2.2: Nouns: the major inflection tables

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Part of “A Beginner (Non-Linguist) Guide to Learning Pali”

Every noun (nāma, “a name”) carries an ending that tells what the noun is doing in its sentence. Once a word is split from its neighbours (2.1), ask “what is its ending?”, then “what is it telling me?”. This section answers the first question with the inflection tables of the lemma classes that fill the texts, in one view, the way the Bālāvatāra summarises them; the second question is chapter 4’s. The master table of endings at the end of chapter 1 reads the same tables the other way round, from the ending to the form.

A noun has a gender (liṅga) {53}, which the Digital Pāḷi Dictionary writes as masc, nt or fem after the headword: it is looked up, not guessed from the lemma’s last letter. A noun also has a number, singular (ekavacana) ⨀ or plural (bahuvacana) ⨂, and one of eight endings {54}: ① to ⑦, the seven vibhatti of chapter 1, and ⓪, the calling form (ālapana). Which shape an ending takes depends on the lemma’s last letter and gender, and nine nouns in ten that a reader meets belong to a handful of classes: by the dictionary’s count of occurrences in the early discourses, masculines and neuters in -a (purisa, citta) come first by far, then feminines in -ā (kaññā), masculines in -u (bhikkhu), feminines in -i (ratti, jāti), masculines in -i (aggi), feminines in -ī (nadī), and the neuters in -i and -u (aṭṭhi, cakkhu). The few very common words that follow none of these, bhagavā, satthā, rājā, attā, mano, are the irregular inflections of 2.3.

The major inflection tables

Each table reads across: the ending, then for each model word its singular and plural shapes. Where a form has two shapes both are in use; the first is the commoner in the texts. Kaccāyana’s rules for every shape are {55}–{119} and {215}–{245}, tabled in Appendix G.

Masculine nouns: lemmas ending in -a (purisa, “man”), -i (aggi, “fire”) and -u (bhikkhu):

ending	purisa ⨀	purisa ⨂	aggi ⨀	aggi ⨂	bhikkhu ⨀	bhikkhu ⨂
①	puriso	purisā	aggi	aggī, aggayo	bhikkhu	bhikkhū, bhikkhavo
②	purisaṁ	purise	aggiṁ	aggī, aggayo	bhikkhuṁ	bhikkhū, bhikkhavo
③	purisena	purisehi	agginā	aggīhi	bhikkhunā	bhikkhūhi
④	purisassa, purisāya	purisānaṁ	aggino, aggissa	aggīnaṁ	bhikkhuno, bhikkhussa	bhikkhūnaṁ
⑤	purisā, purisasmā, purisamhā	purisehi	agginā, aggismā, aggimhā	aggīhi	bhikkhunā, bhikkhusmā, bhikkhumhā	bhikkhūhi
⑥	purisassa	purisānaṁ	aggino, aggissa	aggīnaṁ	bhikkhuno, bhikkhussa	bhikkhūnaṁ
⑦	purise, purisasmiṁ, purisamhi	purisesu	aggismiṁ, aggimhi	aggīsu	bhikkhusmiṁ, bhikkhumhi	bhikkhūsu
⓪	purisa, purisā	purisā	aggi	aggī, aggayo	bhikkhu	bhikkhave, bhikkhavo

Feminine nouns: lemmas ending in -ā (kaññā, “girl”), -i (ratti, “night”) and -ī (nadī, “river”); a lemma in -u or -ū (dhenu, “cow”; vadhū, “young wife”) goes like ratti and nadī with u for i:

ending	kaññā ⨀	kaññā ⨂	ratti ⨀	ratti ⨂	nadī ⨀	nadī ⨂
①	kaññā	kaññā, kaññāyo	ratti	rattī, rattiyo	nadī	nadī, nadiyo
②	kaññaṁ	kaññā, kaññāyo	rattiṁ	rattī, rattiyo	nadiṁ	nadī, nadiyo
③	kaññāya	kaññāhi	rattiyā	rattīhi	nadiyā	nadīhi
④	kaññāya	kaññānaṁ	rattiyā	rattīnaṁ	nadiyā	nadīnaṁ
⑤	kaññāya	kaññāhi	rattiyā	rattīhi	nadiyā	nadīhi
⑥	kaññāya	kaññānaṁ	rattiyā	rattīnaṁ	nadiyā	nadīnaṁ
⑦	kaññāya, kaññāyaṁ	kaññāsu	rattiyā, rattiyaṁ	rattīsu	nadiyā, nadiyaṁ	nadīsu
⓪	kaññe	kaññā, kaññāyo	ratti	rattī, rattiyo	nadi	nadī, nadiyo

Neuter nouns: lemmas ending in -a (citta, “mind”), -i (aṭṭhi, “bone”) and -u (cakkhu, “eye”); only ①, ② and ⓪ differ from the masculine of the same class, so the rest of each column reads as purisa, aggi and bhikkhu:

ending	citta ⨀	citta ⨂	aṭṭhi ⨀	aṭṭhi ⨂	cakkhu ⨀	cakkhu ⨂
①	cittaṁ	cittāni	aṭṭhi	aṭṭhīni, aṭṭhī	cakkhu	cakkhūni, cakkhū
②	cittaṁ	cittāni	aṭṭhiṁ	aṭṭhīni, aṭṭhī	cakkhuṁ	cakkhūni, cakkhū
③ to ⑦	as purisa	as purisa	as aggi	as aggi	as bhikkhu	as bhikkhu
⓪	citta	cittāni	aṭṭhi	aṭṭhīni	cakkhu	cakkhūni

Two habits of the tables are worth fixing in the eye. The plural ③ to ⑦ of every class are the same four shapes, -hi, -naṁ, -hi, -su, on the lemma’s final vowel, long in i and u words (bhikkhūhi, rattīnaṁ, aggīsu) and e for a (purisehi, purisesu). And a feminine has one singular shape for ③ to ⑦, -āya after ā {111} and -iyā after i or ī {112}, which the sentence alone sorts out: taṇhāya in 5: 4.3 is ⑥, “of craving”, rattiyā in 3: 2.3 ⑥, “of the night”.

The same ending, three jobs

-ā is 🚹 ①⨂ (dhammā), 🚹 ⑤⨀ (avijjāpaccayā), 🚺 ①⨀ (taṇhā) and 🚺 ①⨂ (kaṅkhā); -e is 🚹 ②⨂ (ante), 🚹 or 🚻 ⑦⨀ (migadāye, isipatane) and 🚺 ⓪⨀ (kaññe); -aṁ is 🚹 ②⨀ (samayaṁ), 🚻 ①⨀ or ②⨀ (viññāṇaṁ) and 🚺 ②⨀ (mārasenaṁ). Gender, agreeing words and the verb decide: pātubhavanti dhammā (3: 6.1) has a plural verb, so dhammā is ①⨂.

Adjectives agree

An adjective (guṇanāma, “a quality-word”) has no gender of its own: it takes the gender, number and ending of its noun, so the two wear one shape: ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo (“the noble eightfold path”, 5: 3.2), 🚹⨀① on all three words; bhummā devā (5: 12.1), 🚹⨂①; pañcavaggiye bhikkhū (5: 1.2), 🚹⨂② in two shapes, -e on the a lemma and -ū on the u lemma. An a lemma used of a feminine noun takes the feminine -ā {237} and follows kaññā: majjhimā paṭipadā (“the middle way”, 5: 2.4), 🚺⨀①.

