ga ha + a + si [aṃ]→ gehaṃ – “house”; Kacc 629).
2. su [of stem masu] → cchara or cchera (e.g. masu + kvi + si [o]→ maccharo – “jealousy”; Kacc 630).
3. √ cara → cchariya, cchara or cchera / ā __, ā → (V̆) (e.g. ā + √ cara + kvi + si [aṃ] → accharaṃ; Kacc 631).
4. tha [of √ matha] → la (e.g. √ math a + a + si [o]→ mallo – “wrestler”; Kacc 634).
5. Some roots which end in c and j → k and g respectively / __ ṇ-initial affix (e.g. √ sica + ṇa + si [o] → seko – “pouring”; Kacc 640).
6. una [of stem suna – “dog”] → oṇa, vāna, uvāna, ūna, unakha, una, ā or āna (Kacc 647).
7. Stem taruṇa → susu (Kacc 648).
8. uva [of stem yuva] → uvāna, una, or ūna (e.g. yūno – “youth”; Kacc 649).
9. ū, u and asa [of √ sū, √ vu, √ asa] → ata, Ø → affix tha (√ sū + tha + si [aṃ] → satthaṃ – “a weapon”; Kacc 660).
10. √ hi → heraṇ or hīraṇ / paṭi __ (e.g. paṭi + √ hi + kvi + si [aṃ] → pāṭihīraṃ or pāṭiheraṃ – “miracle”; Kacc 662).
11. Stem putha → puthu, patha, Ø → affix amaFor an example refer to the section “Ordinal Numerals.” [occasionally] (e.g. putha + kvi [→ Ø] + si [→ Ø] → pathavī – “earth”; Kacc 666).

Vowel Gradation

(a) Root vowels may vary in “strength” or appear in various “grades”, which means that they are changed into another vowel sound. (b) This process is called “strengthening” or “vowel gradation” and occurs regularly in the formation of verbal stems, non-finite verbs (i.e. infinitives and absolutives) and in the derivation of words while appending certain affixes (see chapters “Kita and Taddhita Affixes” and “Uṇādi Affixes”; Dhammajoti, 2018, p. 20; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 23). (c) Three grades exist in Pāḷi:

1. Unstrengthened (avuddhika).
2. Strong (guṇa).
3. Increase (vuddhi).

(a) The ancient grammarians explain these processes as an absence and prefixing (or “increase”) of the letter a respectively (Dhammajoti, 2018, p. 20; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 12) or as the replacement of i and u by e and o respectively (Kacc 401). (b) These processes can also be reversed, an instance of such is called viparīto (“reversal”; Thitzana, 2016, p. 569). (c) An example of vowel gradation can be conveniently given with the words bhūta (unstrengthened form), bhavati and hoti (strengthened form), bhāveti (increased form), which are all formed from √ bhū. (d) The increase morpheme o → ava, e → aya/ √ bhū, √ cu etc. /__ vowel (e.g. √ cu + a + ti → cavati; Kacc 513–514). (e) Vowel o → āva, e → āya / __ causative affix [e, ya] (e. g. √ lūThe ū of √ lū has previously been strengthened to o. + e + ti → lāveti; Kacc 515). (f) The generic paradigm is as follows:

Parts of Speech (padajāti)

1. Nouns – incl. adjectives and pronouns (nāmāni).
2. Verbs (ākhyātāni).
3. Indeclinable prepositions and prefixes (upasaggā or upasārā).
4. Indeclinable particle – conjunctions, prepositions, adverbs and all other indeclinables (nipātā).

Sentence Structure and Syntax

(a) The main collections (sing. nikāyo) of Buddhist texts employ an idiom which usually bears a close affinity to the syntax of Vedic, thereby manifesting a closer linguistic connection to Indo-European than Classical Sanskrit; however, marked divergences from Vedic nevertheless exist (cf. Hendriksen, 1944, p. 81; Wijesekera, 1936/1993, p. 6). (b) The usual order of sentences in the Pāḷi language is: subject (S; kattā – lit. “agent”) + object (O; kammaṃ) + verb (V; kamma kiriyā; e.g. bhagavā (S) dhammaṃ (O) deseti (V) – “The Blessed One teaches the dhamma”, DN III – pāthikavaggapāḷi, p. 41 [DN 28]), with the verb at the end of the sentence (Yindee, 2018, p. 69). (c) An adjective normally precedes the noun it qualifies and a modifying adverb its verb. (d) “Adverbs of time always come first in the sentence” (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 152).

(a) A regular yet not universal feature of prose portions in the Pāḷi language (as well as Vedic and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit) is the grouping of word elements with related or identical meaning (e.g. synonyms), a remnant of the oral style of composition and transmission, facilitating memory (Allon, 1997, p. 191; Anālayo, 2009, pp. 740–1). (b) It is commonplace to encounter two, three or more adjectives qualifying the same substantive noun and to find a body of substantive nouns functioning as the sentence subjects or objects; the same principle of aggregation holds also true for verbs and adverbs (Allon, p. 191). (c) The arrangement of all these parts of speech is determined by the so-called Waxing Syllable Principle, influencing the sequential order according to the syllable length of the word strings: each subsequent element stays either equal in syllable length or increases; waning does not occur (e.g. bhīto saṃviggo lomahaṭṭhajāto [syllable count: 2 + 3 + 6] – “frightened, agitated and gotten horripilation”, DN I – sīlakkhandhavaggapāḷi, p. 24 [DN 2]; Anālayo, p. 740). (d) Exceptions to this are groupings of items which must belong together due to similar grammatical and morphological form, related meaning and doctrinal content (e.g. regarding the items of the noble eightfold path [ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo]; Allon, p. 191; Anālayo, p. 741). (e) When a sentence has two subjects, the last one determines the person for the corresponding verbs (Kacc 409). (f) The enclitics me and te are, as a rule, found in the second position of a sentence (Oberlies, 2019, p. 265). (g) Clauses are conjoined in the following ways (Perniola, 1997, pp. 384, 390–1):

• They simply follow each other.
• Relative clauses and phrases:
  • With relative pronouns, adjectives or adverbs as the sentence initial of the subordinate clause, in correlation with a demonstrative pronoun, adjective or adverb introducing the main clause (e.g. yo dhammaṃ passati so buddhaṃ passati – “He who sees the dhamma is the one who sees the Buddha”; Mil, p. 35).
  • With a participle functioning as an adjective agreeing with a noun (e.g. addasā kho āyasmā rāhulo bhagavantaṃ dūratova āgacchantaṃ – “The ven. Rāhula saw the Blessed One, who was coming from afar”, MN II – majjhimapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 40 [MN 61]).
  • With dependent-determinative, descriptive-determinative or attributive compoundsSee chapter “Compounds (samāsā)” for details. (e.g. evaṃ kho, kassapa, bhikkhu sīlasampanno [tappurisa compound] hoti – “thus, Kassapa, is a bhikkhu one who is possessed of virtue”, DN I – sīlakkhandhavaggapāḷi, p. 81 [DN 8]).
• With the introduction of adverbs or adverbial phrases of time and space (e.g. tadā – “at that time”; tattha – “there”; bhūtapubbaṃ – “formerly”; ekaṃ samayaṃ – “at one time”; tena samayena – “at that time”; atha kho – “now then” etc.)
• With particles ca (copulative) and vā (disjunctive).
• Phrase kuto pana (“still less”) and words pageva (“still more”), aññādatthu (“except”; all adversative).
• With seyyathāpi (“just as”) contrasted with evameva (“just so”) and yathā (“just as”), contrasted with tathā (“so”; all comparatives).
• Consecutive and connected verbs may stand in the absolutive with the finite verb being placed last.

(a) It may often happen that the verb “to be” is not expressed but only implicitly understood (e.g. rūpaṃ aniccaṃ – “Form is impermanent”). (b) In the end, there are no hard and fast regulations about the sentence structure – the subject, to proffer an example, remains the subject even if it succeeds the object (e.g. dhammaṃ buddho [S] deseti – “Dhamma teaches the Enlightened One [S]”; Dhammajoti, 2018, pp. 9, 12). (c) The word order is rarely of grammatical significance but in terms of style and emphasis rather relevant (Warder, 1963/2001, p. 15). (d) The vocative is unable to stand as sentence initial (Palistudies, 2018b). (e) Regarding case endings (see below), the Padarūpasiddhi (Rūp, 1999, p. 29) and Duroiselle (1906/1997, p. 24) mention that at times whole syllables are elided for the sake of meter or to facilitate simplicity (e.g. abhiññāya sacchikatvā → abhiññā sacchikatvā).

Nouns (nāmāni)

Kinds of Nouns

1. Substantive Nouns (nāmanāmāni).Sing. nāmaṃ.
   1. Common nouns (sādhārananāmāni).
   2. Proper nouns (asādhārananāmāni).
2. Adjectives (guṇanāmāni).
3. Pronouns (sabbanāmāni).
4. Compound nouns (samāsanāmāni; Kacc 601).
5. Nouns formed from taddhita affixes (taddhitanāmāni, incl. numerical nouns; Kacc 601).
6. Nouns formed from kita affixes (kitanāmāni; Kacc 601).The last three-mentioned items are dealt with in separate chapters.

General Characteristics

(a) In the Pāḷi language there are no fundamentally distinct classes of substantive nouns, adjectives and pronouns, all being united under the broad category of nāmaṃ (noun), but individual differences nonetheless exist (Pandita, n.d.; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 7). (b) Substantive nouns and adjectives share declensions (see Table 3 in the “Tables” section) and are also part of the samāsanāmāni, taddhitanāmāni and kitanāmāni classes, e.g.:

• Sāriputto; Arindamo (nāmanāmaṃ, kitanāmaṃ and samāsanāmaṃ).
• Kaccāyano (nāmanāmaṃ and taddhitanāmaṃ).I am indebted to ven. Kovida (Myanmar, aka Sayadaw U Kovida) for initially clarifying the concept for me and providing the examples (personal communication, April 11, 2020).

(a) Although adjectives bear the name of guṇanāmaṃ (“quality noun”) – indicating that they are a class of nouns qualifying other nouns – the lack of an absolute distinction between substantive nouns and adjectives can be seen in many instances; for example, the word kusala (“wholesome”, “skillful”) can stand as a substantive noun: kusalaṃ (“the wholesome”) or operate as an attribute of another noun, as in kusalo dhammo (“the good dhamma”). (b) Compound nouns are simply combinations made up of members from the above-given noun classes (see the respective chapters for details). (c) Although particles (sing. nipāto) and prefixes (upasaggo or upasāraṃ) cannot be classified under the rubric of nouns – possessing no gender and number – they can be subject to the rules of nouns when standing as independent words in a sentence; these are, however, exceptional cases (Thitzana, 2016, p. 185). (d) It should be noted that the case endings in these unusual instances are not permitted to remain attached to these words (Thitzana, p. 323).

General Formation

The formation of nouns in the Pāḷi language comes about in the following manner, conjoining two or more of these elements:

• Prefix (upasaggo or upasāraṃ).
• Root (dhātu).
• Kita affix (kitapaccayo).
• Taddhita affix (taddhitapaccayo).
• Interfix (āgamo).
• Suffix (paccayo, vibhatti), expressing:
  • Case.
  • Number.
  • Gender.

(a) For example, the substantive noun āvāso is formed from these elements: ā (upasaggo) + √ vas + a [kita affix] form the stem to which si [o] (vibhatti; singular nominative case masculine suffix) is appended; thus, finally → āvāso (“home”, “dwelling place”). (b) Another example to illustrate how an interfix is applied is given with the following. The adjective mānasika is broken up like this: √ māna + s [āgamo] + ika [taddhita affix] → mānasika (“related to mind”) or + si [aṃ] (singular nominative case neuter sufffix – “that which is related to mind”) when functioning as a substantive noun. (c) Another interfix, consonant n, is added in the formation of numerical nouns with dative suffix naṃ (e.g. dvinnaṃ – “two”; Kacc 67). (d) The rules of sandhi and morphology are regularly applied (i.e. assimilation, elision, insertion and reduplication; e.g. √ ana + ya [taddhita affix] → añña [pronoun] – “other”, “another”).See chapters “Sandhi”, “Morphology” and “Kita and Taddhita Affixes” for details and for explanations on the characteristics of roots and stems the section “General Formation” in the chapter “Verbs (ākhyātāni).”

Gender, Number and Case

(a) In the Pāḷi language three genders (sing. liṅgaṃ) exist for nouns: masculine (pulliṅgaṃ), feminine (itthiliṅgaṃ) and neuter (napuṃsakaliṅgaṃ; Kacc 52; Oberlies, 2019, p. 199); two numbers: singular (ekavacanaṃ) and pluralThe plural has basically replaced the dual in Pāḷi, only a few forms can be found (Oberlies, 2019, p. 201). (bahuvacanaṃ; Buddhadatta, 1937/1997, p. 3; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 7); three persons (sing. puriso): first (paṭhamapuriso), second (majjhimapuriso) and third (uttamapuriso),This is the schema of the traditional Pāḷi grammarians – first and third persons given therein are the exact opposites in English (e.g. English first persons “I” and “we” are classed as third persons [uttamapuriso] in Pāḷi, and English third persons “he/she/it” and “they” correspond to the first persons [paṭhamapuriso] in Pāḷi); however, to forestall confusion, occurrances of grammatical numbers in Pāḷi – within the bounds of the present grammar – correspond, henceforth, to English usage. with the indigenous grammatical tradition recognizing seven cases. Seven cases because it treats the vocative as standing apart from the rest (cf. Yindee, 2018, pp. 58–9), although in modern grammars we may find it included among the total count, therewith amounting to eight cases (Collins, 2006, pp. 18–9). (b) Substantive nouns usually assume only one gender, whereas adjectives and pronouns are capable of standing in all three – variably corresponding to the gender, number and case of the nouns of which they are the attribute or correlate respectively. (c) However, a substantive noun, without changing form, can also possess two or all three genders (e.g. kumāra [“boy”, “prince”] can assume masculine [kumāro] as well as feminine forms [kumārī], and kuddaka [“belly”] can occur in the masculine [kuddako], neuter [kuddakaṃ] and feminine [kuddakā]; Geiger, 1916/1994, pp. 67–8; Yindee, p. 58).

Substantive Nouns (nāmanāmāni)

As mentioned above, this classification includes common and proper nouns (cf. Buddhadatta, 1937/1997, p. 48).

• Common nouns: a group of unspecified people (vāṇijo – “merchant”), animals (hatthī – “elephant”), places (nagaraṃ – “city”), things (rukkho – “tree”) and ideas (i.e. abstract nouns; dhammo – “norm”, “nature”).
• Proper nouns: specific persons (Sāriputto – right-hand chief disciple of Lord Buddha), places (Rājagaha – an ancient Indian city with that name) and organizations.

(a) As single entities, substantive nouns have usually merely one gender (of the three, as mentioned above), but as final members of attributive compoundsSee chapter “Compounds (samāsā)” for details. substantive nouns can also assume all three genders – in which case they are used adjectivally (Collins, 2006, p. 17; Buddhadatta, 1937/1997, p. 4). (b) As mentioned in the previous section, a substantive noun may possess altogether two or even all three genders.

Adjectives (guṇanāmāni)

(a) As adverted to earlier, adjectives bear the name of guṇanāmāni (“quality nouns”), indicating that they are a class of nouns modifying other nouns, providing more information about them (Yindee, 2018, p. 55). (b) Adjectives are capable of standing, as mentioned above, in all three genders – assuming the gender, number and case of the nouns of which they are the attributes. They themselves lack intrinsic gender (Dhammajoti, 2018, p. 9). (c) If an adjective qualifies two or more nouns, it may agree with the sum (being plural then) or with the nearest. (d) The qualified words may also taken to be collective with the adjective in singular. (e) In case of gender conflict, the masculine has precedence over the feminine and the neuter over both. (f) They usually precede the qualified noun, but in the case of several adjectives modifying a noun, one adjective may precede and the rest follow. (g) An adjective following a substantive noun usually indicates the predication of it, with the attribute being emphasized and translated by a relative clause “who/which is …” or an adjectival predicate, i.e. an adjective that follows a linking verb (e.g. “am”, “is”, “are”, “has been” etc.), modifying the sentence subject (e.g. vedanā aniccā – “feeling is impermanent”, MN I – mūlapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 146 [MN 35]; cf. Bodhi, 2020, pp. 32–33). (h) Without a verb in the sentence (i.e. in equational sentences), this predication may take place regardless of the adjective’s positioning (cf. Warder, 1963/2001, pp. 60–1). (i) The distinction between substantive nouns and adjectives is not an absolute, as previously explained (Warder, p. 62).

(a) Pronouns or pronominal adjectives are used as adjectives (Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 25). (b) Almost all pronouns become adjectives when they are used before a substantive noun of the same gender, number and case. (c) They are pronouns when they stand alone in a sentence. (d) Let it be reiterated briefly that stems in a are more common than any other (Geiger, 1916/1956, p. 159; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 8). (e) The following affixes are used to form adjectives: a, ana, ika, ka, kaṭa, ma, mantu (mā; possessive), maya, min (mī; possessive), ra, so, (s) sī (possessive), tana, ti, tya, va, vantu (vā; possessive), vī.See chapters “Kita and Taddhita Affixes” and “Uṇādi Affixes” for more details.

Three Grades of Adjectives

(a) To express the comparative form of adjectives, the following affixes are appended to nominal bases: tara, iya, iyya and for the superlative: tama, iṭṭha, issika, (i) ma (Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 93; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 59; Perniola, 1997, pp. 48–9; Yindee, 2018, pp. 55–6).See Table 2 below for a summary. (b) In most cases, affixes tara and tama may be used interchangeably as well as iya for iṭṭha, issaka and vice versa (Duroiselle, p. 59). (c) Affix tara may be superadded to some forms of the comparative and superlative without affecting the meaning as conveyed by the initial affix. (d) Some adjectives have more than one form or are constructed irregularly (e.g. antika – “near” → nediya – “nearer” or nediṭṭha – “nearest”; Duroiselle, p. 60; Perniola, p. 49). (e) The comparative adjectives are primarily employed with nouns in the instrumental or ablative cases singular and the superlatives with the genitive and locative cases plural (e.g. tayā mahiddhikataro – “more powerful than you”; tesaṃ sattamo – “the best of them”; tesu sattamo– “best among them”; Ānandamaitreya, p. 93) – the adjective may also stand after the ablative case (Palistudies). (f) The declensions of adjectives of stems in mantu (mā), vantu (vā), vī are elided together with the antecedent vowel (e.g. guṇavā + iya → guṇiyo – “more virtuous”). (g) Depending on which gender they ought to take, the comparative and superlative forms are to be declined like neuter and masculine stems in a or feminine stems in ā. (Duroiselle, pp. 59–60). (h) Certain past participles, by themselves or as the final member of compounds, are used comparatively with the appropriate affixes (e.g. paṇīta – “excellent” → paṇītatara – “more excellent”). (i) Within comparative compounds, the first member commonly is the object of the comparison (e.g. paṇītasaṅkhatatara – “reckoned as more excellent”). (j) Some substantive nouns can also take the comparative affixes (e.g. malatara – “having a greater stain”) and certain pronouns, prepositions and adverbs are able to take both comparative and superlative affixes (e.g. aññatama – “one out of many”; upari – “above” → uparima – “uppermost”; Perniola, pp. 50–1).

Participles

The participles have the nature of verbal adjectives and must, therefore, agree with the nouns they qualify in number, gender and case (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 100; Oberlies, p. 571, f.n. 1; Perniola, 1997, p. 357).

