10.1: The descendant, and the shape of an affixed word

Many names in the texts are not the person’s own name but a family name: a name meaning “a descendant of so-and-so” (apacca). vāsiṭṭho is “a descendant of Vasiṭṭha”, vacchāyano “a descendant of Vaccha”. Such a name is the ancestor’s name with an affix added {344}, and the affix carries the meaning “descendant”, so the phrase vasiṭṭhassa apaccaṁ (“the descendant of Vasiṭṭha”) and the one word vāsiṭṭho say the same thing.

How to recognise a descendant’s name

affix	what you see	example	the ancestor	rule
`ṇa`	the first vowel lengthened, `-a`	`vāsiṭṭho`	`vasiṭṭha`	{344}
`ṇāyana`, `ṇāna`	`-āyana` or `-āna` after a clan name	`kaccāyano`, `moggallāno`	`kacca`, `moggalla`	{345}
`ṇeyya`	`-eyya`, usually after a woman’s name	`kattikeyyo`	`kattikā`	{346}
`ṇi`	`-i`	`dakkhi`	`dakkha`	{347}
`ṇava`	`-ava` after a name in `u`	`mānavo`	`manu`	{348}
`ṇera`	`-era`	`sāmaṇero`	`samaṇa`	{349}

Every one of these affixes is written with a ṇ, and the ṇ is not a sound of the word: it is a signal of three changes, the same for every affix written this way in this chapter:

change	rule	`vasiṭṭha` + `ṇa`
the `ṇ` is dropped	{396}	`vasiṭṭha` + `a`
the first vowel is lengthened, `a` to `ā`, `i` to `e`, `u` to `o`, unless two consonants follow it	{400}	`vāsiṭṭha` + `a`
the final vowel of the base gives way to the affix	{83}	`vāsiṭṭha`, then `vāsiṭṭho` with its own ending

So vaccha gives vacchāyano with no lengthening, because cch follows the first vowel. A woman’s name takes the feminine ī: vāsiṭṭhī, sāmaṇerī. The finer points of the lengthening, which vowels change before which affixes, are the rules {401}–{405}. Every rule number links to the full rule in the Kaccāyana translation; Appendix H tables them all.

Examples

vasiṭṭhassa apaccaṁ → vāsiṭṭho

🚹⨀⑥(vasiṭṭhassa) 🚻⨀①(apaccaṁ) → 🚹⨀①🔽(ṇa)(vāsiṭṭho)
of Vasiṭṭha / descendant → Vasiṭṭha’s descendant
ṇa {344}: the first a lengthened, -a added.

vacchassa apaccaṁ → vacchāyano

🚹⨀⑥(vacchassa) 🚻⨀①(apaccaṁ) → 🚹⨀①🔽(ṇāyana)(vacchāyano)
of Vaccha / descendant → Vaccha’s descendant
ṇāyana {345}: -āyana added; no lengthening, since cch follows the first vowel.

kattikāya apaccaṁ → kattikeyyo

🚺⨀⑥(kattikāya) 🚻⨀①(apaccaṁ) → 🚹⨀①🔽(ṇeyya)(kattikeyyo)
of Kattikā / descendant → Kattikā’s descendant
ṇeyya {346}: -eyya added to a mother’s name; tt keeps the first vowel short.

dakkhassa apaccaṁ → dakkhi

🚹⨀⑥(dakkhassa) 🚻⨀①(apaccaṁ) → 🚹⨀①🔽(ṇi)(dakkhi)
of Dakkha / descendant → Dakkha’s descendant
ṇi {347}: -i added; kkh keeps the first vowel short.

manuno apaccaṁ → mānavo

🚹⨀⑥(manuno) 🚻⨀①(apaccaṁ) → 🚹⨀①🔽(ṇava)(mānavo)
of Manu / descendant → Manu’s descendant, a human being
ṇava {348}: the first a lengthened, -ava added in place of the final u.

vidhavāya apaccaṁ → vedhavero

🚺⨀⑥(vidhavāya) 🚻⨀①(apaccaṁ) → 🚹⨀①🔽(ṇera)(vedhavero)
of a widow / descendant → a widow’s son
ṇera {349}: the first i becomes e, -era added.

Exercises

Each of the following is a descendant’s name. Say which affix it carries and whose descendant it names. Look the word up in a dictionary and check the ancestor’s name against the three changes above.

bhāradvājo
vāsudevo
moggallāno
kaccāyano
gaṅgeyyo
venateyyo
bhaggavo
sāmaṇero

Answers

Note: please do the exercises first before checking the answers.

bharadvājassa apaccaṁ → bhāradvājo

🚹⨀⑥(bharadvājassa) 🚻⨀①(apaccaṁ) → 🚹⨀①🔽(ṇa)(bhāradvājo)
of Bharadvāja / descendant → Bharadvāja’s descendant
ṇa {344}: the first a lengthened, -a added.

vasudevassa apaccaṁ → vāsudevo

🚹⨀⑥(vasudevassa) 🚻⨀①(apaccaṁ) → 🚹⨀①🔽(ṇa)(vāsudevo)
of Vasudeva / descendant → Vasudeva’s descendant
ṇa {344}: the first a lengthened, -a added.

moggallassa apaccaṁ → moggallāno

🚹⨀⑥(moggallassa) 🚻⨀①(apaccaṁ) → 🚹⨀①🔽(ṇāna)(moggallāno)
of Moggalla / descendant → Moggalla’s descendant
ṇāna {345}: -āna added; gg keeps the first vowel short. 4. > kaccassa apaccaṁ → kaccāyano

🚹⨀⑥(kaccassa) 🚻⨀①(apaccaṁ) → 🚹⨀①🔽(ṇāyana)(kaccāyano)
of Kacca / descendant → Kacca’s descendant
ṇāyana {345}: -āyana added; cc keeps the first vowel short. 5. > gaṅgāya apaccaṁ → gaṅgeyyo

🚺⨀⑥(gaṅgāya) 🚻⨀①(apaccaṁ) → 🚹⨀①🔽(ṇeyya)(gaṅgeyyo)
of Gaṅgā / descendant → Gaṅgā’s descendant
ṇeyya {346}: -eyya added; ṅg keeps the first vowel short.

vinatāya apaccaṁ → venateyyo

🚺⨀⑥(vinatāya) 🚻⨀①(apaccaṁ) → 🚹⨀①🔽(ṇeyya)(venateyyo)
of Vinatā / descendant → Vinatā’s descendant
ṇeyya {346}: the first i becomes e, -eyya added.

bhaggussa apaccaṁ → bhaggavo

🚹⨀⑥(bhaggussa) 🚻⨀①(apaccaṁ) → 🚹⨀①🔽(ṇava)(bhaggavo)
of Bhaggu / descendant → Bhaggu’s descendant
ṇava {348}: -ava in place of the final u; gg keeps the first vowel short.

samaṇassa apaccaṁ → sāmaṇero

🚹⨀⑥(samaṇassa) 🚻⨀①(apaccaṁ) → 🚹⨀①🔽(ṇera)(sāmaṇero)
of a recluse / descendant → a recluse’s “son”, a novice
ṇera {349}: the first a lengthened, -era added.