Examples

Avijjāpaccayā saṅkhārā,

🚹⨀⑤🆎(avijjā+paccaya) 🚹⨂①(saṅkhāra)
with ignorance as condition / mental constructions
Two -ā, two jobs: avijjāpaccayā is ⑤⨀, “from” {108}, saṅkhārā ①⨂ {107}; 3: 3.1.

saṁkhittena pañcupādānakkhandhā dukkhā

🚹⨀③🔽(ta)(saṁkhitta) 🚹⨂①🆎(pañca+upādāna+khandha) 🚹⨂①(dukkha)
in short / the five collections of fuel / suffering
saṁkhittena: ③⨀, -ena {103}; pañcupādānakkhandhā: ①⨂, -ā {107}, its adjective dukkhā agreeing; 5: 4.1.

jātipi dukkhā, jarāpi dukkhā, byādhipi dukkho, maraṇampi dukkhaṁ

🚺⨀①(jāti) ⏏️(api) 🚺⨀①(dukkha) 🚺⨀①(jarā) ⏏️(api) 🚺⨀①(dukkha) 🚹⨀①(byādhi) ⏏️(api) 🚹⨀①(dukkha) 🚻⨀①(maraṇa) ⏏️(api) 🚻⨀①(dukkha)
birth / too / suffering / aging / too / suffering / illness / too / suffering / death / too / suffering
One adjective, three shapes: dukkhā with the 🚺 jāti and jarā {237}, dukkho with the 🚹 byādhi {104}, dukkhaṁ with the 🚻 maraṇa {219}; 5: 4.1.

upasamāya abhiññāya sambodhāya nibbānāya saṁvattati

🚹⨀④(upasama) 🚺⨀④(abhiññā) 🚹⨀④(sambodha) 🚻⨀④(nibbāna) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(saṁvattati)
to calm / to direct knowledge / to enlightenment / to extinguishment / leads
-āya on an a lemma is ④⨀, “to” {109}; on the 🚺 abhiññā the -āya of {111} is ④ too, as its three neighbours; 5: 2.4.

Tatra kho bhagavā pañcavaggiye bhikkhū āmantesi—

⏏️(tatra) ⏏️(kho) 🚹⨀①(bhagavant) 🚹⨂②🆎(pañca+vaggiya) 🚹⨂②(bhikkhu) 🟢⨀🤟⏮(āmanteti)
there / indeed / the Bhagavā / of the group of five / bhikkhū / addressed
There the Bhagavā addressed the group of five bhikkhū:
bhikkhū: -ū, the ② plural, yo dropped and the u lengthened {118}, {88}, the object of āmantesi; pañcavaggiye agrees with it; 5: 1.2.

rattiyā paṭhamaṁ yāmaṁ

🚺⨀⑥(ratti) 🚹⨀②(paṭhama) 🚹⨀②(yāma)
of the night / first / watch
during the first watch of the night
rattiyā: -iyā, the feminine singular shape for ③ to ⑦ {112}; here ⑥, “of the night”; 3: 2.3.

Exercises

Each sentence or phrase is from chapter 3, 5, 7, 9 or the bonus chapter, which translates it. Name the gender, number and ending of every noun or adjective; in the last three the word in bold is a lemma in i or u. bhagavā belongs to 2.3.

Hint

You may find the Digital Pali Dictionary useful for looking up words, as well as doing the sandhi and compound word deconstruction.

1. Ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā gayāyaṁ viharati gayāsīse saddhiṁ bhikkhusahassena.
2. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa samudayo hoti.
3. Athassa kaṅkhā vapayanti sabbā,
4. appiyehi sampayogo dukkho, piyehi vippayogo dukkho
5. Yato khayaṁ paccayānaṁ avedī”ti.
6. akuppā me vimutti, ayamantimā jāti
7. pañcavaggiyānaṁ bhikkhūnaṁ anupādāya āsavehi cittāni vimucciṁsūti
8. Rāgagginā, dosagginā, mohagginā ādittaṁ, jātiyā jarāya maraṇena

Answers

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

1. Ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā gayāyaṁ viharati gayāsīse saddhiṁ bhikkhusahassena.

*️⃣🤟🚹⨀②(eka) 🚹⨀②(samaya) 🚹⨀①(bhagavant) 🚺⨀⑦(gayā) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(viharati) 🚻⨀⑦(gayāsīsa) ⏏️(saddhiṁ) 🚻⨀③🆎(bhikkhu+sahassa)
one / time / the Bhagavā / at Gayā / dwells / at Gayāsīsa / together / with a thousand bhikkhū
ekaṁ samayaṁ: 🚹⨀②, -aṁ {83}; gayāyaṁ: 🚺⨀⑦, -āyaṁ {216}; gayāsīse: 🚻⨀⑦, -e {108}; bhikkhusahassena: 🚻⨀③, -ena {103}; 9: 1.1.

2. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa samudayo hoti.

⏏️(evaṁ) *️⃣🤟🚹⨀⑥(eta) 🚹⨀⑥(kevala) 🚹⨀⑥🆎(dukkha+khandha) 🚹⨀①(samudaya) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(hoti)
thus / of this / of the entire / of the mass of suffering / origin / is
kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa: 🚹⨀⑥, -assa {61}, “of”, adjective and noun alike; samudayo: 🚹⨀①, -o {104}; 3: 3.12.

3. Athassa kaṅkhā vapayanti sabbā,

⏏️(atha) *️⃣🤟🚹⨀⑥(ima) 🚺⨂①(kaṅkhā) 🟢⨂🤟▶️(vapayāti) *️⃣🤟🚺⨂①(sabba)
then / his / doubts / vanish / all
kaṅkhā: 🚺⨂①, -ā {118}, with a plural verb; sabbā agrees, 🚺⨂①; 3: 6.3.

4. appiyehi sampayogo dukkho, piyehi vippayogo dukkho

🚹⨂③🆎(na+piya) 🚹⨀①(sampayoga) 🚹⨀①(dukkha) 🚹⨂③(piya) 🚹⨀①(vippayoga) 🚹⨀①(dukkha)
with the unloved / association / suffering / from the loved / separation / suffering
appiyehi, piyehi: 🚹⨂③, -ehi {101}; sampayogo, vippayogo and the agreeing dukkho: 🚹⨀①, -o {104}; 5: 4.1.

5. Yato khayaṁ paccayānaṁ avedī”ti.

⏏️(yato) 🚹⨀②(khaya) 🚹⨂⑥(paccaya) 🟢⨀🤟⏮(vedeti) ⏏️(iti)
since / the destruction / of conditions / knew / (end quote)
khayaṁ: 🚹⨀②, -aṁ {83}, the object; paccayānaṁ: 🚹⨂⑥, -ānaṁ {89}, “of”; 3: 9.4.

6. akuppā me vimutti, ayamantimā jāti

🚺⨀①🆎(na+kuppa) *️⃣👆⚧⨀⑥(ahaṁ) 🚺⨀①(vimutti) *️⃣🤟🚺⨀①(ima) 🚺⨀①(antima) 🚺⨀①(jāti)
unshakeable / my / liberation / this / final / birth
Unshakeable is my liberation, this is the final birth.

7. pañcavaggiyānaṁ bhikkhūnaṁ anupādāya āsavehi cittāni vimucciṁsūti

🚹⨂⑥🆎(pañca+vaggiya) 🚹⨂⑥(bhikkhu) 🔽(ya)(anupādiyati) 🚹⨂⑤(āsava) 🚻⨂①(citta) 🔵⨂🤟⏮(vimuccati) ⏏️(iti)
of the group of five / bhikkhū / not grasping / from the defilements / minds / were liberated / (end quote)
the cittāni (minds) of the group of five bhikkhū, anupādāya (not grasping), were liberated from the āsavā (defilements).

8. Rāgagginā, dosagginā, mohagginā ādittaṁ, jātiyā jarāya maraṇena

🚹⨀③🆎(rāga+aggi) 🚹⨀③🆎(dosa+aggi) 🚹⨀③🆎(moha+aggi) 🚻⨀①🔽(ta)(āditta) 🚺⨀③(jāti) 🚺⨀③(jarā) 🚻⨀③(maraṇa)
with the fire of passion / with the fire of hatred / with the fire of delusion / burning / with birth / with aging / with death
Burning with the fire of passion (rāgaggi), with the fire of hatred (dosaggi), with the fire of delusion (mohaggi); burning with birth, aging, death