Possessive Adjectives

Formation. (a) Commonly added are vantu (vā), vī (Perniola, 1997, p. 147). (b) The usual affixes that form possessives include: a, āla, ālu, ava, ita, ika, imā, ī (in) (strengthening as a rule takes place), iya, ila, eyya, eyyaka, mantu (mā), (s) si, sī, vantu (vā), vī. (c) The feminine of possessive adjectives formed with mantu (mā) and vantu (vā) is usually, but not invariably, constructed from the weakened base (Collins, 2006, p. 58).

Usage. (a) The possessive adjectives can be rendered into English as regular adjectives or in combination with such words and idioms as “having”, “possessed of”, “possessing” (e.g. satimā – “possessed of mindfulness [i.e. ‘mindful’]”; Kacc 369). (b) The possessive adjectives in mantu (mā), vantu (vā) and ī (in) are also used as substantive nouns when they don’t qualify any other nounMost, presumably all, of those formed with the other affixes too. (e.g. dhanavanto – “the wealthy one”; gomī – “cattle”, “a possessor of cattle”; Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, pp. 53, 57; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 150). (c) As is the case with other adjectives, possessive adjectives are capable of being rendered as relative clauses and participle clauses/constructions with present participles (e.g. [relative clause] daṇḍī – “the one who possesses [or ‘carries’] a staff”; [participle construction] medhāvī – “the one possessing wisdom”; Kacc 364, 532; cf. Hendriksen, 1944, p. 7, f.n. 2).

Adjectives from Pronominal Bases

(a) Duroiselle, 1906/1997, pp. 77–8: Affixes di (dī), disa, dikkha, disaka, risa (“intimate”, “likeness”, “resemblance”) are, with lengthening of the base vowel, appended to pronominal bases to form adjectives (e.g. ta + di → tādi – “like him”, “like that”, “such”). (b) For that purpose, affixes tara, tama (see above) are also added to the bases of interrogative pronouns, but the meaning differs just a little from that of the respective bases (e.g. katara – “which [of two]?”; katama – “which [of many]”).

Pronouns or Pronominal Adjectives (sabbanāmāni)

Kinds of Pronouns

1. Personal pronoun (puggalanāmaṃ).
2. Demonstrative pronoun (nidassananāmaṃ).
3. Relative pronoun (anvayīnāmaṃ).
4. Interrogative pronoun (pucchānāmaṃ).
5. Indefinite pronoun (anīyamanāmaṃ).
6. Possessive pronoun (Collins, 2006, p. 61; Nwe Soe, 2016, p. 205; Perniola, 1997, p. 52).

General Characteristics

(a) Substantive nouns and adjectives may qualify their referent words, but pronouns act as mere pointers to these (Collins, 2006, p. 62). (b) They are officially regarded as belonging to the category of nouns (nāmāni), as mentioned above, and do not constitute a separate class of words. (c) Pronouns can stand in all genders, as they can represent all things and persons of the different genders apiece (Thitzana, 2016, p. 287) but are not able to be in the vocative case. (d) We can find three persons for pronouns, singular and plural. (e) Almost all pronouns become adjectives when they are used before a noun of the same gender, number and case (e.g. so puriso – “that man”). (f) They are pronouns when they stand alone in a sentence (Buddhadatta, 1937/1997, pp. 49–50). (g) Pronouns can also act as noun substitutes (e.g. sā bhuñjati – “She eats”; Collins, p. 62; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 7) and are oftentimes merely implied (e.g. bhuñjati – “He eats”). (h) As a means of showing respect, especially (but not exclusively) to persons of higher rank, it is possible that the first and second person plurals of pronouns may replace the respective singular forms, this usage is known as the “honorific plural” (e.g. [possibly] yo amhākaṃ rājaputto vā rājamahāmatto – “the one who is our prince and prime minister […]”, Mil, p. 44). (i) The second person singular, on the other hand, is used for peers and subordinates, as with German “du” (Collins, p. 65).

General Formation

(a) For a description on the general features of the formation process of nouns (incl. pronouns), see the above section of the present chapter having the same name as this one (i.e. “General Formation”), with some additional specifics in the following. (b) The i and a vowels of pronouns may lengthen when in certain combinations with √ disa, so too then vowel i of √ disa (e.g. ya + √ disa + kvi → yādiso – “any kind of person”; Kacc 642). It may be that the d of √ disa → r, and its s → sa, kkha or ī in the process (e.g. yādikkho; Kacc 642). (c) In the formation of the nominative case, all pronouns may take interfix consonant k (e.g. sabbako – “all”; Kacc 178).

The Traditional Inventory of 27 Pronouns (sabbanāmāni)

sabba

“all”

katara

“which [of two]?”

katama

“which [of many]?”

ubbaya

“both”

itara

“other [of two]”

añña

“other [of many]”

aññatara

“other [of many]”

aññatama

“a certain [of two]”

pubba

“former”

para

“another”

apara

“another”

dakkhiṇa

“right”, “south”

uttara

“upper”, “north”, “more than”

adhara

“lower”

ya

“who”, “what”

ta

“he”, “that”

eta

“this”

ima

“this”

amu

“that”

kiṃ

“what?”, “why?”

eka

“one”

ubha

“both”

dvi

“two”

ti

“three”

catu

“four”

tumha

“you”

amha

“I”, “we”

Personal Pronouns

Usage. (a) Personal pronouns of the first and second persons do not possess gender and invariably operate as substantive noun substitutes (Collins, 2006, p. 62). (b) Enclitic genitive, dative, instrumental singular me (“by me”, “my”, “mine”) and genitive, dative, instrumental and ablative plural no (“our”, “for us”, “by us”, “from us”) are never used at the beginning of a sentence (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 68), the same holds true for te. (c) For enhanced emphasis, the personal pronouns are found with relative pronoun yo (e.g. lābhā vata me, suladdhaṃ vata me, yohaṃ evarūpehi sabrahmacārīhi saddhiṃ viharāmī – “It is indeed a gain for me, a great gain for me, that I dwell together with such fellow companions in the holy life”, MN I – mūlapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 135 [MN 31]; Duroiselle, p. 74).

Demonstrative Pronouns

Usage. (a) The pronouns of absence, formed from the stem ta(d), are employed to refer to someone or something previously mentioned in a narrative or to absent persons or things.Pronoun ena is used in the same way (Oberlies, 2019, p. 277). (b) They might serve as a connecting element between two sentences or to extend paragraphs or sections and be translated as “that” etc. (e.g. etthantare yaṃ caritaṃ, sabbaṃ taṃ bodhipācanaṃ – “What conduct there is in the interim, all that is a maturing of enlightenment”, Cp, p. 1; yamahaṃ jānāmi, taṃ tvaṃ jānāsi – “What I know is that what you know!”, DN I – sīlakkhandhavaggapāḷi, p. 41 [DN 3]). (c) They may also function as personal pronouns “he”, “she”, “it” and other forms of those. (d) The forms with n substitute (e.g. enaṃ)These are given in Table 4 in the “Tables” section. usually refer to a noun which was already mentioned. (e) Besides these usages, forms of ta(d) can also be employed adverbially in all oblique cases (e.g. taṃ [acc.] – “thereto”, “therefore”, “that is why”, “now”, “then”; tamenaṃ – “at once”; tassa [gen.] – “therefore”; yena […] tena [instr.] – “where, […] there”, “here and there”; tasmā [abl.] – “for this reason”, “therefore”; tato – “from there”, “thence”; tahiṃ [loc.] – “there”, “therefore”; tahaṃ – “there”; Oberlies, 2019, pp. 260, 270, f.n. 1; “Ta”, 1921). (f) They are also used pleonastically, giving emphasis (e.g. sohaṃ – “I” [lit. “that I”]).For the usage with a relative pronoun giving emphasis see below.

(a) Demonstrative pronouns formed from pronominal stem eta(d) are used to point to someone or something present in direct speech or to what immediately precedes or follows – they may be translated as “this” etc. (Collins, 2006, p. 63; Oberlies, 2019, p. 274; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 29) – they may also operate as the personal pronouns “he”, “she”, “it” etc. (b) Demonstrative pronouns with stems in ta(d)/ eta(d) are often used to give slight emphasis to the subject or as something approximating the English article “the.”

(a) Demonstrative pronouns formed from the pronominal stem in ima (such as ayaṃ) are used similarly but convey a special sense of proximity or immediacy, whereas those constructed from eta(d) are merely indefinite (Oberlies, 2019, p. 284; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 30). (b) They may be rendered into English with “this (here)” etc. (c) For enhanced emphasis, the pronouns ayaṃ and so/eso are applied pleonastically with relative yo (e.g. tasmā yoyaṃ me attapaṭilābho – “therefore, this is the acquisition of personality for me”, Sv-pṭ – sīlakkhandhavaggaṭīkā, p. 135; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 74). (d) The pronouns formed from amu imply a sense of being far away and may be translated as “yonder” etc. (Collins, 2006, p. 63; Warder, p. 30).

Relative Pronouns

Formation. (a) Relative pronouns are mainly found building relative clauses (e.g. yo dhammaṃ passati, so buddhaṃ passati – “He who sees the dhamma is the one who sees the Buddha”, Mil, p. 35), but some are employed as indeclinables (Warder, 1963/2001, p. 70). (b) Neuter singular of ya(d) is used preceding vowels and in compounds (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 74). (c) The relative pronouns take their gender and number from the antecedent (the modified element from the main clause) in relative clauses, but case is determined according to their function in the relative clause (Collins, 2006, p. 68). (d) The relative clause regularly precedes the main clause (Warder, p. 71), though it may be that the correlating pronoun (with its clause) precedes the relative one (e.g. amataṃ tesaṃ bhikkhave sacchikataṃ, yesaṃ kāyagatāsati sacchikatā – “Those, bhikkhus, that have realized the deathless are those who realized mindfulness directed to the body”, AN I – ekakanipātapāḷi, p. 29 [AN 1.627]; Dhammajoti, 2018, p. 103).

Usage. (a) Relative pronouns are commonly translated with “who” or “which”, in the three genders. (b) As a simple marker of a relative clause or a connector of a subordinate clause it may function as an indeclinable and be translated as “that”, “since”, “if”, “whereas” etc. (e.g. nesa dhamma, mahārāja, yaṃ tvaṃ gaccheyya ekako – “It is not right, great king, that you might go alone”, Jā II – dutiyo bhāgo, p. 188 [Jā 547]; Dhammajoti, 2018, p. 102). (c) For the sake of emphasis, the relative pronoun yo is used pleonastically with demonstrative pronouns ayaṃ and so as well as with personal pronouns (or eso; e.g. yo so, āvuso, bhikkhu kāmesu avītarāgo hoti […], tasssa cittaṃ na namati ātappāya […] – lit. “That bhikkhu, friend, who has not been without passion regarding sensuality, his mind does not bend towards ardor”, DN III – pāthikavaggapāḷi, p. 105 [DN 33]; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 74). (d) To express the sense of generalization, the pronoun ya(d) can be employed thus:

• Repetition of ya(d) and the correlative in a distributive sense (e.g. yo yo […] ādiyissati, tassa tassa dhanamanuppadassāmi – “Whoever will take up, to him I will give”, DN III – pāthikavaggapāḷi, p. 27 [DN 26]).
• In combination with its correlative (e.g. yasmiṃ tasmiṃ – “in whatever place/case”).
• In combination with the indefinite pronouns (e.g. yaṃ kiñci – “whatever”).

(a) The form yadidaṃ can be employed in a variety of ways (e.g. “that is to say”, “since”, “which is this”, “namely”; Collins, 2006, p. 69). (b) The instrumental form yena in combination with a verb of motion carries the import of “where”, “towards” and governs the nominative case (Warder, 1963/2001, p. 73); in that sense, constructions with yena […] tena may be translated as “where […] there” (e.g. yena bhagavā ten upasaṅkami – “Where the Blessed One was, there [he] went”, Vin I – pārājikapāḷi, p. 4 [Pār 1]). (c) The relative pronouns in all oblique cases are also used adverbially (e.g. yena [instr.] – “where” or “at which place”; yena yena [instr.] – “wherever”; yahiṃ [loc.] – “where” or “whither”; yasmā [abl.] – “because” [corresponding with tasmā]; Oberlies, 2019, pp. 260, f.n. 1, 270; “Ya”, 1921).

Interrogative Pronouns

Formation and Usage. (a) Interrogative pronouns are used to formulate questions (Collins, 2006, p. 67). (b) There is no equivalent to a question mark in the Pāḷi language; however, if a sentence contains an interrogative pronoun, the whole sentence takes on an interrogative sense. (c) It is also possible that a sentence contains no such pronoun but that the context imposes an interrogative sense (Warder, 1963/2001, pp. 73–4). (d) The particles su/ssu, nu and noThe last two-mentioned particles are used to signify doubt, by themselves or with an interrogative pronoun or adverb. They are oftentimes followed by kho (e.g. ko nu kho, bho gotama, hetu ko paccayo […] – “Now what is the reason, dear Gotama, what the cause […]?”, DN I – sīlakkhandhavaggapāḷi, p. 68 [DN 5]; Oberlies, 2019, p. 282, f.n. 2). are used with interrogative pronouns for emphasis (“Ka”, 1921; Perniola, 1997, p. 56). (e) As mentioned in the section on adjectives: “[…] affixes tara, tama […] are also added to the bases of interrogative pronouns, but the meaning differs just a little from that of the respective bases (e.g. katara – ‘which [of two]?’; katama – ‘which [of many]’).” (f) Kena (instr.), kasmā (abl.) and kissa (gen.) are also employed adverbially, meaning “why?”, “wherefore?”; kiṃ (acc.) is oftentimes used with the instrumental to express the meaning of “what is the use of.” (g) Interrogative pronouns in all oblique cases may be used adverbially as well (Oberlies, 2019, pp. 260, f.n. 1, 270; Palistudies, 2018f).

Indefinite Pronouns

Formation and Usage. (a) Indefinite pronouns don’t refer to any person, thing or amount specifically. They are inexplicit, “not definite.” (b) Sometimes substantive nouns are constructed from indefinite pronouns (e.g. kiñcanaṃ – “defilement”; Oberlies, 2019, p. 283). (c) They are formed in the following ways (Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 81; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 75; Perniola, 1997, pp. 56–7; Warder, 1963/2001, pp. 85–6):

• Addition of ci (cid before a vowel), cana (canaṃ is also found), api or pi to the interrogative pronouns (e.g. kiñci, kācana, kampi).
• Twofold repetition of the demonstrative or relative pronoun (e.g. so so – “anyone”; taṃ taṃ, in the sense of “several”, “various”).
• Joining a relative with an indefinite (e.g. yaṃ kiñci – “whatever”).
• Joining a negative with an indefinite (e.g. na kiñci – “nothing”).

Possessive Pronouns

Formation and Usage. (a) Some possessive pronouns form from the base of the first and second personal pronouns by means of affixes īya and aka, with occasional lengthening of the base vowel (e.g. mad + īya → madīya; mam + aka → māmaka – “mine”; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 77). (b) The word attano (dative/genitive) can be used as a possessive pronoun (in all three genders, singular as well as plural), meaning “himself”, “oneself”, “myself”, “yourself”, agreeing with the subject of the clause or sentence (e.g. attāpi attānaṃ na upavadati – “and he does not blame himself”, MN II – majjhimapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 53 [MN 65]). (c) As a possessive adjective it stands for: “his own”, “her own”, “my own” etc. (d) Other possessive pronouns and adjectives include: sayaṃ and sāmaṃ (“oneself”, “self”, “myself” etc.; e.g. sāmaṃ diṭṭhaṃ – “seen by oneself”); saka and sa (“one’s own”; Perniola, 1997, p. 57; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 187). (e) The genitive of the personal pronouns for both persons also articulates a possessive sense (e.g. mayhaṃ, tuyhaṃ, tassa; Perniola, p. 57).

Pronominal Derivatives (Adjectives, Adverbs)

Adjectives (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, pp. 77–8). (a) Certain affixes added to pronominal bases form a great number of adjectives: di (dī), disa, dikkha, disaka, risa intimate likeness and resemblance, with lengthening of the base vowel (e.g. ta + di → tādi – “like him”, “like that”, “such”). (b) As mentioned above: “[…] affixes tara, tama […] are also added to the bases of interrogative pronouns, but the meaning differs just a little from that of the respective bases (e.g. katara – ‘which [of two]?’; katama – ‘which [of many]’).”

Adverbs (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, pp. 78–9). (a) Certain suffixes added to pronominal stems form also a great number of adverbs: dā, dāni, rahi express time (e.g. karahi – “when?”; etarahi – “now”). (b) Adverbs of place are formed by means of suffixes to, tra, tha, dha, ha, haṃ, hiṃ (e.g. kattha – “where?”; yatra – “where?”) – preceding a short vowel, the t of tha is doubled. (c) Suffixes thā, va, vaṃ, thaṃ, ti are used to form adverbs of manner (e.g. tathā – “thus”, “like that”; kathaṃ – “how?”). (d) Another va suffix is used to intimate time and cause (stem final a is lengthened), appended to pronominal stems of ta, ya, ki – final t is dropped since no consonant is permitted to stand as word final. If it precedes a vowel, it is retained in the form of d (e.g. yāvadeva – “ever so much”, “as far as”, “but only”). (e) The ablative singular suffix tā is added to the mentioned forms too (e.g. yāvatā – “as far as”, “because”).More examples of case forms used adverbially are listed above in the section “Demonstrative Pronouns”, pt. (e). (f) Suffix di is found merely in yadi (“if”), ti in kati (“how many”) and yati (“as many”).

Action Nouns

Formation and Usage. (a) The use of action nouns in Pāḷi is frequent – they are formed with affixes a, i, ana, anā, aka, taṃ, tā, ti, tta,See the chapter “Kita and Taddhita Affixes” for more details. added either directly to the root or the base (Perniola, 1997, p. 381). (b) Action nouns express the generic verbal idea without reference to time or person (e.g. dassana – “seeing”) and, in the manner of any other noun, assume the case form according to the respective syntactical function they perform within the sentence (e.g. te kāyassa bhedā [instr.] paraṃ maraṇā sugatiṃ saggaṃ lokaṃ upapannā – “With the breaking up of the body, after death, they are reborn in a good destination, in the heavenly world”, DN I – sīlakkhandhavaggapāḷi, p. 40 [DN 2]; Hendriksen, 1944, p. 87). (c) They usually govern the genitive case (e.g. brāhmaṇo pokkharasāti bhagavato [genitive] adhivāsanaṃ viditvā […] kālaṃ ārocesi – “The Brahmin Pokkharasāti, having found out [about] the Blessed One’s consent […] announced the time”, DN I – sīlakkhandhavaggapāḷi, p. 51 [DN 3]), but dassanāya stands also with the accusative (e.g. sammāsambuddhaṃ dassanāya upasaṅkamissāma – “We would approach to see the Perfectly Enlightened One”, MN II – majjhimapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 118 [MN 81]; Perniola, p. 381). (d) Action nouns may take objects, are modified by adverbs and are oftentimes continued with verbs (Hendriksen, p. 87).

Agent Nouns

Formation. (a) The affixes forming agent nouns are: a, ana, aka, āvi, dha, i, in, ina [after √ ji], ka, ma, ratthu (tar), ta, tra, tuka [after √ gamu], uka, ūSee chapters “Kita and Taddhita Affixes” and “Uṇādi Affixes” for more details. – they are appended to roots or bases (Collins, 2006, p. 113; Perniola, 1997, p. 378). (b) Letter a [of roots] → i [occasionally] / __ ratthu (tar), but final ā and e of roots remain unchanged (Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 66). (c) An i is also inserted under other circumstances (e.g. √ bhāsa → bhāsitar; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 209). (d) The affix aka is used after action nouns in ana to form agent nouns (Perniola, p. 155). (e) The affixes of the past active participle may be superadded to these affixes (e.g. sutavā – “he who has heard”). (f) Agent nouns are oftentimes found as the final member of dependent-determinative compoundsSee chapter “Compounds (samāsā)” for details. (Perniola, p. 378).

Usage – as Adjectives and Substantive Nouns. (a) Agent nouns are frequently encountered in Pāḷi (more so in the earlier strata of the language) and may be translated as “one who does” [this or that] or rendered simply by means of the English suffixes -er or -or, denoting someone or something who/which does the action described by the verb, i.e. the agent (e.g. tathāgato […] daṭṭhāraṃ na maññati – “The Tathagata […] does not conceive the doer”, AN IV – catukkanipātapāḷi, p. 16 [AN 4.24]; Hendriksen, 1944, pp. 81–2; Perniola, 1997, p. 378). (b) They may act as common nouns to take an object in the accusative, genitive or dative case (e.g. bahujanamanāpā tathārūpiṃ vācaṃ [acc.] bhāsitā – “the one who utters such speech which is pleasing to many people”; bhinnānaṃ [gen.] […] sandhātā – “a conciliator […] of those who are divided”, DN I – sīlakkhandhavaggapāḷi, p. 2 [DN 1]; Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 66; Oberlies, 2019, p. 251, f.n. 4; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 209; Wijesekera, 1936/1993, p. 186). (c) Agent nouns are also placed in apposition to a noun or pronoun (e.g. ahamasmi brahmā […] issaro kattā nimmātā – “I am Brahma […], the lord, maker and creator”, DN I – sīlakkhandhavaggapāḷi, p. 9 [DN 1]; Hendriksen, p. 84; Perniola, p. 379). (d) They are also capable of functioning as adjectives (Ānandamaitreya, p. 66).

Usage – as Verbs and Predicates. (a) Agent nouns in Pāḷi may express the main action of a sentence (e.g. samaṇo gotamo, ito sutvā na amutra akkhātā imesaṃ bhedāya – “The ascetic Gotama is not one who relates there what he has heard here for the division of those”, DN I – sīlakkhandhavaggapāḷi, p. 2 [DN 1]). (b) They are also capable of denoting the action of a subordinate clause (e.g. ahaṃ tena samayena purohito brāhmaṇo ahosiṃ tassa yaññassa yājetā – “At that time, I was the king’s high priest, who was the performer of [or ‘who performed’] the sacrifice”, DN I – sīlakkhandhavaggapāḷi, p. 68 [DN 5]; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 211). (c) Oberlies (2019, p. 251, f.n. 4) notes that “[s]yntactically they take either the accusative […] or the genitive” (e.g. [genitive] bhavissanti dhammassa aññātāro – “There will be those who understand the dhamma”, MN I – mūlapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 114 [MN 26]; Hendriksen, 1944, p. 82). (d) On account of the ambiguity of its temporal sense, the agent noun may be used to express the past, present and future tenses, thus denoting that which takes place at any timeThere seem to be, however, no usages with an unequivocal future sense. (e.g. [potentially future] ayampi kho, mahānāma, puggalo agantā nirayaṃ – “Now this person, Mahānāma, will not go to hell”; Hendriksen, pp. 81, 83–4).

Grammatical Case (vibhatti)

Kinds of Cases

1. Nominative (paṭhamā or paccattavacanaṃ).
2. Accusative (dutiyā or upayogavacanaṃ).
3. Instrumental → ablative of instrument (tatiyā or karaṇavacanaṃ).
4. Dative (catutthī or sampadānavacanaṃ).
5. Ablative of separation (pañcamī, avadhi or apādānaṃ).
6. Genitive or possessive (chaṭṭhī or sāmivacanaṃ).
7. Locative (sattamī, bhummavacanaṃ, ādhāro).
8. Vocative (ālapana or āmantaṇavacanaṃ).

General Characteristics

(a) Noun case suffixesSee Table 3 in the “Tables” section for a comprehensive listing. are affixed to nominal stems to indicate grammatical case. (b) The traditional Pāḷi grammars acknowledge seven cases in total, excluding the vocative for the overall tally (cf. Yindee, 2018, p. 58); however, as mentioned earlier, “in modern grammars we may find it included among the total count, therewith amounting to eight cases (Collins, 2006, pp. 18–19).” (c) For the sake of completeness, the list of the most elementary morphological case suffixes – contained within the classical grammars – will be given in the following (Kacc 55; Rūp, 1999, p. 32; Thitzana, 2016, pp. 186–9; Yindee, 2018, p. 58). This listing is not an exhaustive guide to all the possible forms as shown in Table 3 in the “Tables” section but would prove to be essential if one wishes to navigate the explanations contained within the indigenous grammar books – one would also better understand some derivations tendered in this grammar:

To reiterate, the Padarūpasiddhi (Rūp, 1999, p. 29) and Duroiselle (1906/1997, p. 24) mention that whole syllables are at times elided for the sake of meter or to facilitate pronunciation (e.g. abhiññāya sacchikatvā → abhiññā sacchikatvā).

Usage of the Cases

Nominative

• Subject (kattā – lit. “agent”) of sentences or clauses, active or passive. This is the main use of this case (Wijesekera, 1936/1993, p. 39).
• Subject qualifiers: adjectives (guṇanāmāni), predicates (kiriyāni) or a term in apposition (e.g. [predicate] […] saṅgati phasso – “The meeting … is contact”, MN I – mūlapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 80 [MN 18]).
• Items in a ti clause.
• Text titles (e.g. dīghanikāyo).
• Exclamations (of abstract nouns).
• Hanging nominative, introduces another phrase without grammatical connection (Kacc 281, 285; Collins, 2006, pp. 19–20).
• The nominative can also be used instead of the locative (e.g. evaṃ kilesamaladhova , vijjante amatantaḷe. na gavesati ta ṃ ta ḷā ka ṃ , na doso amatanta ḷ eThe respective commentary explicitly identifies kilesamaladhova as a nominative employed in the sense of a locative: kilesamaladhova nti kilesamalasodhane, bhummatthe paccattavacanaṃ (Bv-a, p. 47). I am indebted to Bryan Levman, who pointed out this passage to me. Both occurrences might be explained on different grounds, so much so that this usage has to be considered unattested (Oberlies, personal communication, October 3, 2020). – “Just so there exists the pool of the deathless for the cleansing of the stains. If you don’t search out that pool, it is not the fault of the pool of the deathless”, Bv, p. 6; bhikkhu nisinne mātugāmo upanisinno […] hoti – “While the bhikkhu is sitting, the woman has sat down closely”, Vin I – pārājikapāḷi, p. 157 [Ay 1]).

Accusative

• Direct object, incl. goal of motion (kammaṃ) – the main function of this case (Kacc 280; Wijesekera, 1936/1993, p. 58).
• Internal direct object (e.g. “He sang a song”).
• With abstract endings ttaṃ and tā as object of verbs of motion or acquisition for change of state.
• Double accusative (e.g. taṃ ahaṃ brūmi brāhmaṇaṃ – “Him I call a Brahmin”, MN II – majjhimapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 203 [MN 98]).
• Viewpoint (in the sense of “in terms of”, “as”; e.g. yo ca abhāsitaṃ alapitaṃ tathāgatena abhāsitaṃ alapitaṃ tathāgatenāti dīpeti – “he who explains that which has not been said and spoken by the Tathagata as what was not said and spoken by the Tathagata”, AN II – dukanipātapāḷi, p. 7 [AN 2.24]).
• Various adverbial uses:
  • Time during which (e.g. te tattha […] ciraṃ dīghaṃ addhānaṃ titthanti – “They stay there for a long stretch of time”; Kacc 298).
  • Extent of space (e.g. yojanaṃ – “for a yojana”; Kacc 298).
  • Manner (e.g. sādhukaṃ manasikarohi – “Apply your mind [i.e. ‘pay attention’] thoroughly!”, DN III – pāthikavaggapāḷi, p. 75 [DN 31]).
• Object of various prepositions and postpositions: pacchā, antarā, yathā, vinā, santike, anu, abhi, paṭi (Collins, 2006, pp. 20–3; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, pp. 155–6).
• May be used in the sense of the genitive, ablative,With such words as dūra (“distant”, “far” etc.) instrumental and locative (e.g. [locative] so […] pubbaṇhasamayaṃ nivāsetvā pattacīvaramādāya gāmaṃ vā nigamaṃ vā piṇḍāya pavisati – “He […], having dressed in the morning time and having taken his robe and bowl enters a village or town for alms”, MN II – majjhimapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 63 [MN 67]; Kacc 275, 279, 297, 306–307).

Instrumental

• The instruments (means) or thing with which an action is completed; the fundamental use of this case (Kacc 279; Wijesekera, 1936/1993, p. 108).
• Logical subject of passive verbs (e.g. svākkhāto bhagavatā dhammo – “Well taught is the dhamma by the Blessed One”, DN III – pāthikavaggapāḷi, p. 100 [DN 33]).
• Cause or reason (Kacc 289).
• Accompaniment (saddhiṃ and saha are not absolutely necessary; e.g. […] atha kho bhagavā āyasmatā aṅgulimālena pacchāsamaṇena yena sāvatthi tena cārikaṃ pakkāmi – “and then the Blessed One went to Sāvatthi with the venerable Aṅgulimāla as his attendant monk”, MN II – majjhimapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 150 [MN 86]; Kacc 286).
• Manner.
• Attendant circumstances (e.g. abhibhū bhikkhu […] dissamānenapi kāyena dhammaṃ desesi – “The bhikkhu Abhibhū […] taught the dhamma with his body being visible”, SN I – sagāthāvaggo, p. 97 [SN 6.14]).
• Motion to a definite place can be expressed with yena-tena [“where-there”] constructions (e.g. aññatarā devatā […] yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami – “A certain deva went up to where the Blessed One was”, Khp, p. 2).
• Place (e.g. bhagavā dakkhiṇena passena sīhaseyyaṃ kappesi – “The Blessed One lay down on the right side”, DN II – mahāvaggapāḷi, p. 57 [DN 16]).
• Time (e.g. tena samayena […] – “now, at that time […]”, DN II – mahāvaggapāḷi, p. 38 [DN 16]).
• Comparison (e.g. na tena seyyo sadiso ca vijjati – “There exist none better or equal to him”; with saha at times in the sense of equality: “as”, DN III – pāthikavaggapāḷi, p. 65 [DN 30]).
• Other adverbial uses.
• With kiṃ in the sense of “what is the use of […]?”, “away with […]!”, “no more of […]!”; with alaṃ: “enough of!”, “there is no need of […]!” (Kacc 279, 286, 288–289; Collins, 2006, pp. 23–7; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, pp. 156–7).
• Applied also in the sense of the ablativeWith such words as dūra (“distant”, “far” etc.) and locative (Kacc 275, 290, 296).

Dative

• Purpose, benefit, result. It primarily “denotes the thing with reference to which an action proceeds” (Kacc 109, 276; Wijesekera, 1936/1993, p. 156).
• With attha also in the sense of “for the sake of.”
• Direction (e.g. appo saggāya gacchati – “Few go to heaven”, Dhp, p. 12, v. 174).
• Time (e.g. dukkhamupenti punappunaṃ cirāya – “For a long time, again and again, they undergo suffering”, Dhp, p. 24, v. 342).
• Used also instead of the accusative and locative (Collins, 2006, pp. 27–8; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, pp. 154–5).
• The dative of nouns in āya is often used in the sense of the infinitive and may be applied in a future sense (e.g. pākāya – “in order to cook”; Kacc 653; Duroiselle, p. 109).
• The infinitive is at times fully interchangeable with the dative of purpose (cf. Warder, 1963/2001, p. 134; Wijesekera, p. 181).

Ablative

• The point from which, cause, origin, motive etc. – the primary significance of the ablative case and the very opposite of the dative (Wijesekera, 1936/1993, p. 192).
• (a) Measurement of distance and time (e.g. ito so, bhikkhave, ekanavutikappe yaṃ vipassī bhagavā arahaṃ sammāsambuddho loke udapādi – “Bhikkhus, ninety-one aeons ago [lit. ‘from now’] Vipassī arose in the world, the Blessed One, Worthy One, Perfectly Enlightened One”, DN II – mahāvaggapāḷi, p. 1 [DN 14]). (b) Used also with such words as dūra (“distant”, “far”), antika (“near”) and others of related meaning (e.g. āsanne ito naḷakāragāmo – “The village Naḷakāra is near from here”, MN II – majjhimapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 210 [MN 99]).
• Used with words indicative of purity, freedom, release, dissociation and “a little” as well as with the word pubba (“former”, “before”; e.g. lobhaniyehi dhammehi suddho asaṃsaṭṭho – “It is pure and dissociated from greed-causing phenomena”).
• Comparison and, closely related to that, viewpoint (in the sense of “in terms of”, “as” [only with ablatives ending in to]; e.g. sārañca sārato ñatvā […] te sāraṃ adhigacchanti – “Having known the essential as the essential […] they attain the essential”, Dhp, p. 1, v. 12).
• Certain adverbial forms: tasmā or tato (“therefore”, “thence”), yasmā or yato (“whence”, “because” etc.)
• “Abstention from”, with such words as ārati (“abstinence”).
• Used also in the sense of the instrumental, accusative, genitive and locative (Kacc 275; Collins, 2006, pp. 28–31; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, pp. 157–8; Wijesekera, pp. 194, 218).

Genitive

(a) The genitive case is not merely used with verbs and substantive nouns but also with adjectives and adverbs, although normally it is found to qualify another noun. “It does so by assigning it to a particular class or description, or by distinguishing it as a part of a whole. So the fundamental notion expressed by it is to mark the belonging to or being part of. This possessive or partitive application admits of the almost universal rendering of the gen. in Pāli as in the older languages by the English of” (Wijesekera, 1936/1993, p. 225). (b) So, the main sense is that of the first and second points below, with the remaining ones to follow also occurring in the language:

• Possessive (e.g. tathāgatassa parinibbānaṃ – “the final extinction of the Tathagata”, DN II – mahāvaggapāḷi, p. 45 [DN 16]).
• Partitive, in the sense of “from among”, “of these.”
• Subjective (e.g. […] pacchimakaṃ […] tathāgatassa vesāliyā dassanaṃ bhavissati – “This will be the Tathagata’s last sight of Vesāli”, DN II – mahāvaggapāḷi, p. 52 [DN 16]).
• Objective (e.g. māvamaññetha puññassa – “You ought not disregard merit”, Dhp, p. 9, v. 122).
• Time (e.g. na cirass eva anupādāya āsavehi cittaṃ vimuccī – “Just after no long time [or ‘before long’] the mind was liberated from the defilements by non-clinging”, DN II – mahāvaggapāḷi, p. 16 [DN 14]).
• Used also instead of the accusative, ablative, instrumental and locative (Kacc 277, 301, 304, 308–309; Collins, 2006, pp. 31–4; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 154).

Locative

The primary meanings expressed by the locative case are: “place at which” [proximity, domain], “in which” [permeation], “on which”, “into which” and “from which” (e.g. jalesu khīraṃ tiṭṭhati – “The milk is in the water”; Kacc 278; Wijesekera, 1936/1993, p. 265), but it may comprise also the following:

• Comparison.
• Partitive, in the sense of “from among”, “of these.”
• “With regard to”, “in respect of”, “in re” (e.g. ariyasāvako rūpasmiṃ nibbindati – “The noble disciple is disgusted with regard to corporality”, MN I – mūlapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 96 [MN 22]).
• Adverbial sense of space and time (e.g. sacepi […] taṃ bhagavantaṃ dasasu yojanesu […] – “even if […] the Blessed One would be within ten leagues”, MN II – majjhimapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 137 [MN 84]).
• Adverbial (generally).
• Extensively used instead of the genitive, instrumental, dative and ablative (Kacc 278, 302, 304, 310–313; Collins, 2006, pp. 34–7; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, pp. 158–9).

Vocative

• Addressing a listener (Collins, 2006, p. 37; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 159).

Locative, Genitive, Accusative and Nominative Absolute

(a) A noun, pronoun or phrase together with a participle in agreement with it is called an absolute construction; it functions syntactically as an independent adverbial (i.e. qualifying) clause or phrase to denote time, manner or attendant circumstance (though not invariably) in relation to a main clause. (b) Its agent differs from the main clause or is impersonal (i.e. has no explicit agent; Collins, 2006, p. 37; Palistudies, 2018e; Wijesekera, 1936/1993, p. 302). (c) The presence of a participle separates this construction – having a subject and a predicate of its ownWijesekera (1936/1993, p. 302) observes that the “absolute construction differs from the simple temporal or modal use of a case only in the predicative character of the participle.” – from the main clause and is thus considered freed or detached (Lat.: absolutus) from the remainder of the sentence; however, a logical tie always remains. (d) Absolute constructions occur with the locative, genitive, accusative and nominative cases (order of frequency), either with a present or past passive participle but never with the future passive participle or others, such as the past active participle (Wijesekera, pp. 302–3; however, see e.g. [past active participle] therassa taṃ bhattaṃ thokaṃ bhuttavato kaṇṇasūlaṃ paṭippassambhi – “When the elder had eaten that meal, the pain in the ear was allayed”, contained in the 1901 PTS edition of the Vimānavatthu commentary, Pd III, 244).This edition is, however, not without problems (Kieffer-Pülz, 2019, p. 489). An unproblematic example from Bᵉ is the following: […] gahapatissa […] manuññaṃ bhojanaṃ bhuttāvissa bhattasammado hoti – “[…] when a householder has eaten delicious food, there occurs drowsiness after the meal”, DN II – mahāvaggapāḷi, p. 80 [DN 17]; cf. Hendriksen, 1944, p. 10.

(a) They discard their case-relevant meaning and may be translated as “when”, “while” (temporal), “since”, “because”, “as a result of” (causal), sometimes also as “although”, “even though” (concessive) and in the case of the locative and genitive absolutes – expressing a sense of contempt or disregard – oftentimes also as “in spite of”, “despite”, “notwithstanding”In the case of the locative absolute especially when the main clause is negative. (modal; Kacc 305, 313; Collins, 2006, pp. 37–9; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 160; Palistudies, 2018e; Wijesekera, 1936/1993, pp. 305–6). (b) When the main clause is interrogative, the absolute construction can be rendered into English with hypothetical clauses beginning with “supposing” or “now if” (Wijesekera, p. 307).

Locative absolute (bhāvena bhāvalakkhaṇabhummaṃ). (a) The locative absolute occurs frequently in Pāḷi and has many nuances, being occasionally syntactically complex (Wijesekera, 1936/1993, p. 303; e.g. rudantasmiṃ dārake pabbaji – “He went forth in spite of his son weeping”; Kacc 305, 313). (b) Locative absolute phrase atthe sati can be rendered as “if, such being the case […].”

Genitive absolute. (a) Wijesekera (1936/1993, p. 259) remarks that the genitive absolute is restricted “to a few standing phrases” and although “it is sometimes concurrent with the loc. absolute, it is still far from possessing the general character” of it (e.g. so kho ahaṃ, bhikkhave […] akāmakānaṃ mātāpitūnaṃ assumukhānaṃ rudantānaṃ kesamassuṃ ohāretvā […] agārasmā anagāriyaṃ pabbajiṃ – “In spite of the [my] parents being unwilling and crying, bhikkhus, I shaved off my hair and beard […] and went forth from home into homelessness”, MN I – mūlapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 111 [MN 26]). (b) The genitive absolute is only found with present participles or past participles as final members of a compound, and its agent is invariably a living being (cf. Hendriksen, 1944, p. 44; Oberlies, personal communication, October 10, 2020).

Accusative absolute. A few instances demonstrate that the accusative case of some substantive nouns is used with a participle in agreement, constituting an obvious absolute construction (Wijesekera, 1936/1993, p. 98; e.g. santaṃyeva kho pana paraṃ lokaṃ ‘natthi paro loko’ti vācaṃ bhāsati – “Although the other world exists, he says ‘there is no other world’”, MN II – majjhimapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 34 [MN 60]).

Nominative absolute. Saṃvaṭṭamāno loko yebhuyyena sattā ābhassara-saṃvaṭṭanikā honti – “When the world is collapsing, beings, for the most part, become Ābhassara-gods (DN I, 17 [DN 1]; cf. Wijesekera, 1936/1993, p. 54).The passage in Pāḷi is from the 1890 PTS edition (Eᵉ). Interestingly, Bᵉ has the same sentence in the locative absolute. It is worth quoting Wijesekera (p. 53) regarding this kind of absolute:

The nom. absolute is not a regular construction in either Pāli or Skr. It is not entirely absent in the latter but as an idiom is very rare […] Duroiselle also in his Pāli Grammar (§603.ii) refers to a nom. absolute in Pāli but gives no examples. In the Nikāyas we come across a few uses of the nom. with the participle in agreement, that appear to be as much legitimate absolute constructions as are the loc. or gen. absolute […] These even exhibit the temporal sense.

Numerals (saṅkhyā)

Kinds of Numerals

1. Cardinal.
2. Ordinal.
3. Distributive.
4. Fractional.
5. Multiplicative.
6. Substantive.

Cardinal Numerals

Formation. (a) Numerals 11, 12, 21, 22 etc. are two-word copulative compounds (e.g. ekārasa – “one and ten [i.e. ‘11’]”; caturāsīti – “four and eighty [i.e. ‘84’]”; chappañca – “five or six”). (b) The numerals which are to be added together can also be realized with the copulative particle ca (“and”); multiplication can be expressed by means of either juxtaposing or compounding the respective numerals (Oberlies, 2019, p. 297).See below. (c) Numerals 19, 29, 39 etc. are formed by eka (“one”) + the adjective ūna(ka) (“less”) + the immediately next higher cardinal numeral (e.g. ekūnatiṃsati – “29”). (d) Sataṃ (“100”) and sahassaṃ (“1,000”) stand in apposition with another noun (the counted thing) in the same caseThere is no agreement of gender but case and number (singular and plural). or with genitive nouns and belong, as substantive nouns, themselves to the neuter gender (e.g. sataṃ nikkhaṃ – “100 cold coins”); sahassaṃ, in combination with other numerals, sometimes inflects like an adjective (e.g. satasahassiyo gāvo – “many hundreds of thousands of cows”, Sn, p. 24 [Sn 310]; Oberlies, p. 308; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 117). (e) The numerals above 100 form somewhat flexibly, so that compounds are also frequently encountered in which sataṃ stands as final member with the tens prefixed – the units come before the tens (e.g. ekādasasataṃ – “111”); higher numerals are usually copulative compounds (Ānandajoti, 2016, p. 8; Oberlies, p. 309; Perniola, 1997, p. 63). (f) It is also possible that the counted thing and the numeral form a compound (e.g. vassasataṃ – “100 years”; Oberlies, p. 308). (g) Numerals higher than 100 and 1,000 may take shape with the addition of atireka (“surplus”, “exceeding”) adhika/samādhika (“exceeding”), paro (“more than”) or uttara/uttariṃ (“higher”, “further”, “over”); some examples in the following:

• adhika: ekādhikaṃ sataṃ (“101”); aṭṭhārasādhikaṃ sataṃ (“118”).
• atireka: atirekatiratte (“exceeding three nights”).
• paro: parosahassañca (“more than 1,000”).
• uttariṃ: tīṇi gāthāsatānettha, asīti tīṇi cuttariṃ (“three hundred verses [and] eighty-three over in here [i.e. ‘383’]”, Ap I, p. 298).

(a) Constructions with the word matta (“as far as the measure goes”, “consisting of” etc.) are frequent (e.g. pañcamattāni brāhmaṇasatāni – “500 Brahmins”, DN I – sīlakkhandhavaggapāḷi, p. 52 [DN 4]; Oberlies, 2019, p. 309). (b) The higher numeral may also be placed as the initial + the smaller one, either with or without copulative particle ca (“and”; e.g. sataṃ eko ca – “101”; Oberlies, p. 309; Perniola, 1997, p. 63). (c) The numeral may also be expressed with two words in apposition; “200” etc. are usually written like that and 2,000 and 20,000 are constructed in the same way (e.g. ekaṃ sataṃ – “100”; dve sataṃ – “200”; Oberlies, p. 309). (d) Again, numerals 50, 150, 500, 1500 etc. are made up with the word aḍḍha + the word standing for the next higher order numeral (e.g. aḍḍhateyyasataṃ – “half of the third hundred [i.e. ‘250’]”), though 150 and 1500 are diyaḍḍhasataṃ and diyaḍḍhasahassaṃ respectively (Perniola, p. 64).

(a) The numeral eka is declined in the masculine, feminine and neuter singular, following the same declensional paradigm as the demonstrative pronoun ta (nom.: so, sā, taṃ). (b) In the plural it means “some” (Pd I, p. 8; Perniola, 1997, pp. 63–4). (c) Numerals dvi (“two”) and those from pañca (“five”) up to aṭṭhārasa (“18”) have no gender distinction, i.e. they have the same declension, irrespective of the gender of the word which they determine, or are, excepting pañca, used in an undeclined form (for the latter point e.g. dvattiṃsa mahāpurisalakkhaṇāni; cf. Kacc 134; Collins, 2006, p. 71; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, pp. 63–4; Oberlies, 2019, pp. 296–7; Perniola, p. 64). (d) Numerals ti (“three”) and catu (“four”) have declensions in the masculine, feminine and neuter (Kacc 133; Duroiselle, p. 62). (e) From dvi up to aṭṭhārasa the cardinals are declined only in the plural number, following the declensional paradigm of pañca. (f) The numeral koṭi is feminine (Buddhadatta, 1937/1997, p. 66). (g) Numerals ending in (Perniola, p. 65):

• ti take the singular declensions like the feminine with the nominative in i (e.g. jāti);
• ā take the singular declensions like the feminine with the nominative in ā (e.g. kaññā);
• aṃ take the singular and plural like neuter nouns with the nominative in aṃ (e.g. rūpaṃ);
• a are usually uninflected.

Usage. (a) Cardinal numerals are used for counting objects, expressing numerical quantity (e.g. “one, two, three” etc.; Perniola, 1997, p. 59). (b) Numerals from 1 to 18 are adjectives (e.g. eko puriso – “one man”), “unless they inflect as neuters or feminines (sg.) in analogy with vīsa- and vīsaṃ” (Oberlies, 2019, p. 296), and those from 20 onwards are all substantive nouns (e.g. bhikkhūnaṃ koṭisataṃ – “millions of bhikkhus”; Oberlies, p. 296; Perniola, p. 64). (c) In the singular, eka can be translated with the indefinite article “a” or with “a certain”; standing as an adjective, it can – among other things – have the meaning of “alone” (Collins, 2006, p. 70). (d) In the plural, as mentioned above, eka has the meaning of “some” (e.g. eke purisā – “some men”). (e) Cardinal numbers are oftentimes used as ordinals, especially in compounds (Collins, p. 74; cf. Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 66) and ordinals above 1,000 are used in the same way as cardinals (Collins, p. 74).

Ordinal Numerals

Formation. (a) The first ordinal number is formed thus: stem putha + ama → paṭhamaChange is per Kacc 666. Perniola (1997, p. 67), however, breaks it up like this: prefix pa (“in front”) + ṭhama → paṭhama. (“first”). (b) Ordinals two and three take the affix tiya for their formation (e.g. dutiya – “second”). (c) dvi (“two”) is capable of changing into bā before dasa or vīsati (“twenty”; Kacc 380). (d) Four and six form their ordinals with the affix tha (e.g. chaṭṭha – “sixth”). (e) Sometimes cha → sa in the formation of ordinal numerals (e.g. saṭṭho – “sixth”; Kacc 374) – it may also change into so when the word dasa (“ten”) follows (Kacc 376). (f) From five upwards, ordinals are fashioned from the stem of the cardinals by means of the affix ama (e.g. pañcama – “fifth”; Kacc 373; Oberlies, 2019, pp. 310–1; Perniola, 1997, p. 67). (g) Duroiselle (1906/1997, p. 65) mentions two forms for the ordinals of five, six and seven (i.e. pañcatha/pañcama; caṭṭha/chaṭṭhama; satta/sattama respectively). (h) Those ordinals ending in ti form by means of the ma endings. (i) 60 and 80 as well as 100 and 1,000 take the affix tama, though for 100 and 1,000 satima and sahassima also exist. (j) The feminine of ordinal numerals one, two and three end in ā and all others in ī (Perniola, pp. 67–8). (k) An affix ī can be added after cardinals from ten upwards to make ordinals (e.g. dasī – “the tenth”; cf. Kacc 375). (l) There are numerous other rules for potential changes; however, it is deemed most potent to learn them from the dictionaries and the listing of Table 5 in the “Tables” section.

Usage. (a) Ordinal numbers are used to express sequential ordering (first, second, third etc.; Perniola, 1997, p. 66). (b) They are adjectives used in the same way as others (Perniola, p. 67; Collins, 2006, p. 73), declined as such in all three genders. (c) To repeat verbatim what was said in the section on the usage of cardinal numerals: “Cardinal numbers are oftentimes used as ordinals, especially in compounds (Collins, p. 74; cf. Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 66). (d) Ordinals above 1,000 are used in the same way as cardinals (Collins, p. 74).”

Distributive Numerals

Formation and Usage. (a) Distributive numerals are expressed by repeating cardinal or ordinal numerals twice (e.g. aṭṭha aṭṭha there amacce ca pesayi – “He sent [for] eight elders and ministers each”). (b) Suffix so, when added to the cardinal numbers, articulates the selfsame idea (e.g. ekekaso – “one by one”; Perniola, 1997, p. 68).

Fractional Numerals

Formation and Usage. (a) Ordinal numbers take on a sense of partitioning with words as these: bhāgo (“a portion”), kalā (“a fraction”), aṃso (“a part”), koṭṭhāso (“a share”; e.g. soḷasi kalā – “a fraction of a sixteenth”). (b) To express “one half”, the words aḍḍha/upaḍḍha are appended to the next higher numeral (the word pāda means “one fourth”) – “one and a half” writes: diyaḍḍha (Oberlies, 2019, p. 316; Perniola, 1997, p. 68).

Multiplicative and Numeral Substantives

Formation and Usage. There are a few ways to express how many times something happens and to communicate the sense of “fold”, “ways”, “kinds” (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, pp. 66–7; Perniola, 1997, pp. 68–9).

• The accusative neuter of the ordinal numbers (e.g. paṭhamaṃ – “for the first time”, “first”).
• Sakiṃ (“once”).
• Suffix kkhattuṃ appended to cardinal stems expresses the sense of “times” (e.g. tikkhattuṃ – “three times”) – it is the aforementioned sakiṃ tranformed (Kacc 646).
• The word vāra (“turn”, “occasion”) in addition to cardinals and ordinals (e.g. cattāro vārā – “four turns”).
• Suffix dhā attached to cardinal stems expresses the sense of “fold”, “ways”, “kinds” (e.g. sattadhā – “sevenfold”; Kacc 397).
• The word guṇa is oftentimes used like the above dhā. In the sense of “times”, it usually takes the neuter in aṃ (e.g. dasagunaṃ – “ten times”).
• Affixes ka and ya form collective nouns and adjectives (e.g. catukka – “consisting of four”).

Verbs (ākhyātāni)

Kinds of Verbs

Primary Verbs

Present

1. Indicative (vattamānakālo).
2. Imperative/benedictive (pañcamī).
3. Optative/potential (sattamī).
4. Present participle.

Past (atītakālo)

5. Aorist (ajjatanī).
   1. Root aorist.
   2. a-aorist.
   3. s-aorist.
   4. is-aorist.
6. Imperfect (hīyattanī).
7. Perfect (parokkhā).
8. Past participle.

Future (bhavissatikālo)

9. Future indicative (bhavissanti).
10. Conditional (kālātipatti).
11. Future participle.

Secondary Verbs

1. Causative (kārita).
2. Desiderative (tumicchattha).
3. Intensive (aka frequentative).This kind is not classified by native grammarians to be a distinct class of conjugation; however, due to its distinct features, it was deemed worthy of separate note (Warder, 1963/2001, p. 331).
4. Denominative (dhāturūpakasaddo).Some include the passive (kammakārako) here (Nwe Soe, 2016, p. 208).

Indeclinable Forms

1. Absolutive (tvādiyantapadaṃ).
2. Infinitive (tumantapadaṃ).

General Characteristics

A verb is a word in a sentence that expresses the action of the subject (e.g. so gacchati – “He goes”), “that which describes fully”, i.e. a finite verb; Deokar, 2008, p. 245; cf. Yindee, 2018, p. 69). It has been further defined thus (Kaccāyana- vaṇṇanā as cited and translated by Deokar, p. 246):

There, that which expresses an action is an ākhyāta, or a kiriyāpada (a finite verb). It expresses time, syntactic relations between a noun and a verb, person, and action and it is characterized by an action … As it is said thus: that which has three tenses, and three kāraka [agent] relations, that which is without three genders, and has two numbers, that is called and ākhyāta, finite verb.

General Formation

The formation of verbs in the Pāḷi language is brought about by conjoining or the application of two or more of the following elements or principles in the given sequence:

• Augment (akārāgamo).
• Prefix (upasaggo or upasāraṃ).
• Reduplication (abbhāsaṃ).
• Root (dhātu).
• Root affix (dhātu paccayo or vikaraṇapaccayo) to form stems expressing:
  • Active voice (kattuvācako).
  • Passive voice (kammavācako).
  • Stative passive voice (bhāvavācako).
• Interfix (āgamo).
• Kita affix (kitapaccayo).
• Personal or conjugational ending or suffix (paccayo, vibhatti), expressing:
  • Person.
  • Number.
  • Tense.
  • Aspect.
  • Mood.
  • Further indications of voice (i.e. active and middle voice).

(a) For example, the verb ajjhāvasati consists of the following elements: adhi (upasaggo) + ā (upasaggo) + √ vas + a (paccayo; first class active base root affix) form the stem to which ti (vibhatti; third person singular active voice present indicative suffix) is appended, finally → ajjhāvasati (“He inhabits”, “He settles down”).The other elements are explained in the respective sections following. (b) The augment a is often used in the formation of the aorist tense, imperfect tense and conditional mood (e.g. a [akārāgamo] + √ gamu + ā [third person singular active voice aorist indicative suffix] → agamā – “[He] went”; Kacc 519); (c) the reduplication of the root may occur in the making of the active base/stem, perfect tense, desiderative, intensive and denominative (cf. Kacc, 434, 458).See the respective sections below for details. (d) The participles, absolutives and infinitives (the first mentioned decline but the last-mentioned two not, being “indeclinables”) are not formed by means of any conjugational endings but with the aid of some kita affixes appended directly to roots (e.g. √ su + ta [taddhita affix] → sota [past passive participle] + nā [ena; instrumental suffix] → sotena – “with the ear”, “with the stream”; Collins, 2006, p. 102; Thitzana, 2016, p. 747).See chapter “Kita and Taddhita Affixes” and Table 6 in the “Tables” section. (e) Pāḷi follows the convention that it – generally – forms the present indicative, the imperative and the optative from the active base/stem and everything else from the root (Collins, p. 79). (f) The rules of sandhi and morphology regularly hold, as the examples given adequately show.

(a) The “most fundamental” grammatical unit of analysis (expressing the core meaning), is the root (dhātu), from which words (verbs as well as nouns) are built, indicative of an action (kiriyā) or a state (bhāva; e.g. √ vā – “going and spreading of odor”, as in nibbātiThe word breaks up as follows: ni (upasaggo) + √ vā + a (first class active base root affix) + ti (third person singular active voice present indicative suffix). – “He gets cool”, “He attains nibbāna”; Kacc 457; Bodhirasa, 2021; Collins, 2006, pp. 12, 15; Perniola, 1997, p. 135; Sīlānanda, 2001, p. xvi). (b) One traditional explanation of the word dhātu runs as follows, differentiating them from prefixes: “‘Dhātu’: In what sense ‘dhātu’? ‘Dhātu’, it bears both its own meaning and – regarding a connection with the distinction of meaning – that of others; ‘dhātu’: It holds a difference in meaning, bound to the difference in meaning with whatever by necessity different in meaning prefix (upasaggena) of the twenty prefixes […]” (Sadd I, 1999, p. 2; cf. Sīlānanda, pp. vii–x).[D]hātū ti kenaṭṭhena dhātu? sakatthampi dhāretīti dhātu, atthātisayayogato paratthampi dhāretīti dhātu, vīsatiyā upasaggesu yena kenaci upasaggena atthavisesakāraṇena paṭibaddhā atthavisesampi dhāretīti dhātu […] (c) A stem (liṅgaṃ), verbal or nominal, is a linguistic unit apart from (or leaving out) roots, affixes (incl. suffixes) and personal endings and thereby represents an uninflected verbal or nominal stemDhātuppaccayavibhattivajjitamatthavaṃ liṅgaṃ. Stems are distinguished from bases insofar as that they only take inflectional suffixes providing finish to a word. Bases, on the other hand, are more global in scope and may include those inflectional suffixes but also comprise any other derivational affixes not finalizing a word (e.g. passive affixes, which require the addition of inflectional suffixes to form a word expressive of full meaning). (Rūp, 1999, p. 4; cf. Deokar, 2008, p. 165; cf. Perniola, p. 70). (d) Roots and stems are not proper words and incapable of functioning independently in a sentence (Collins, p. 12). (e) To create an inflected verb, personal endings are then applied to verbal stems (Palistudies, 2018a) or directly to roots (e.g. Kacc 434; Deokar, p. 164).

(a) As mentioned above, the rules of sandhi and morphology are regularly applied in the formation of verbal stems (Perniola, 1997, p. 7; Thitzana, 2016, p. 644). (b) If you feel inclined to do so, please utilize the material found above in the chapters “Sandhi” and “Morphology” to find out about the exact nature of potential changes that may occur during the formation processes of verbs (and the words of other classes). (c) There is great variance as to the elements used in the formation process and, as indicated above, not all of them must be employed simultaneously for each and every word, as can also be readily understood from the elaborations to follow.

Grammatical Voice

In Pāḷi, we find a traditional division into three voices (vācakā),The grammatical voice of a sentence verb indicates the subject’s function in relation to it (Deokar, 2008, p. 254; Yindee, 2018, pp. 340, 390), telling, for example, if the subject acts (active voice), is acted upon (passive voice), acts and simultaneously is acted upon (middle voice) or if a state or condition is expressed (stative passive voice). being verbal stems formed with certain root affixes attached to roots:To which again the regular personal endings are appended to form the eventual finite verbs (see below the section “Personal Voice Markers” for details; for more about the voice-formative root suffixes see under “Active Base/Stem” and “Passive and Passive Stem”).

1. Active (kattuvācako; lit. “speech of the agent”).
2. Passive (kammavācako; lit. “speech of the object”).
3. Stative passive (bhāvavācako; lit. “speech of the state”; cf. Kacc 453–454, 456; cf. Bodhiprasiddhinand, 2016, p. 85; Collins, 2006, p. 77; cf. Thitzana, 2016, p. 612).The stative passive is only rarely employed (Thitzana, 2016, pp. 612, 629).

(a) Most importantly to note, it is the stem which indicates if a verb is active or passive (Oberlies, 2019, p. 555; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 51) and not the two sets of personal voice markers (discussed below). (b) Pāḷi also features the middle voice (attanopadaṃ; lit. “middle voice marker”; see just below “Middle Voice Markers”), which is not expressed by any stem but by the so-called “latter six personal suffixes” (parāni cha padāni; e.g. e, se, te) of each class.A present middle participle also exists (see section “Present Participle” and Table 6 in the “Tables” section for more details). The part of them termed “[personal voice] markers” cannot be distinguished from the personal suffixes in writing, being merely conceptual abstractions from them (see below; cf. Yindee, 2018, p. 76). (c) In what follows, a brief account of the most salient features of the voices and personal voice markers, before detailing the formation of the active and passive stems as well as the tenses and moods in general.

Active Voice

The subjectSomething (a person or thing) about which the statement of a sentence is concerned. (S) in an active sentence does a particular thing, expressed by a verb in the active voice, that impacts an object (O) or patient (P) other than itself (e.g. √ paca + a [first class active base root affix] + ti [third person singular active voice present indicative suffix] → pacati – “He cooks [something other than himself]”, as in puriso [S] odanaṃ [O or P] pacati [V] – “The man [S] cooks [V] the rice [O]”; Thitzana, 2016, p. 613; cf. Yindee, 2018, pp. 340–1).

Passive Voice

(a) The object in an active sentence becomes the subject in a passive one – i.e. the subject undergoes the action or has its state changed – and the agentThe cause or initiator of an action. (A) is put in the instrumental case (e.g. √ disī + ya [passive voice affix] + te [third person singular middle voice present indicative suffix] → desīyatiFor the change into the active voice suffix [i.e. te → ti] see below. The sentence remains passive, despite of its presence. – “He is taught [by himself or an outside agent]”, as in buddhena [A] dhammo [S] desīyati [V] – “The dhamma is taught by the Buddha”; Kacc 440; cf. Thitzana, 2016, pp. 614–5; cf. Yindee, 2018, p. 341). (b) The personal endings are mainly the attanopadaṃ or reversed attanopadaṃ suffixes, i.e. attanopadaṃ suffixes in the “dress” of the parassapadaṃ forms – genuine parassapadaṃ forms are incapable of functioning passively (see below; Thitzana, p. 614).

Stative Passive Voice

(a) Passive voice affix ya is used to express the stative passive, with or without i-interfix (Kacc 440; Thitzana, 2016, p. 630). (b) The stative passive reveals experience, status or general condition (e.g. √ ṭhā + ya [passive voice affix] + te [third person singular middle voice present indicative suffix] → ṭhīyate – “act of standing”; Kacc 440, 453; Thitzana, p. 615; cf. Yindee, 2018, p. 343). (c) The subject may be either in the instrumental or in the genitive case (e.g. devadattena bhūyate – “Devadatta’s being”; cf. Kacc 556; Thitzana, p. 616). (d) Only the third person singular is applicable for this voice (Rūp, 1999, p. 129; Thitzana, pp. 615–6).

Personal Voice Markers

(a) To express all the nuances of voice as approximating the usage in the English language, the personal endings have to be applied to the stems, the former are expressive of either of two so-called markers (sing. padaṃ; Yindee, 2018, p. 74): (i) active voice markers (sing. parassapadaṃ; lit. “marker for another”) and (ii) middle voice markers (sing. attanopadaṃ; lit. “marker for oneself”). (b) As mentioned above, these markers are merely conceptual abstractions from the personal endings, which cannot be distinguished from them in writing; the latter express three things in total (see also above under “General Formation”; Kacc 407; Deokar, 2008, p. 198):

• Person.
• Number.
• Voice (explained in this section).

(a) As a rule, it is stated that active voice suffixes are appended only to active stems (Kacc 456; cf. Thitzana, 2016, p. 642; cf. Yindee, 2018, pp. 74, 267) and that middle voice suffixes are capable of being attached to all three stems expressing voice: both active and passive stems as well as to stative passive stems (Kacc 453–454; Thitzana, p. 633; cf. Yindee, pp. 74, 267). (b) As previously explained, apparent active voice suffixes, having been tacked to passive stems, are reversed attanopadaṃ forms and not genuine active voice suffixes.“It’s a form of historical simplification which is common in all inflected languages” (Levman, personal communication, August 28, 2020). (c) For instance, karīyati (“[It is] done”) is a verb form where a third person singular active voice suffix (i.e. ti) is used passively as a reversed attanopadaṃ suffix, breaking actually up as follows with the corresponding attanopadaṃ suffix te: √ kara + ya + te (cf. Kacc 442, 518; cf. Oberlies, 2019, p. 320; cf. Perniola, 1997, p. 341; Thitzana, pp. 607, 633, 678). (d) To form the passive, the reversed attanopadaṃ suffixes are more common than the genuine ones (Collins, 2006, p. 93).

Active Voice Markers. (a) These endings are the ordinarily employed personal endings and said to be the “former six personal suffixes” (pubbakāni cha padāni) of every verbal tenseIn this grammar given in the left column of Table 6 in the “Tables” section. (e.g. √ gamu + a [first class active base root affix] + mi [first person singular active voice present indicative suffix] → gacchāmi – “I go”; Kacc 406; Deokar, 2008, pp. 198–9; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 314). (b) The subject does a particular thing that impacts something – an object [O] or patient [P] – other than itself, the action or change of state thus passing “to another” (parassa; e.g. buddho (S) dhammaṃ (O or P) desesi (V) – “The Buddha (S) preached (V) the dhamma (P)”, ‘Bv’, p. 44; Collins, 2006, p. 78). (c) In active sentences, the subject must be in the nominative with the object in the accusative and the verb should agree with the subject in person and number (Thitzana, 2016, p. 613).

Middle Voice Markers. (a) Traditionally, the middle voice endings are called the “latter six personal suffixes”In this grammar given in the right column of Table 6 in the “Tables” section. (parāni cha padāni; e.g. √ mana + ya [third class active base root affix] + te [third person singular middle voice present indicative suffix] → maññate – “I know [myself]”; Kacc 407, 454; Deokar, 2008, p. 198). (b) Middle voice markers are quite rare in prose but more frequent in verse (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 80; cf. Oberlies, 2019, p. 318; Warder, 1963/2001, pp. 314–5). (c) The middle voice is, in principle, used for cases in which the subject is both the actor and patient of a sentence, with the action reverting to or being “for oneself” (attano; Collins, 2006, p. 78, Perniola, 1997, p. 339) but practically rarely differs in meaning from that which is expressed by the active voice (Oberlies, p. 318). (d) It is worthwhile to quote Duroiselle (p. 80) on that matter:

It must here be remarked that the Reflective Voice [or middle voice] has lost very much of its importance, and that the distinction between Active and Reflective has been almost if not altogether effaced, and that the choice between the Active or Reflective is mostly determined now by metrical exigencies.

(e) Thus, we must understand that the application of the middle voice, in its actual meaning, becomes blurred with the active voice and appears to be used only to confer an elevated or archaic meaning or to suit the meter. (f) However, it may still retain the reflective sense proper (Gair & Karunatillake, 1998, p. 154; Perniola, p. 339). (g) The passive form of the middle voice is extremely rare (Warder, p. 316).

Person, Number, Tense and Mood

(a) As for most nouns, it is explained that there are three persons (purisā) for verbs in the Pāḷi language: first (paṭhamapuriso), second (majjhimapuriso) and third (uttamapuriso; Kacc 408).It is, in this connection, deemed pertinent to repeat what was said in the chapter “Nouns (nāmāni)” (f.n. 75): “This is the schema of the traditional Pāḷi grammarians – first and third persons given therein are the exact opposites in English (e.g. English first persons ‘I’ and ‘we’ are classed as third persons [uttamapuriso] in Pāḷi, and English third persons ‘he/she/it’ and ‘they’ correspond to the first persons [paṭhamapuriso] in Pāḷi); however, to forestall confusion, occurrances of grammatical numbers in Pāḷi – within the bounds of the present grammar – correspond […] to English usage.” (b) When there are two subjects in a sentence, the last one determines the person for the corresponding verbs (Kacc 409). (c) There are two numbers in Pāḷi: singular (ekavacanaṃ) and plural (bahuvacanaṃ); three tenses: present, past and future; four moods: indicative, imperative, optative and conditional (informally also called a tense) and four systems of secondary verbs: causative, desiderative, intensive, denominative – these are neither moods nor tenses and can assume all moods, tenses and voices capable of being expressed by the primary verbs (Collins, 2006, p. 79; Nwe Soe, 2016; Oberlies, 2019, p. 321; Palistudies, 2018a). (d) Note that stems in a are more common than any other (Geiger, 1916/1956, p. 159; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 8).

Active Base/Stem

Formation. (a) According to Kaccāyana’s grammar and Saddanīti (Sadd I, 1999, p. 2), there are eight different classes (sing. gaṇo) of roots and thereby ways to form the active base/stem from roots,The sundry conjugations of the present indicative, imperative etc. are appended to this base or stem; see further below in the detailed exposition on each class for exceptions. although Buddhappiya’s Padarūpasiddhi considers the sixth class as part of the fifth (Sīlānanda, 2001, p. ix) – presented here is the eightfold scheme. (b) All roots in the Pāḷi language have typical affixes (sing. paccayo or vikaraṇaṃ) placed between themselves and the personal endings or conjugationsExceptions exist; see the different classes for details. – they consist of between one and three (or even more) for each class,See below for the individual affixes. in which case the meaning of each stem from the same root differs, in most instances, from the original meaning of the root itself (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 85; Thitzana, 2016, p. 636; Sīlānanda, pp. viii–ix). (c) These classes are named according to an example root from that class (e.g. √ bhū is of the first class and is the first element of the name for that class: bhūvādigaṇo – “bhū-etc. class”, to give a literal translation). (d) Altogether there are more than 1,700 roots, each categorized under one of the eight classes and ways to form the active base/stem, prepared for convenient access and identification by ven. Bodhirasa (2021). (e) As stated above: “Pāḷi follows the convention that it – generally – forms the present indicative, the imperative and the optative from the active stem and everything else from the root” (Collins, 2006, p. 79). (f) In what follows, a listing and explanation of the eight classes (Duroiselle, pp. 81–5).

1. Class (bhūvādigaṇo; Kacc 445):
   • Roots ending in a consonant simply add a (e.g. √ labha + a → labha; √ rakkha + a → rakkha). To this division belong those roots which, ending in a consonant preceded by i or u, sometimes do and sometimes do not strengthen the vowel (e.g. √ gupa + a → gopa).
   • Affix a → Ø or e [occasionally] (e.g. √ vasa + a + mi → vademi; Kacc 510).
   • The personal endings of the tenses are added directly to the root (e.g. √ hana + ti → hanti).
   • Roots of this division ending in i, ī or u, ū, which, before the conjugational sign a, are respectively changed to ay and av (e.g. √ nī + a → naya).
   • Reduplication of root (e.g. √ dhā + da → dadhā).
2. Class (rudhādigaṇo; Kacc 446): It is formed by inserting the niggahītaṃ (ṃ) before the last consonant of the root and then adding a, as in the first conjugation (e.g. √ muca → muñca). The usual rules of sandhi apply in respect to the niggahītaṃ.
3. Class (divādigaṇo; Kacc 447): Generally added directly to the root is ya (e.g. √ yudha + ya → yujjha; √ jhā + ya → jhāya) – the rules for the assimilation of ya are regularly applied (cf. Kacc 444).
4. Class (svādigaṇo; Kacc 448): It is formed by appending ṇu, ṇā, uṇā to roots ending in a vowel and uṇu or uṇā to roots ending in a consonant (e.g. √ su + ṇā + ti → suṇāti – “He listens”).
   • The u of ṇu and uṅu may be strengthened to o.
   • This u or o, before a personal ending beginning with a vowel, can be changed to va.
   • The long ā of ṇā and uṇā is retained before the personal endings of the present indicative and of the imperative except the third person plural. Occasionally, however, it is found shortened.
   • In a few cases the cerebral ṇ is delingualized and changed to the dental nasal n.
5. Class (kiyādigaṇo; Kacc 449): It is formed by the addition of nā to the root, which as a rule ends in a vowel.
   • If the final vowel of the root is long, it is shortened before nā.
   • nā is sometimes lingualized and becomes cerebral ṇā.
   • The long ā of nā is retained in all the persons of the present indicative and imperative, except in the third person plural. The short form na is oftentimes also encountered.
   • Affix nā → Ø or ya [occasionally] / √ ñā __ (Kacc 509).
6. Class (gahādigaṇo; Kacc 450): It is formed by the addition of ppa or nhā affixes to roots of this class (e.g. √ gaha + ppa + ti → gheppati).
7. Class (tanādigaṇo; Kacc 451): (a) It is formed by adding o or yirā to the root – the o generally is the strengthened form of u, which before an ending beginning with a vowel is changed to va. (b) There are just a remarkably few formations from this kind of roots and √ kara forms very irregular. (c) Affix o → u [occasionally] / √ kara __ (e.g. √ kara + o + ti → karoti – “He does”; Kacc 511).
8. Class (curādigaṇo; Kacc 452):Warder (1963/2001, p. 79) states: “Sometimes it is not easy to decide whether to class a verb as an independent seventh conjugation [our eighth class] root or as the causative form [aya] of some other verb of perhaps widely divergent meaning.” It is formed by adding to the root e or aya, which by contraction may be replaced by e – the forms in e are more commonly met than those in aya (e.g. √ bandha + e or aya → bandhe or bandhaya).
   • When the radical vowel is u, it is changed to o in the process of increase (vuddhi), provided it be not followed by a conjunct consonant (e.g. √ cura + aya → core or coraya).
   • Radical a (if followed by a single consonant) is generally lengthened, but in some cases it remains short.

(a) The present indicative is obtained by adding the primary personal endings (in both active and middle) to the mentioned active stem – they indicate tense, person, number, mood and, again, voice. (b) The imperative is obtained by adding the imperative personal endings to the active stem. (c) Before applying the imperative ending hi, the a of the active stem is lengthened and sometimes the ending is elided altogether (Kacc 479). (d) All verbs formed by means of the seventh class root affixes take endings in hi as well as some other forms (Warder, 1963/2001, pp. 34–5). (e) The optative is formed by inserting one of three affixes (i.e. eyyā, i or ya) between the active stem and either the primary or secondary personal endings. (f) However, due to sandhi procedures and the occurrence of several irregular forms, many grammars treat it separately, as a paradigm on its own.

Usage. To reiterate, for ease of reference, what is written in the section “Active Voice”: “The subject (S) in an active sentence does a particular thing, expressed by a verb in the active voice, that impacts an object (O) or patient (P) other than itself (e.g. √ paca + a [first class active base root affix] + ti [third person singular active voice present indicative suffix] → pacati – ‘He cooks [something other than himself]’, as in puriso [S] odanaṃ [O or P] pacati [V] – ‘The man [S] cooks [V] the rice [O]’; Thitzana, 2016, p. 613; cf. Yindee, 2018, pp. 340–1).”

Passive and Passive Stem

Formation. (a) The passive base/stem is formed by affixing ya to the root in its strengthened or unstrengthened grade – consequently added are the personal endings of the present tense (indicative, imperative, optative, both in the active and middle voice),As explained earlier, the endings of the active voice are actually reversed middle voice endings – they are not genuine active voice suffixes and thus retain a passive sense (see above the section “Grammatical Voice” for more details; cf. Kacc 518; Thitzana, 2016, p. 607). with or without interfix vowel i and ī (e.g. for the optative: √ ji + ya + eyya + mi → jīyeyyāmi; Kacc 442, 502; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 51). (b) It forms also from the active base/stem but only with the mentioned connecting vowels (Perniola, 1997, p. 98). (c) An aorist passive is sometimes formed, simply by adding the aorist suffixes to the passive stem (e.g. haññiṃsu). (d) A present passive participle is built – in a similar fashion – by adding the affix māna to the passive stem (e.g. desīyamāna; Warder, p. 52).

(a) The agent of the sentence verb is put in the instrumental case and the objectIt is also the subject. of the verb stands in the nominative, agreeing with the verb or predicate in person and number (e.g. buddhena dhammo desīyate – “The dhamma is taught by the Buddha”; Thitzana, 2016, p. 614). (b) In the case of the present passive participle, the object agrees in gender, number and case (e.g. desīyamānaṃ dhammaṃ – “the expounded dhamma”, Sp II – pācittiya-aṭṭhakathā, p. 22). (c) When an active sentence is transformed into the passive, the object becomes the subjectIt is also the passive object. (e.g. vanītā odanaṃ pacati – “The woman cooks the rice” → vanitāya odano pacīyati – “The rice is cooked by the woman”; Buddhadatta, 1937/1997, p. 83). (d) When affix ya is appended to the root, it is undergoing and causing different permutations, exhibiting and engendering the following behavior (Kacc 441–443, 502; Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 131; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 110; Perniola, 1997, pp. 98–101):

• Affix ya can be directly added to roots ending in a vowel.
  • Root ā → ī before ya and i, u are lengthened to ī, ū (e.g. √ dā + ya → dīya).
  • Root ī and ū remain unaffected (e.g. √ bhū + ya → bhūya).
  • Few roots such as ñā and khū remain unaffected (e.g. ñā + ya → ñāya).
  • Sometimes a long vowel before ya is shortened and the y doubled (e.g. √ nī [“to lead”] + ya → nīya or niyya).
  • Initial va [of a root] → vu (e.g. √ vaca + ya → vucca).
  • Final a and e → ī (e.g. √ pā + ya → pīya).
• When ya is joined to roots containing a double consonant, it is joined by means of the interfix letter i (subsequently lengthened to ī); however, it is also joined by means of i when a root ends in a consonant that does not generally reduplicate (s, h and r; e.g. √ puccha + ī + ya → pucchīya).
• (a) When ya is appended directly to roots ending in a consonant, the y of ya becomes assimilated to the last consonant of the root according to the respective rules of assimilation (e.g. √ bhaṇa [to speak] + ya → bhañña). (b) It is common to form the passive of roots ending in a consonant after ā by means of ī: (e.g. √ pāja + ya → pājīyati). (c) Affix ya may be added directly to some roots ending in a consonant without assimilation and without connecting vowel ī (e.g. √ lupa [“to cut”, “elide”] + ya + ti → lupyati – “It is elided”).
• Affix ya is also added to the active base/stem by means of the insertion of interfix vowel i, usually lengthened but sometimes staying short (e.g. u + √ khipa + a + i + ya + ti → ukkhipiyati – “He was raised up”).

Usage. (a) To repeat verbatim, for easy reference, what is written in the section “Passive Voice” and explained in different words just above: “The object in an active sentence becomes the subject in a passive one – i.e. the subject undergoes the action or has its state changed – and the agent (A) is put in the instrumental case (e.g. √ disī + ya [passive voice affix] + te [third person singular middle voice present indicative suffix] → desīyati – ‘He is taught [by himself or an outside agent]’, as in buddhena [A] dhammo [S] desīyati [V] – ‘The dhamma is taught by the Buddha’” (Kacc 440; cf. Thitzana, 2016, pp. 614–5; cf. Yindee, 2018, p. 341). (b) The stative passive reveals experience, status or general condition (e.g. √ ṭhā + ya [passive voice affix] + te → ṭhīyate – ‘act of standing’; Kacc 440, 453; Thitzana, p. 615; cf. Yindee, p. 343). (c) The subject may be either in the instrumental or in the genitive case (e.g. devadattena bhūyate – ‘Devadatta’s being’; cf. Kacc 556; Thitzana, p. 616). (d) Only the third person singular form is applicable for the stative passive voice (Rūp, 1999, p. 129; Thitzana, pp. 615–6). (e) Both the participles and the infinitive can be used actively and passively (Buddhadatta, 1937/1997, p. 87; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, pp. 105, 164).

Present Indicative

Formation. (a) The present indicative is formed from the active stem with the subsequent addition of the respective personal endings as furnished in Table 6 in the “Tables” section. (b) The vowel of the active stem before appending the present endings hi, mi, ma has to be lengthened (Kacc 478), as mentioned above. (c) The vowel of the active stem is dropped before personal endings beginning with or being a vowel (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 86). (d) Verbs in the present indicative which have been constructed from past passive participles (the latter functioning therewith as a stem) are also encountered in the Pāḷi language (e.g. laggati ← lagga; Oberlies, 2019, pp. 354–5).

Usage. (a) The indicative mood is used to make factual statements and proclamations, express opinions etc. (Collins, 2006, p. 168; Palistudies, 2018c). (b) At the beginning of a sentence, the present indicative may at times express interrogation (e.g. socasi tvaṃ upāsaka? – “Do you grieve, devotee?”). (c) The present expresses further the following senses (Collins, pp. 81–3; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 162; Hendriksen, 1944, p. 13, f.n. 2; Perniola, 1997, pp. 349–350):

• Contemporary time (e.g. evaṃ passaṃ, bhikkhave, sutavā ariyasāvako rūpasmiṃ nibbindati – “Seeing thus, bhikkhus, the learned disciple is disgusted with regard to corporality”, MN I – mūlapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 96 [MN 22]; Kacc 414).
• Present progressive (e.g. gacchāmi kāsinaṃ puraṃ – “I am going to the city of Kāsi”, MN I – mūlapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 115 [MN 26]).
• Recent past, being close to the present time.
• Future, constructed with particles: yāva, pure, purā (e.g. yāvadeva anatthāya, ñattaṃ bālassa jayati – “Only for the fool’s non-gain does learning arise”, Dhp, p. 5, v. 72).
• (a) Future, denoting what is uncertain, certain or inevitable (e.g. nirayaṃ nanu gacchāmi natthi me ettha saṃsayo – “Certainly, I will go to hell, I have no doubt [lit. ‘there is no doubt for me’]”). (b) It also used for stating general truths (e.g. sabbe maranti – “All [beings] will die”, Jā-a III – tatiyo bhāgo, p. 27 [commentary on Jā 317]).
• Future, constructed with kadā, karāhi (“when”, “at what time”; e.g. kadā bhante gacchati? – “Venerable sir, when does he go?”).
• Past, constructed with nanu (“certainly”), na (“not”) and nu (“indeed”) in reply to a question (e.g. upāhanaṃ kaṭam pāladhammika? – nanu karomi bhante! – “‘Pāladhammika, did you produce the shoe?’ – ‘Certainly, I did, venerable sir’”).
• Past as “historic present” (very common), recounting past events as actually happening (e.g. bhayaṃ tadā na bhavati – “At that time there was [lit. ‘is’] no fear”, Bv, p. 11).
• Hypothetical (e.g. yassa rañño cakkavattissa dibbaṃ cakkaratanaṃ osakkati ṭhānā cavati , na dāni tena raññā ciraṃ jīvitabbaṃ hoti – “When for the wheel-turning monarch the divine wheel-treasure draws back, retreats from its place, the monarch now has not long to live”, DN III – pāthikavaggapāḷi, p. 24 [DN 26]).

Imperative

Formation. (a) The imperative is formed from the present indicative with the subsequent addition of the respective imperative suffixes as shown in Table 6 in the “Tables” section below. (b) The vowel of the present stem is dropped before personal endings beginning with or being a vowel. (c) Before the personal ending hi, the a of the preceding present stem is lengthened (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 86).

Usage. (a) In the second person the sense is usually that of commanding, whereas the third person in addition to addressing by title or name expresses polite invitation. (b) Verbs in the imperative often stand as the sentence initial.Imperatives chiefly occur in main clauses (Oberlies, personal communication, October 30, 2020). (c) The imperative of (ṭ) ṭhā is used in the sense of “Let it be!”, “Never mind!” (e.g. tiṭṭhatha tumhe – “Don’t bother!”; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 35). (d) The imperative and optative “are syntactically often exchangeable” (Oberlies, 2019, p. 399). (e) It is further used in these senses (Buddhadatta, 1937/1997, p. 31; Collins, 2006, p. 84; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 164; Warder, p. 35):

• Command (e.g. tena hi, gaccha – “Now then, go!”; Kacc 415).
• Prohibition.
• Advice/instruction (e.g. kusalaṃ karotu – “May he do good!”).
• Invitation (e.g. etu vessantaro rājā, siviraṭṭhe pasāsatu – “Come, king Vessantara, reign the kingdom of Sivi!”, Jā II – dutiyo bhāgo, p. 227 [Jā 547]).
• Wish.
• Curse (e.g. akkhayaṃ hotu te bhayaṃ – “May your fear remain [lit. ‘be’] incessantly!”, SN I – sagāthāvaggo, p. 140 [SN 11.10]).
• Benediction, blessing (e.g. vassasataṃ jīva – “May you live a hundred years”, Jā-a I – paṭhamo bhāgo, p. 182 [commentary on Jā 78]).
• Entreaty (e.g. bhante, bhagavā diṭṭhadhammasukhavihāraṃ anuyutto viharatu – “Venerable sir, let the Blessed One be given to a pleasant abiding in the here and now”, MN III – uparipaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 95 [MN 128]).
• Reflection (e.g. kinnu kho abhidhammaṃ suṇāmi udāhu vinayaṃ? – “Should I listen to the abhidhamma or the vinaya?”).
• Hope (e.g. imaṃ jivitā voropetuṃ samattho homi! – “May I be able to deprive him of life!”).

Optative/Potential

Formation. (a) The affixes forming the optative are added to the active base and the vowel of the optative stem is dropped before personal endings beginning with or being a vowel (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 86). (b) Some verbs form an optative in yā, likewise from the active base (e.g. √ vad + yā → vajjā – “He would say”). (c) Double optative formations occasionally occur: to a base in yā are appended eyya and the respective personal endings (e.g. dajjā → dajjeyyāti – “He should give”; Collins, 2006, p. 85).

Usage. (a) The optative generally indicates hypothetical action (Gair & Karunatillake, 1998, p. 35). (b) When expressing condition, it is usually preceded by ce, sace, yadi (all meaning “if”). (c) This mood can best be translated into English using auxiliary verbs such as: “may”, “might”, “should” or “would” (Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 14; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 163). (d) As explained above, the imperative and optative “are syntactically often exchangeable” (Oberlies, 2019, p. 399). (e) The range of the optative’s meaning further encompasses (Collins, 2006, p. 85; Duroiselle, p. 163):

• Permission (e.g. tvaṃ gaccheyyāsi – “You may go!”; Kacc 416).
• Supposition (e.g. sace pi vāto giriṃ vaheyya – “Even if the wind should carry away the mountain”; yathā is occasionally also used in connection with this sense).
• Instruction.
• Wish (e.g. ahaṃ imaṃ tumhākaṃ bhājetvā dadeyyaṃ – “I would divide and give it to you”).
• Counterfactual assertions.This denotes an action or happening that might have occurred on the condition that the necessary things had been supplied (Oberlies, personal communication, October 30, 2020, for this usage).
• Request.
• Invitation.
• Reflection.
• Hope.
• Exhortation.
• Authorization.
• Opportunity.
• Fitness.

Aorist

Formation. (a) The aorist is supposed to be formed from the root, but as a matter of fact, it is formed indifferently either from the root or the active stem (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 93; Geiger, 1916/1956, p. 159). (b) The conditional and also the past are formed with an augment in the form of a prefixed a; in the case of the aorist it is frequently left out (Kacc 519; Geiger, p. 190). When the aorist is disyllabic (with exceptions) or would be monosyllabic without the augment, to give two examples for when it is applied, it is appended (e.g. adā – “He gave”; Oberlies, 2019, p. 473). (c) If a regular prefix is added to the root, the augment is inserted between prefix (if one is applied) and root (cf. Perniola, 1997, pp. 72–3; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 23). (d) Sometimes a special aorist stem is formed from the root (Warder, p. 23). (e) There are altogether four types:

1. Root aorist. Personal endings are added directly to the root and may take the augment a before the root (e.g. a + √ gama + ā → agamā).
2. a- or stem aorist. (a) Affix a is placed between root and personal ending, i.e. the personal endings are formed from the active stem. (b) This type is ubiquitous – both with and without the augment – but occurs more frequently in prose than in poetry; in the latter case its employment or nonuse is determined by metrical exigencies (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 95).
3. s- or sigmatic aorist. (a) The sigmatic aorist is formed by inserting s between the radical vowel or the vowel of the stem and the personal endings, i.e. it is inserted to join the aorist suffixes to the root or to the stem. (b) This interfix is usually added to roots ending in vowels but to some roots ending in consonants too, in which case assimilation to the consonant takes place (the rules of assimilation strictly apply). (c) It is appended with or without the augment a having been appended to the root. (d) This type of aorist is principally formed (exceptions apply) with the causative verbs and the verbs formed by means of seventh class root affixes. (e) The personal endings may be added directly to stems in aya (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, pp. 93–7).
4. is-aorist. This type is formed by adding is between the root (undergoing strengthening) or the active stem and the personal ending (Perniola, 1997, p. 96).

Usage. (a) The aorist is the principal past tense in Pāḷi and profusely applied (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 162). (b) Aorist sentences oftentimes contain indicators of time and place (e.g. tadā – “then”; Hendriksen, 1944, pp. 57–8). (c) It is used in the following ways:

• Simple past (kena kāraṇena rodi? – “Why did you cry?”; Kacc 419; Collins, 2006, p. 89; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 162).
• Past actions in general (incl. the historical and narrative past; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 26).
• Present perfect (in particular; e.g. kaṅkhaṃ vinodento dhammaṃ desesiṃ – “I have taught the dhamma, removing doubt”, Dhp-a, p. 303; Warder, p. 26).
• Optative mood and future tenseThe latter is doubtful and perhaps only instanced by metrical exigencies. (e.g. sace vaseyya agāraṃ, cakkavattī bhaveyya so. aṭṭhānametaṃ yaṃ tādī, agāre ratim ajjhagā – “If he should live the home [life], he would become a wheel-turning monarch. There is no such ground [or ‘possibility’] that such a one would experience attachment regarding the home [life]”, Ap I, p. 47; Clark, 2015, p. 228, n. 42; Norman, 1995, p. 141, n. 78).

(a) The indeclinable mā + the aorist intimates prohibition (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 163) and may stand for all tenses (e.g. mā gamī – “Don’t go!”; Kacc 420). (b) The aorist has generally displaced the (OIA) imperfect and perfect aspects (Duroiselle, p. 162; cf. Oberlies, 2019, p. 437).

Imperfect

Formation. (a) In its formation process, augment a may be tacked to the root, and consequently the personal endings are furnished (cf. Kusalagñāṇa, 2012, p. 165). (b) The imperfect is difficult to differentiate from the aorist. The only parameters aiding distinction are that the imperfect is said to form from the active stem and the aorist from the root; however, this is not an absolute measure and, in the end, these two can hardly be told apart (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 94).

Usage. The imperfect denotes general past (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 162), starting from yesterday (Kacc 418). The aorist has generally displaced the aspects of the imperfect and perfect (Duroiselle, p. 162; Geiger, 1916/1956, p. 158).

Perfect

Formation. (a) The perfect is characterized by the reduplication of the root. (b) Roots ending in a consonant insert an before the personal endings beginning with a consonant. (c) Duroiselle (1906/1997, p. 97) supplies conjugations for all persons and numbers,See Table 6 in the “Tables” section below. but Warder (1963/2001, p. 170) mentions that only the third person (singular and plural) of the verb ah exists. Perniola (1997, p. 98), yet again, states that alone second and third person singular forms exist for the mentioned verb.

Usage. (a) The perfect is but seldom used and has almost entirely vanished (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 162; Geiger, 1916/1956, p. 158). (b) It is employed in the sense of the indefinite past (apacchakkha; Kusalagñāṇa, 2012, p. 166), general past (Kacc 417; Duroiselle, p. 162) and also often the present (Warder, 1963/2001, p. 170). (c) There seem to be only a very few occurrences in early Pāḷi literature; in works like the Bodhivaṃsa (11ᵗʰ century CE) and others of such kind, it seems to be applied more frequently (Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 91). (d) A number of perfect forms can be crafted by aid of several auxiliary verbs.See under “Auxiliary Verbs” for details. (e) The aorist has mostly superseded the aspects of the imperfect and perfect (Duroiselle, p. 162).

Future Indicative

Formation. (a) The future indicative is regularly constructed by appending the affix ssa to the active base or directly to the root (usually having been strengthened) – and with the subsequent addition of the present indicative suffixes (e.g. √ gama + iss + a + ti → gamissati; √ disa + iss + a + ti → desessati). (b) The interfix vowel i is often inserted between ssa and the root or active base, with the dropping of the root’s or stem’s final vowel. (c) When ssa is appended straight to a root with a final consonant, the same changes as occur in the aorist take also place within the future system, through the assimilation of the initial s of ssa. (d) The seventh class of root affixes forming the active base takes the affix ess instead. (e) Future passive verbs have the same affix and conjugations added to the passive base (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 98; Warder, 1963/2001, pp. 54–5).

Morphological Rules:

The vowel ū of √ hū occasionally changes into eha, oha, e after the future ending has been affixed, which may be elided in the process (e.g. √ hū + ssati → hehiti; Kacc 480).

√ kara may → kāha [occasionally] after the future ending has been affixed, which invariably is elided during the morphological process (e.g. √ kara + a + ssa + mi → kahāmi – “I will do”; Kacc 481).

Usage. (a) The future in Pāḷi expresses the simple future as used and understood in English (e.g. ahaṃ gacchissāmi – “I shall go”; Kacc 421). (b) It can also be implemented to make generalizing statements (such as describing laws of nature), more emphatically than the present indicative, and to conclude inferences (e.g. manussā marissanti – “Humans will die”; na vatimāni manussabhūtassa padāni bhavissanti – “These cannot be the footprints of a human”, AN IV – catukkanipātapāḷi, p. 23 [AN 4.36]; Collins, 2006, p. 91; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 55). (c) The future may also express regret, disapproval, indignation, perplexity, surprise, wonder, certainty, determination, decision, habit and what is probable (Gair & Karunatillake, 1998, p. 127; Warder, p. 55). (d) Sometimes it is applied in the imperfective (progressive) sense: “He will be learning Pāḷi” (Palistudies, 2018c). (e) Duroiselle (1906/1997, p. 163) and Oberlies (2019, pp. 448, f.n. 3; 478, f.n. 2) further stipulate these operations of the future:

• Mild imperative, giving a “courteous command” (hortative optative).
• Condition (e.g. “if …, then …”), with particles ce, sace and yadi.
• Used also instead of the aorist, often in sentences with kathaṃ hi nāma and yatra hi nāma.
• Bhavissati (third person singular form of bhavati – “to be”) is oftentimes used to express “It must be that.”
• Bhavissati preceded by the negative particle na may be rendered: “It cannot be.”
• Jānissāmi (third person singular form of jānāti – “to know”) is oftentimes used to express the idiom “I’ll see” (e.g. hotu, pacchā jānissāmi – “Be it so, I’ll see [to it] afterwards [or ‘later’]”).

Conditional

Formation. (a) The conditional takes the augment a “almost obligatory” before the root and is formed from the future stem (Oberlies, 2019, pp. 474, 501). (b) The conditional endings are generally linked to the root or the active base with the connecting vowel i interfixed (e.g. a + √ paca + i + ssaṃ + apacissaṃ; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 99; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 331). (c) It may be positioned in both protasis (the clause containing the condition) and apodosis (the clause containing the conclusion); it can also be in the protasis with the other conditional, optative or future tense verb in the apodosis or vice versa (Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 89; Oberlies, p. 502).

Usage. (a) The conditional is but rarely used (Warder, 1963/2001, p. 331); the optative is usually applied to express the typical sense of the conditional (Oberlies, 2019, p. 502). (b) It expresses future time relative to something past and an action unable to be acted out on account of some obstacle (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 80), in the case when there is no accomplishment of an action (Kacc 422; Collins, 2006, p. 91). (c) It also denotes an action or happening that might have occurred on the condition that the necessary things had been supplied, i.e. it communicates counterfactual assertions (e.g. no cedaṃ, bhikkhave, paṇḍito sucintitacintī ca abhavissa subhāsitabhāsī ca sukatakammakārī ca kena naṃ paṇḍitā jāneyyuṃ: ‘paṇḍito ayaṃ bhavaṃ sappuriso’ti? – “If the wise man, bhikkhus, would not be one who thinks good thoughts, utters good speech and performs good actions, by what would wise men know him: ‘This venerable, righteous man is a wise man’”, AN III – tikanipātapāḷi, p. 2 [AN 3.3]; Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 89; Collins, p. 92).

Causative

Formation. (a) To form the causative, the personal endings of the present indicative are added to its stem. (b) The causative stem is built from the root (often strengthening takes place) or the active base, which happens but rarely (Kacc 438; Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 117; Collins, 2006, p. 95; Oberlies, 2019, p. 520). (c) Causative affixes not seldom coincide with the active base affixes of the eighth class (e and aya), which makes it sometimes hard to distinguish them from one another (Warder, 1963/2001, p. 79). (d) Causative verbs may take one object more than their corresponding non-causative forms: If the non-causative verb takes normally two objects, for example, the corresponding causative will take three (Warder, p. 79). (e) When built from intransitive roots or bases, they take one object, and when they are constructed from transitive ones, they take two objects (e.g. from transitive √ gamu: puriso purisaṃ gāmaṃ gāmayati – “The man caused the man to go to the village”; Kacc 300; Hendriksen, 1944, p. 32; cf. Palistudies, 2018g; Warder, p. 79). (f) A double causative is applied for three objects and can occur with the affixes e, āpe or āpāpeThis last-mentioned affix is attached to the root. (e.g. so purisaṃ dāsaṃ odanaṃ pācāpāpeti – “He causes the man to cause the slave to cook the rice”; cf. Kacc 282; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, pp. 112–3; cf. Perniola, 1997, p. 281; Warder, p. 79). (g) Causatives govern the accusative case; the instrumental case might be used (sometimes the genitive) in place of the factitive objectThe object or patient which was caused to do something etc. (e.g. puriso purisena gāmaṃ gāmayati; Kacc 300; Duroiselle, p. 156; Palistudies, 2018g). (h) The agent, as with ordinary verbs, stands in the nominative case (Warder, p. 79). (i) Duroiselle (p. 112) gives the following guidelines for the formation of the causative:

• Root vowels followed by one consonant are strengthened and remain unchanged when followed by two. Ānandamaitreya (p. 117) states, however, that strengthening takes place only optionally.
• Root a is occasionally not lengthened when followed by a single consonant.
• Roots in i, ī and u, ū form their causal form off the active base as well as other verbs.
• Some roots in a take āpe, āpaya, although Perniola (p. 103) says these endings are applied from the active base. Ānandamaitreya (p. 117) notes that roots as well as stems ending in ā and roots being classified under the seventh root affix class take the aforementioned endings.

Usage. (a) Causatives and double causatives can be used in all tenses and moods (incl. participles, absolutives, infinitives; Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 117; Buddhadatta, 1937/1997, p. 120). (b) Causatives express the sense of end or cause (e.g. attanā vippakataṃ attanā pariyosāpeti – “He finishes himself what he himself left unfinished”; Sadd II, 1999, p. 175; Collins, 2006, p. 97). (c) They also carry the meaning of causing someone or something else to do an action designated by a root, i.e. to have something done (Kacc 282; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 78), and are often employed in the sense of directives or orders (Palistudies, 2018g). (d) Besides the straight causative sense, they may also have a special idiomatic meaning (Warder, p. 79), like a simple transitive sense (e.g. √ cara + e + ti → cāreti – “He administers [an estate]”; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 114; Oberlies, 2019, p. 520, f.n. 1). (e) The causative can act as an intransitive or transitive (usually) verb, with a single object or multiple ones (Collins, p. 96).

Desiderative

Formation. (a) Characteristic is the reduplication of the root in accordance with the regulations already given (Kacc 434; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 115), with the weak form of the root’s reduplicated syllable. (b) To this the affixes kha, cha, sa are added (e.g. √ bhuja + kha + ti → bubhukkhati – “He wishes to eat”; Kacc 434; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 352).See also Table 6 in the “Tables” section below.

Usage. (a) The Desiderative is not extensively used in Pāḷi (mainly being restricted to verse) but often enough to warrant treatment (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 115; Oberlies, 2019, p. 565; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 352). (b) As the name itself suggests, the desiderative is key in expressing the wish or desire to do or be that which is designated by the root (Duroiselle, p. 115; Oberlies, p. 565). (c) They are of the meaning of tumicchattha (“wished [or ‘wanted’] for oneself”; e.g. √ ghasa + cha + ti → jighacchati – “He wants to eat”; Kacc 434; Collins, 2006, p. 100).

Intensive

Formation and Usage. (a) The characteristic of the intensive conjugation is, here too, the reduplication of the root (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 115). (b) It was stated that it is not possible or necessary to give an account of the rules for the formation of intensives; nevertheless, we find it specified that they do not form from polysyllabic roots, from roots with a vowel initial or from those pertaining to the eighth class of roots. (c) Intensive verbs express a frequent repetition or the intensification of the action intimated by the root (Duroiselle, p. 115; Collins, 2006, p. 101; Oberlies, 2019, p. 565). (d) Intensive adjectives are also found (e.g. √ lupa → lolupa – “greedy”; Collins, p. 101).

Denominative

Formation. (a) The denominative verbs occur rarely, except for poetry and exaggerated speech, and are so called because they are constructed from nominal bases (incl. those of pronouns and adjectives) by means of certain affixes; however, they can also be formed from adverbs, onomatopoeiasMerriam Webster (“Onomatopoeia”, n.d.): “[T]he naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it (such as buzz, hiss) […] also: a word formed by onomatopoeia.” etc. (Collins, 2006, p. 99; Perniola, 1997, p. 106; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 316). (b) In the formation process, the active base affixes of the first and eighth classes of roots are commonly utilized. (c) After the respective denominative affixesSee Table 6 in the “Tables” section. have been appended to form the denominative stem, the personal endings of the tenses are added, as with other verbs (e.g. samudda + āya + ti → sammuddāyati – “to be or act like the ocean”; Collins, p. 99; Warder, p. 316). (c) Absolutive, infinitive and participle affixes can also be appended (e.g. mamāyita – “cherished”; Oberlies, 2019, p. 517). (d) Duroiselle (1906/1997, p. 115) mentions an unusual approach to forming denominative verbs from nouns: the first, second or third syllable of the noun is reduplicated and the affix īyisa or yisa added to the word reduplicated in that manner. (e) The vowels u or i may or may not be inserted between the reduplication (e.g. putta → pupputtīyisati – “He wishes to be a son”).

Usage. (a) Denominatives can be transitive as well as intransitive, with the e affixes being usually transitive (e.g. sukhāyati – “He is pleased [intransitive]”; sukheti or sukhāyati – “He makes happy [transitive]”; Perniola, 1997, p. 108). (b) There are several ways of translating the denominative (Warder, 1963/2001, p. 316), usually having to express the following meanings (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 114; Oberlies, 2019, p. 504):

• to act as, to be or treat like, to wish to be like that which is denoted by the noun;
• to wish for, to desire that which is signified by the noun;
• to change or make into that which is denoted by the noun;
• to use or make use of that which is expressed by the noun.

Absolutive

General Characteristics and Formation. (a) Absolutives are not declined since they are remnants of an old action noun in tu. As such they have already been declined, so to speak (Collins, 2006, p. 114). (b) As is the case in Sanskrit, the absolutive in Pāḷi is employed to “knit together discourse” and may form complex sentences, with the agent performing a series of actions (by rule successive in time); occasionally the absolutive “may function as the main verb of a sentence” (Hendriksen, 1944, p. 112; Oberlies, 2019, p. 634, f.n. 4; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 48). (c) Like other verbs, they may take objects in the accusative (Warder, p. 48). (d) Words governed by the absolutive mostly precede it but that is not always the case (Collins, p. 117). (e) When the agent is the same for the main verb and the absolutive, it is found to be in the nominative with active and in the instrumental or genitive with passive verbs (Perniola, 1997, p. 375). (f) The absolutive is generally subordinate to a finite verb but occurs also with other forms, such as present participles, infinitives and action nouns (e.g. tadā gāthaṃ vatvā pakkanto [present participle] paṇḍitavāṇijo pana ahameva ahosi – “Now at that time, I was indeed the wise merchant who went away, having recited the stanza”, Jā-a I – paṭhamo bhāgo, p. 132 [commentary on Jā 43]; Hendriksen, pp. 7, 108–111; Perniola, p. 375). (g) Verbs may exhibit multiple forms of the absolutive; however, this does not affect the meaning (e.g. absolutives of the verb gaṇhāti are: gahetvā, gahetvāna, gaṇhitvā; Hendriksen, p. 108; Oberlies, p. 638). (h) “A few nouns,” Oberlies (p. 654) states, “are abstracted from absolutives” (e.g. upanidhā [“comparison”] ← upanidhāya [“in comparison”]).

(a) Endings are appended to the root (occasionally being strengthened), active stem (at least in part) or causative stem (e.g. √ yuja + āpe [causative affix] + tvā → yojāpetvā – “having yoked”, DN II – mahāvaggapāḷi, p. 42 [DN 16]; Collins, 2006, p. 114; Geiger, 1916/1956, p. 159; Oberlies, 2019, p. 634). (b) Before ya, a t may be inserted (Collins, p. 114) between the absolutive suffixes and a root ending in a vowel (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 107). (c) Some roots seem to take an absolutive suffix made up of ya and tvā, being joined to the root by means of i, but most can have several forms (Duroiselle, p. 108). (d) Further rules in the formation of the absolutive with suffixes tvā, tvāna, tūna are (Duroiselle, pp. 107–8; Geiger, 1916/1994, p. 195; Perniola, 1997, p. 124):

• They are joined to the root by means of connecting vowel i (e.g. √ khāda + i + tvā → khāditvā).
• They are joined to the active base by means of connecting vowel i (√ sara + a + i + tvā → saritvā).
• Initial t of the suffix is assimilated to the last root consonant (in a few cases).
• Root vowel is strengthened (e.g. √ nī + tvā → netvā).
• Last (C) [of root] → Ø [occasionally] / __ tvā, tvāna and tūna (e.g. √ chida + tvā → chetvā).
• Final (V̄) [of root] → (V̆) / __ tvā, tvāna and tūna (e.g. √ dā + tvā → datvā).

Regarding suffix ya.

• It is mostly used with roots compounded with prefixes (e.g. saṃ + √ ikkha [“to see”] + i + ya → samekkhiya – “having reflected”).
• It is used with simple roots at times and with interfix vowel i (e.g. √ cinta + i + ya → cintiya).
• Regularly tya → cca (e.g. paṭi + √ i [“to go"] + tya → paṭicca – “because of”, “following upon”, “from”).
• It is added directly to roots ending in long ā (e.g. vi + √ hā + ya → vihāya).
• It may be added to the active stem.
• It is assimilated to the last root consonant (e.g. ni + √ sada + ya → nisajja).
• It is occasionally dropped during the formation process, with the root remaining (e.g. abhiññāya → abhiññā).
• m → n/ __ tvā (e.g. √ gama + tvā → gantvā; Duroiselle 1906/1997, p. 18).

Usage. (a) Some facets of the way absolutives are employed can be more easily grasped when the remnant nature of the instrumental case is borne in mind, with which it has a quasi-nominal, adverbial nature (Collins, 2006, p. 114). (b) In the majority of instances, the absolutive is used to express a previous action performed by the subject of the sentence. It is understood as a verb which stands in the same tense and mood, but merely understood since it is ultimately of an uninflected nature (Collins, p. 115). (c) The primary uses of the absolutive are as follows (Kacc 564; Collins, pp. 115–6; Hendriksen, 1944, pp. 113–6; Perniola, 1997, p. 375):

• Past, agent of absolutive and main verb being the same (e.g. atha kho bhagavā soṇadaṇḍaṃ brāhmaṇaṃ dhammiyā kathāya […] samādapetvā […] pakkāmī – “And then the Blessed One went away, having […] roused […] the Brahmin Soṇadaṇḍa with a talk on dhamma”, DN I – sīlakkhandhavaggapāḷi, p. 59 [DN 4]).
• Same time, agent of absol. and main verb being the same (e.g. so taṃ dhammaṃ sutvā tathāgate saddhaṃ paṭilabhati – “Hearing that dhamma, he gains faith in the Tathagata”, DN I – sīlakkhandhavaggapāḷi, p. 30 [DN 2]).
• Future time, agent of absol. and main verb being the same (e.g. dvāraṃ āvaritvā pavisati – “He enters and closes the door”).
• Agents of the absolutive and main verb are different (e.g. paññāya cassa disvā āsavā parikkhīṇā – “And for him, having seen with wisdom, the influxes are extinguished”, MN I – mūlapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 109 [MN 25]).

(a) In the case of completed action, “having” + a past participle may be used when translating into English or a past tense followed by the copulative conjunction “and” (e.g. so tatra gantvā idha āgacchati – “Having gone there, he comes back here”), therewith also instancing what has been said earlier, i.e. that verbs in the absolutive may express consecutive action (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 164; Hendriksen, 1944, p. 112; Perniola, 1997, p. 376). (b) Absolutive verbal forms can be employed to form conditional clauses as well (e.g. mañhi, bhante, aññatitthiyā sāvakaṃ labhitvā kevalakappaṃ nāḷandaṃ paṭākaṃ parihareyyuṃ – “Indeed, venerable sir, if adherents of other sects had gained me as a disciple, they would carry about a flag throughout the whole of Nālanda”, MN II – majjhimapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 23 [MN 56]; Perniola, pp. 376–7). (c) The sense of cause is occasionally expressed (e.g. kasmā evaṃ vadasīti? – Imesaṃ bahubhāvaṃ disvā: “‘Why do you speak like that?’ – ‘Because of having seen their abundance’”, Jā-a I – paṭhamo bhāgo, p. 153 [commentary on Jā 62]; Hendriksen, p. 113). (d) Before an absolutive, the negative prefix a signifies the meaning of “without” or “not having.” (e) The subsequent particle api, on the other hand, suggests a translation by “although” or “even though”, forming concessive clauses (e.g. akataññū puggalo cakkavattirajjaṃ datvā pi tosetuṃ nasakkā – “An ungrateful person cannot be pleased even though having been given the kingdom of a universal monarch”; Duroiselle, p. 165). (f) The va (eva) following the absolutive might be rendered as “as soon as” or “just as” (e.g. so vāndro attano puttaṃ disvā va […] – “As soon as he saw his offspring, the monkey […]”; Duroiselle, p. 164). (g) The absolutive hutvā (“having been”) may carry the meaning of “as”, “in the capacity of” (e.g. tvaṃ puriso hutvā ulloketuṃ na sakkosi; ahaṃ kathaṃ sakkhissāmi – “You, as a man, are not able to behold; how will I be able?”, Vibh-a, p. 175; Hendriksen, p. 114). (h) An absolutive may be translated with a present participle (Duroiselle, p. 165; Hendriksen, p. 114). (i) Some absolutive forms are also used as postpositions, such as (Duroiselle, p. 165; Perniola, p. 377):

• paṭṭhāya (“since”, “from” etc.), which governs the ablative (e.g. aruṇuggamanato paṭṭhāya – “from dawnrise”, Sp I – pārājikakaṇḍa-aṭṭhakathā, p. 27).
• sandhāya, ārabbha (both “concerning” etc.), these and the following items govern the accusative (e.g. sace kho te, jīvaka, idaṃ sandhāya bhāsitaṃ […] – “if it has been said by you, Jīvaka, concerning this […]”, MN II – majjhimapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 17 [MN 55]).
• paṭicca (“because of” etc.; e.g. macchariyaṃ paṭicca ārakkho – “Because of stinginess guarding comes about”, DN II – mahāvaggapāḷi, p. 25 [DN 15]).
• nissāya, upanissāya (both “near” etc.; e.g. idhāvuso, bhikkhu satthāraṃ upanissāya viharati – “whenever, friend, a bhikkhu lives near a teacher”, DN III – pāthikavaggapāḷi, p. 130 [DN 34]).

Infinitive

General Characteristics and Formation. (a) The infinitive expresses the “idea of the verb without any indication of time” (Hendriksen, 1944, p. 92; Perniola, 1997, p. 371); it is the accusative or dative of an old action noun in tu, the absolutive being its instrumental, and is indeclinable in Pāḷi (Collins, 2006, p. 117; Hendriksen, pp. 94–5; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 134). (b) It normally precedes and is dependent upon the main verb or predicative (Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 17; Gair & Karunatillake, 1998, p. 23). (c) The subject is virtually always the same as that of the main verb (Gair & Karunatillake, p. 23). (d) The infinitive usually precedes the principle verb but may also follow it (Hendriksen, p. 96). (e) Hendriksen (p. 93) points out that the agent even of the active infinitive may stand in the instrumental (e.g. [possibly] na dāni sukaraṃ amhehi lābhasakkārasiloke pariccajituṃ – “It is not easy for us, now, to abandon gain, honor and fame”, MN II – majjhimapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 96 [MN 76]). (f) The suffix tuṃ is applied most commonly, but other rare suffixes such as tāye, tave, tuye are also found, although (seemingly) being confined to verse compositions (Geiger, 1916/1994, pp. 190–1; Oberlies, 2019, p. 627). (g) Infinitives are formed from transitive and intransitive stems as well as from causatives, double causatives, desideratives and denominatives (e.g. gopayituṃ) – they are used in any tense or mood (Kacc 561; Collins, pp. 117–8; Geiger, p. 192). (h) The prefix a may be added to make them negative (Warder, p. 135). (i) The infinitive can be formed with the elision of final ṃ of tuṃ, mostly happening when ye (e.g. kātuṃ + ye → kātuye) or the word kāma is appended (“desiring to”; e.g. atha kho milindo rājā yenāyasmā nāgaseno tenupasaṅkami […] ñāṇālokaṃ uppādetukāmo […] – “And then king Milinda went to where the ven. Nāgasena was […] being eager to cause the light of knowledge to arise […]”, Mil, p. 145; Collins, p. 119; Oberlies, p. 627). (j) Sometimes two forms of an infinitive exist (e.g. chettuṃ, chindituṃ; Oberlies, p. 630).

(a) Suffixes tave, tuye, tāye, tase are added to the strengthened root (ending in vowels or consonants) or to the active stem with the interfix vowel i (e.g. √ nī + tave → netave; Kacc 561; Geiger, 1916/1994, p. 190; Perniola, 1997, p. 128). (b) The suffix tuṃ is appended according to the following schema (Kacc 561; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 109; Gair & Karunatillake, 1998, p. 22; Perniola, pp. 126–7; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 134):

• directly to roots with final ā or vowels in general (e.g. √ dā + tuṃ → dātuṃ);
• directly to strengthened roots (e.g. √ nī + tuṃ → netuṃ);
• to roots by means of interfix vowel i (e.g. √ jīva + i + tuṃ → jīvituṃ);
• to active stems in a by means of interfix vowel i (e.g. bhava + i + tuṃ → bhavituṃ);
• directly to active stems in e and o (e.g. dese + tuṃ → desetuṃ);
• initial t of tuṃ is assimilated to the last consonant of the root or vice versa (e.g. √ bhuja + tuṃ → bhottuṃ) or vice versa.

Usage. (a) Depending on a main verb (incl. predicated adjectives), the infinitive conveys the idea of “purpose of”, “in order to” and is also used with verbs denoting intention, worthiness, ability, possibility and appropriateness (e.g. ninditumarahati – “he who deserves to blame [that person]”; alameva dānāni dātuṃ – “It is just appropriate to give alms”; Kacc 561–563, 637; Gair & Karunatillake, 1998, p. 23; Hendriksen, 1944, p. 95). (b) It implies a wish or desire to do something and can be rendered into English with the so-called full infinitive or to-infinitive (e.g. bhāsituṃ – “in order to speak”; Palistudies, 2018d). (c) The Infinitive is used passively and actively (Hendriksen, p. 93; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 135). (d) The dative of nouns in āya is often used in an infinitive sense (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 109; Geiger, 1916/1994, p. 191); the infinitive is interchangeable with the dative of purpose (Warder, p. 134). (e) As already stated above, it takes on a negative sense with the prefix a/an (Oberlies, 2019, p. 628; Warder, p. 135).

Participles

Kinds of Participles

1. Present active participle.
2. Present middle participle.
3. Present passive participle.
4. Past active participle.
5. Past passive participle.
6. Future active participle.
7. Future middle participle.
8. Future passive participle (aka gerundive, participle of necessity).
9. Absolutive (aka gerund).See above.

Present Participle

Formation. (a) Both the active and middle forms are built from the active base of verbs (but the latter may also be constructed from roots) and have the selfsame meaning (Dhammajoti, 2018, p. 96; Gair & Karunatillake, 1998, p. 36; Hendriksen, 1944, p. 8; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 46). (b) Verbal bases which end in e may change to aya before affixes māna and āna are applied. (c) Active bases ending in e or o merely take the anta suffix (Perniola, 1997, p. 109). (d) Present active participles formed with the affix anta etc. are declined in a similar way as possessive adjectives with the stem in vantu and the form of the present middle participles in māna etc. like a-ending stems (cf. Oberlies, 2019, p. 257). (e) Feminine stems in antī are declined like feminine stems in īSee Table 3 in the “Tables” section for details. (Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 60; Dhammajoti, pp. 95–6).

Usage – as Adjectives. (a) Participles have the nature of verbal adjectives and must, therefore, agree with the nouns they qualify in number, gender and case (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 100; Oberlies, p. 571, f.n. 1; Perniola, 1997, p. 357). (b) Present participles are oftentimes used as adjectives with no relation to time (Collins, 2006, p. 106) and may share the same agent as the main verb (Palistudies, 2018e). (c) As adjectives, they may precede or follow the noun which they modify (e.g. addasāma kho mayaṃ, bho, taṃ bhavantaṃ gotamaṃ gacchantaṃ – “Sir, we have seen the ven. Gotama walking”, MN II – majjhimapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 168 [MN 91]; Gair & Karunatillake, 1998, p. 37).

Usage – as Verbs (a) The present participle can also function as a verb, with the same syntactical function as a finite verb (Oberlies, 2019, p. 571, f.n. 1). (b) It is commonly translated into English by “while” or “when” + a present participle and signifies an unfinished action occurring simultaneously with the action as designated by the main verb in the past, present or future tense (e.g. saramāno rodi – “Remembering, she wept”; saramāno rodati – “Remembering, she weeps”; saramāno rodissati – “Remembering, she will weep”; Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 61; Collins, 2006, p. 106; Hendriksen, 1944, p. 7; Oberlies, p. 571, f.n. 1; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 46). (c) This participle generally expresses the continuous, progressive and imperfect aspects (e.g. bhikkhu gacchanto vā ‘gacchāmī’ti pajānāti – “Or while walking, a bhikkhu knows: ‘I am walking’”, MN I – mūlapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 35 [MN 10]; Kacc 565; Collins, p. 106). (d) It can sometimes also be translated by a conditional clause (“when”, “if”; e.g. evaṃ karonto asātamante lacchasi, akaronto na lacchasi – “If you do so, you’ll obtain the dolor text; if you don’t do it, you won’t obtain it”, Jā-a I – paṭhamo bhāgo, p. 150 [commentary on Jā 61]; Oberlies, p. 579). (e) The present participle also appears to be capable of being correctly rendered with the simple present tense (e.g. santaṃ yeva kho pana paraṃ lokaṃ ‘natthi paro loko’ti vācaṃ bhāsati – “Although the other world exists, he says ‘there is no other world’”, MN II – majjhimapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 34 [MN 60]; Hendriksen, p. 7). (f) Oberlies (p. 571, f.n. 1) mentions that present participles may also express the ideas of cause or purpose but gives no examples. (g) When standing in relation to a present participle, the particle pi (= api) may be rendered as “although”, introducing a concessionary clause (e.g. evampi kho ahaṃ karonto – “although I act thus”, MN I – mūlapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 210 [MN 50]; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 165; Palistudies, 2018e; Perniola, 1997, p. 359). (h) The present participle is able to be used actively as well as passively (Buddhadatta, 1937/1997, p. 87).

Usage – as Substantive Nouns (a) Present participles may also act as substantive nouns (Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 61) and are sometimes used substantively as an action noun (e.g. kubbāna – “doing”; cf. Warder, 1963/2001, p. 47). (b) In this case they may be translated by means of a relative clause (beginning with a personal pronoun “he” or the indefinite pronoun “one”; cf. Bodhi, 2020, p. 28) or a participle construction containing a present participle; in the case of the former relative clause, the present tense, besides its use together with the present participle, was suggested to be permissible too (e.g. [relative clause] idaṃ pana paralokaṃ gacchantassa pātheyyaṃ bhavissatī – “This will be a provision for the one who goes to the next world [after death]”, Pd IV, p. 3; [participle construction] jānato passato āsavānaṃ khayo hoti – “For the one knowing, the one seeing, the destruction of the taints occurs”, SN V – mahāvaggo, p. 211 [SN 56.25]; Ānandamaitreya, p. 62; cf. Bodhi, p. 27; cf. Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 165; Gair & Karunatillake, 1998, p. 37).

Past Passive Participle

Formation. (a) Past passive participles occur frequently and are to be constructed from the root: directly if it ends in a vowel (with a potential insertion of an i between the root and the subsequently added respective affixes) or with certain morphological rules effected if it ends in a consonant (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 102). (b) The ta affix is applied after √ chada, √ citi, √ su, √ nī, √ vida, √ pada, √ tanu, √ yata, √ ada, √ mada, √ yuja, √ vatu, √ mida, √ mā, √ pu, √ kala, √ vara, √ ve, √ pu, √ gupa, √ dā etc. (Kacc 656). (c) Past passive participles are also formed from the active base and some may also form irregularly (Collins, 2006, p. 107; Dhammajoti, 2018, p. 65; cf. Geiger, 1916/1956, p. 159). (d) They decline like a/ā-stem substantive nouns (cf. Bodhi, 2020, p. 29; Duroiselle, p. 105).

Usage – as Adjectives (a) The past passive participles, like all participles, are of the nature of verbal adjectives and must agree with their nouns in number, gender and case (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 100; Oberlies, 2019, p. 571, f.n. 1; Perniola, 1997, p. 357). (b) Past passive participles as adjectives may either precede or succeed the substantive noun they qualify (e.g. subhāvitaṃ cittaṃ – “the well-developed mind”, Dhp, p. 2, v. 14; Gair & Karunatillake, 1998, p. 72). (c) When modifying a noun or pronoun, their meaning does not necessarily have to be past (e.g. bhinnena sīsena – “with broken head”, MN I – mūlapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 89 [MN 21]; Dhammajoti, 2018, p. 66; Duroiselle, p. 100; Perniola, p. 362). (d) In equational sentencesThese are sentences without a finite verb but, inter alia, with adjectival predicates. a past passive participle can function as an adjectival predicate, i.e. an adjective that succeeds a linking verb (such as “am”, “is”, “are”, “has been” etc.), modifying the sentence subject (e.g. ahaṃ kho pana susikkhito – “I am indeed well trained”, Vin I – pārājikapāḷi, p. 25 [Pār 2]; Gair & Karunatillake, 1998, p. 72). (e) There might be a case where a translation by means of a relative clause appears warranted (e.g. bhagavantaṃ pabbajitaṃ anupabbajanti – “They go forth alongside the Blessed One, who [already] went forth”, Mp I – ekakanipāta-aṭṭhakathā, p. 74).

Usage – as Verbs (a) The past passive participles can oftentimes also function as verbs, with the same syntactical function as a finite verb (cf. Hendriksen, 1944, pp. 9, 50; cf. Oberlies, 2019, p. 571, f.n. 1), with auxiliary verbs being explicit or implicit (e.g. [explicit] tena kho samayena āyasmato upasenanassa kāye āsīviso patito hoti – “At that time a snake had fallen on the body of ven. Upasena”, SN IV – saḷāyatanavaggo, p. 20 [SN 35.69]; Collins, 2006, p. 108). (b) They generally express completed action and, as the name suggests, are usually employed in a passive sense (e.g. bhāsitaṃ – “is said [by such and such a person]”; Kacc 556; Dhammajoti, 2018, p. 65), although an active sense is also assumed when they are formed from roots indicating motion, those meaning “to drink”, “to eat”, “to give birth to” (inter alia), transitive roots used intransitively and intransitive roots in general (Dhammajoti, p. 66; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 165; cf. Hendriksen, p. 9; Oberlies, p. 618; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 40). (c) In the latter case (active sense) they take an accusative object, agreeing with the agent in number, gender and case (e.g. samaṇo khalu bho gotamo amukaṃ nāma gāmaṃ […] osaṭo – “The dear ascetic Gotama has indeed come to such and such a village”, MN I – mūlapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 119 [MN 27]). (d) In the former case (passive sense) the agent is found to be in the instrumental case, with the past passive participle agreeing with the patient, again in number, gender and case (e.g. svākkhāto bhagavatā dhammo – “The dhamma has been well proclaimed by the Blessed One”, DN II – mahāvaggapāḷi, p. 88 [DN 18]; Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 33; Dhammajoti, p. 67; Duroiselle, p. 166; cf. Warder, p. 40).

(a) The past passive participle can be translated by means of the simple past,The past passive participle is never used together with auxiliary verbs to denote the simple past (Hendriksen, 1944, p. 78). which is used for narrations, or present perfect tense – in fact, it has been said that they denote the past in general (atīto; e.g. ayaṃ kho no, bhante, antarākathā vippakatā; atha bhagavā anuppattoti – “Now this was, ven. Sir, the chance talk that was not finished, then the Blessed One arrived”, DN III – pāthikavaggapāḷi, p. 16 [DN 25]; Kacc 555; Hendriksen, 1944, pp. 9, 51, 53, 60–8). (b) Not seldom, it may also be rendered as a present participle, an absolutive or is applied in a present sense (e.g. addasāma kho mayaṃ, bho, taṃ bhavantaṃ gotamaṃ […] ṭhitaṃ – “Sir, we have seen the venerable Gotama standing”, MN II – majjhimapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 168 [MN 91]; Kacc 650; Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 178; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, pp. 165–6; Hendriksen, pp. 13–4). (c) Sometimes the past passive participle functions almost like an infinitive (e.g. aññatra asitapītakhāyitasāyitā – “except to eat, drink and consume food”, MN I – mūlapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 59 [MN 12]; Oberlies, 2019, p. 626, f.n. 1). (d) In the neuter gender it can also be employed impersonally (e.g. evaṃ me sutaṃ – lit. “Thus it was heard by me”, DN I – sīlakkhandhavaggapāḷi, p. 1 [DN 1]; Dhammajoti, 2018, p. 68).

(a) The past passive participle is often combined with auxiliary verbs (Oberlies, 2019, pp. 591, 592, f.n. 4). (b) With first and second person auxiliary verbsFor an exposition on the different meanings of the past passive participle with auxiliary verbs refer to the section “Auxiliary Verbs” below. formed from √ as, an emphasized present perfect is to be understood (e.g. aham asmi sammā paṭipanno – “I have practiced rightly”, DN I – sīlakkhandhavaggapāḷi, p. 5 [DN 1]; cf. Dhammajoti, 2018, p. 67; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 233). (c) Past participles + auxiliary verbs formed from √ hū (hoti etc.) carry the same sense (e.g. so ārāmaṃ gato hoti – “He has gone to the monastery”) or are – with tena-samayena constructions – expressive of the past continuous aspect (“I was going” etc.; Warder, p. 235). (d) With bhavissati (not necessarily of future import) they bear the meaning of “might have”, “would have”, “will have” (Gair & Karunatillake, 1998, p. 171).

Usage – as Substantive Nouns (a) Past passive participles may act as substantive nouns too, incl. action and agent nouns (with the first-mentioned type being in the neuter gender; e.g. dinnaṃ – “giving”; na hi pabbajito parūpaghātī […] – One who has gone forth [i.e. “a monk”] is certainly not one who harms others […], Dhp, p. 13, v. 184; Kacc 556–557; Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 178; Collins, 2006, p. 109; Hendriksen, 1944, p. 15; Oberlies, 2019, p. 626; Thitzana, 2016, p. 714). (b) They can be translated by a relative clause “who/which is”, as can be gathered from the previous example. (c) Past passive participles are sometimes used as neuter verbal nouns to designate either the action of the verb or the resultant effect of it (e.g. dinnaṃ – “giving”, “the given [thing]”; natthi buddhānam iñjitaṃ – “There is no wavering for the Buddhas”, Dhp, p. 18. v. 255; Hendriksen, p. 16; Perniola, 1997, p. 363; cf. Thitzana, p. 712).

Past Active Participle

Formation. (a) All participles have the nature of verbal adjectives and must, therefore, agree with the nouns they modify in number, gender and case (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 100; Oberlies, 2019, p. 571, f.n. 1; Perniola, 1997, p. 357). (b) The past active participles occur but rarely. (c) The respective endings are tacked to the past passive participle and declined like the possessive adjectives in vantu (vā) and ī (in) respectively (bhuttavī – “he who has eaten”; Bodhi, 2020, p. 30; Duroiselle, p. 105; Geiger, 1916/1956, p. 220), but some irregular forms exist (e.g. vidvā, viddasu; Perniola, p. 119). (d) Functioning as verbs, they may take objects in the accusative case, with the agents standing in the nominative (Warder, 1963/2001, p. 274).

Usage.See also the section “Locative, Genitive, Accusative and Nominative Absolute” for a possible absolute construction and viable translation. (a) The absolutive has mostly supplanted the past active participle in Pāḷi. (b) The past active participles, like the other participles, can be used as substantive nouns, adjectives and verbs (e.g. [adjective] katāvī – “expert”; Kacc 555; Geiger, 1916/1956, p. 221; Hendriksen, 1944, p. 10; cf. Warder, 1963/2001, p. 274). (c) They generally denote the past (atīto), with a suggested translation by means of the present/past perfect aspect (e.g. so sīhamādinnavā – “He has/had captured a lion”,It would need to be “slain” or “split” when reading ādiṇṇavā with Andersen (1901, p. 112). Mhv, p. 35; Hendriksen, p. 1; Warder, p. 275). (d) A translation by means of a past passive participle clause (i.e. “having” + a past participle) has been offered as well (e.g. “he, having captured the lion […]” [Pāḷi text is basically the same as in the previous example]; cf. Kacc 555; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 165; Hendriksen, pp. 10–1). (e) Similarly to the past passive participle, a relative clause containing a past passive participle or regular adjective might be used for translation (e.g. [past passive participle] vusitavā – “one who has lived [the spiritual life perfectly]”, DN III – pāthikavaggapāḷi, p. 34 [DN 27]; [adjective] vijitāvī – “the one who has been victorious”, Th, p. 2, v. 5; Geiger, pp. 220–1; cf. Bodhi, 2020, pp. 30–1; Hendriksen, p. 10). (f) Hendriksen (p. 10), explaining the functions of the affix vantu (vā), translated with a relative clause containing a present tense (e.g. taṃ avidvā – “he who does not know it”, MN I – mūlapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 197 [MN 46]). (g) These participles are also capable of being nominalized (e.g. hutāvī – “the given”; Thitzana, 2016, p. 712).

Future Passive Participle

Formation. (a) Future passive participles are either formed from the root – usually having been strengthened – or the active base (generally the case with roots ending in u and ū; Collins, 2006, p. 110; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 105; cf. Geiger, 1916/1956, p. 159; Perniola, 1997, p. 368). (b) At times interfix vowel i is inserted (Dhammajoti, 2018, p. 131). (c) The affixes tabba and anīya are the ones most commonly encountered (Hendriksen, 1944, p. 12).

General Characteristics and Usage as Verbs. (a) The future passive participle can also function as a verb, with the same syntactical function as a finite verb (Oberlies, 2019, p. 571, f.n. 1); in fact, as “a rule it is employed as a sentence verb”, perhaps there being “a tendency to use -tabba- with the gerundive [i.e. future passive participle] functioning as sentence verb and -anīya- in other cases” (Hendriksen, 1944, pp. 11–2). (b) The future passive participle denotes that what is expressed by the root or base – it signifies that which is to be, ought to be, is fit to be, can be or that must be done or undergone (e.g. majjhatteneva bhavittabbaṃ – “One ought to be just impartial”, Jā-a I – paṭhamo bhāgo, p. 157 [commentary on Jā 64]; Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 179; Hendriksen, p. 11). (c) One may, generally, translate as “ought to be”, “should be”, “is or has to be” and occasionally as “might be”, “can be”, “may be” + the past passive participle (e.g. evaṃ tathāgatassa sarīre paṭipajjitabbaṃ – “thus the body of the Tathagata should be handled”, DN II – mahāvaggapāḷi, p. 59 [DN 16]; tassa ‘sādhū’ti bhāsitaṃ abhinanditabbaṃ anumoditabbaṃ – “The saying of that should be approved of, should be appreciated”, DN III – pāthikavaggapāḷi, p. 53 [DN 29]; Ānandamaitreya, p. 179; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 166; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 104). (d) Despite the fact that it is called “future”, it is more frequently employed in sentences with past or present verbs; it can also bear a non-temporal meaning, therewith communicating general truths, duties etc. (Collins, 2006, p. 110). (e) The agent, when expressed, is either found to be in the instrumental, genitive or dative case, whereas the subject, with future passive participles constructed from transitive roots/bases, usually stands in the nominative (e.g. cātumahāpathe tathāgatassa thūpo kātabbo – “At a crossroad one should build a stupa for the Tathagata”, DN II – mahāvaggapāḷi, p. 60 [DN 16]; cf. Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 179; cf. Duroiselle, p. 166). (f) It may further express the following ideas (Kacc 635–636; Collins, p. 112; Duroiselle, p. 166):

• Authorization.
• Command.
• Debt owed.
• Due time to do something.
• Exhortation.
• Inevitability.
• Likelihood.
• Necessity.
• Obligation.
• Opportunity.
• Permission.
• Polite imperative.
• Probability.
• Suitability or fitness.
• Sure action or event.

(a) Future passive participles are also capable of functioning as the sentence predicate, as can be seen from the examples already given. (b) In the accusative singular neuter, the future passive participle can be used impersonally, usually (but not invariably) when formed from intransitive roots/bases (Collins, 2006, p. 111; Perniola, 1997, p. 370). It is acceptable in Pāḷi to have the impersonal passive construction both with an agentive oblique (i.e. a by-phrase) and without (e.g. [without] asantiyā āpattiyā tuṇhī bhavitabbaṃ – “When there is no offence, there should be silence”, Vin III – mahāvaggapāḷi, p. 73; [with] yassa rañño cakkavattissa dibbaṃ cakkaratanaṃ osakkati ṭhānā cavati, na dāni tena raññā ciraṃ jīvitabbaṃ hoti – “When for the wheel-turning monarch the divine wheel-treasure draws back, retreats from its place, the monarch now has not long to live [lit. ‘it has not to be lived long by the monarch’]”, DN III – pāthikavaggapāḷi, p. 24 [DN 26]). (c) It is commonplace to find an action thus expressed in a passive voice construction using an accusative singular neuter future passive participle; however, “in English the action is normally expressed in the active” (e.g. avassaṃ mayā maritabbameva – “Inevitably I have to die [lit. ‘Inevitably dying has to be undergone by me’]”, Dhp-a, p. 271; Dhammajoti, 2018, p. 132). (d) With the dative or infinitive, the future passive participle bhabba (“able”) is utilized to mean “able to”, “capable of”, “permitted to” (e.g. abhabbo kho yaso kulaputto hīnāyāvattitvā kāme paribhuñjituṃ – “Yasa, the son of family, is indeed incapable of returning to the low [life; i.e. that of a householder] in order to enjoy sensual pleasures”, Vin III – mahāvaggapāḷi, p. 12; Collins, p. 111). (e) We can garner from all the given examples and explanations that the future passive participle is employed in an active, passive as well as a stative passive sense (Kacc 625; Collins, p. 111).

Usage – as Adjectives. (a) The participles have the nature of verbal adjectives and must, therefore, agree with the nouns they modify in number, gender and case (Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 100; Oberlies, 2019, p. 571, f.n. 1; Perniola, 1997, p. 357). (b) Numerous future passive participles ending in anīya have an independent idiomatic meaning as ordinary adjectives (and substantive nouns), being somewhat disconnected from the denotations encountered above (e.g. nāhaṃ, bhikkhave, aññaṃ ekarūpampi samanupassāmi […] evaṃ madanīyaṃ […] yathayidaṃ, bhikkhave, itthirūpaṃ – “I do not, bhikkhus, see even one form […] that is so enticing as the form of a woman”, AN V – pañcakanipātapāḷi, p. 33 [AN 5.55]; Collins, 2006, p. 110; cf. Perniola, p. 368; cf. Warder, 1963/2001, p. 107).

Usage – as Nouns. (a) Besides all that, future passive participles are also capable of operating as abstract neuter nouns (e.g. kiccaṃ – “[something] that should be done”; kataṃ karaṇīyaṃ – “done what has to be done”, MN I – mūlapaṇṇāsapāḷi, p. 14 [MN 4]; cf. Kacc 540–542 etc.; Ānandamaitreya, 1993/2012, p. 179; Duroiselle, 1906/1997, p. 166; Warder, 1963/2001, p. 107). (b) As mentioned and elaborated upon in the previous section on adjectival usages contained within this chapter, substantive nouns formed with affix anīya carry an idiomatic significance somewhat dissociated from their usual meaning.