2.6: `upasagga` (Prefixes)

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

Most verbs and many nouns in the texts begin with one of twenty short words that Kaccāyana calls upasagga (prefixes, 🔼): viharati (“dwells”, 9: 1.1) is vi before the root √har, nirodho (“cessation”, 3: 4.12) ni before √rudh (“obstruct”), abhisambuddho (“fully awakened”, 5: 9.1) abhi and saṁ before √budh (“wake”). A prefix carries no ending, since {221} drops every ending after a prefix or a particle, and keeps its place in every form of the word. Chapter 1 sorts the prefixes into those that follow the root’s meaning, those that reverse it (gacchati “goes”, āgacchati “comes”) and those that sharpen it (jānāti “knows”, pajānāti “knows clearly”).

Ask of such a word: what is left when the prefix is taken off, and what did it add? The Digital Pali Dictionary’s construction field answers the first (vi + hara + ti), the first table below the second. A prefix may change shape at the join, and two or three may stand together (abhisambuddho); the second table gives the shapes. The texts’ analysis lines and the dictionary treat a prefixed word as one lemma, 🟢⨀🤟▶️(viharati): the prefix is to be seen through, not looked up.

The twenty prefixes

In Kaccāyana’s order from {221}, with the commonest meaning (Appendix F has every sense), one example and the rule that shapes it at the join, or {221} where nothing changes. The examples are the texts’, each linked to its sentence, except parābhavo (Kaccāyana’s own) and dukkaraṁ, pidahati, apagacchati (Appendix F).

prefix	meaning	example	rule
pa	forth; clearly	pajānāti, knows clearly (3: 6.4)	{221}
parā	away; the reverse	parābhavo, ruin	{221}
ni	down, into	nirodho, cessation (3: 4.12)	{221}
nī	out	nissaraṇaṁ, the way out (Bonus: 50, 3.3)	{28}
u	up	udapādi, arose (5: 5.1)	{35}
du	badly; hard to	dukkaraṁ, hard to do	{28}
saṁ	together; fully	sambodhi, full awakening (5: 2.4)	{31}
vi	apart; specially	vimutti, liberation (5: 10.2)	{221}
ava	down, off	obhāso, radiance (5: 13.2)	{50}
anu	along, after	ananussutesu, not heard before (5: 5.1)	{28}
pari	all round; fully	pariññeyyaṁ, to be fully understood (5: 5.2)	{28}
adhi	over; in	ajjhattaṁ, inwardly (7: 7.1)	{45}
abhi	towards; fully	abhiññā, direct knowledge (5: 2.4)	{221}
pati	back, against	paṭipadā, the way (5: 2.4)	{48}
su	well	suvisuddhaṁ, fully purified (5: 9.1)	{221}
ā	to; the reverse	āmantesi, addressed (9: 1.2); ādittaṁ, burning (9: 2.1)	{221}
ati	beyond	atikkamma, surpassing (5: 13.2)	{28}
api	over, on	pidahati, closes	{221}
apa	away	apagacchati, goes away	{221}
upa	near	upasamāya, to calm (5: 2.4)	{221}

The dictionary writes u as ud, du as dur and sometimes ni as nī (nibbāna, nī + √vā), their shapes before a vowel or a doubled consonant; api loses its a in pidahati.

What happens at the join

The Sandhikappa (Appendix E) says what happens where prefix and root meet; each rule number links to the full rule.

what you see	what it was	example	rule
sam, saṅ, sañ, san	saṁ, with the nasal of the next consonant’s group; kept before v, s, h	sambodhi (5: 2.4), cakkhusamphasso (9: 2.3), saṅkhārā (7: 4.4), saññā (7: 4.1), sandiṭṭhiko; saṁvattati (7: 2.3)	{31}, {30}
sam before a vowel	saṁ	samudayo (3: 3.12), samanupassituṁ (7: 6.5)	{34}
a doubled consonant after vi, u, pa, du, anu, pari, nī, ati	the next consonant doubled	vippayogo (5: 4.1), uppajjati (9: 2.4), nissaraṇaṁ (Bonus: 50, 3.3), atikkamma (5: 13.2)	{28}
ud before a vowel	u with a d inserted	udapādi (5: 5.1), udānesi (3: 5.1)	{35}
a final vowel gone	a vowel dropped before a vowel	upādāna (upa + ādāna, 3: 3.8), upāyāsehi (upa + āyāsa, 9: 2.6)	{12}
abbh before a vowel	abhi	abbhuggacchi (5: 13.1)	{44}
ajjh before a vowel	adhi	ajjhattaṁ (7: 7.1), ajjhagamaṁ (Bonus: 46, 18.1)	{45}
pacc before a vowel	pati, the ti become cc	paccaññāsiṁ (5: 10.1), paccassosuṁ (7: 1.3), paccayā (9: 2.4)	{19}
paṭi	pati, in most words	paṭipadā (5: 2.4), paṭicca (Bonus: 14, 8.1), paṭilabhiṁ (Bonus: 26, 12.4)	{48}
o before a consonant	ava	obhāso (5: 13.2), ohāretvā (Bonus: 26, 12.8)	{50}

anu, or an + u?

Not every anu- is the prefix anu: the negative an- can stand before a prefix beginning with u. anupagamma (“not approaching”, 5: 2.4) is an + upa + √gam and anuttaraṁ (“unsurpassed”, 5: 9.1) an + u + tara, while ananussutesu (5: 5.1) is an + anu + √su; the construction field settles it.

Examples

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
ā (“to”) + √mant (“counsel”): counsel turned towards someone; unchanged before a consonant, and the -esi is the verb’s ending, not the prefix’s {221} (5: 1.2).

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
pa + √yuj (“yoke”) under two prefixes: saṁ (“together”), sam before p {31}, gives association, and vi (“apart”), the p doubled after it {28}, separation (5: 4.1).

sambodhāya nibbānāya saṁvattati

🚹⨀④(sambodha) 🚻⨀④(nibbāna) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(saṁvattati)
to enlightenment / to extinguishment / leads
saṁ twice: sam before b {31} in sambodhāya (saṁ + √budh, “wake”), saṁ kept before v {30} in saṁvattati (saṁ + √vatt, “proceed”) (5: 2.4).

cakkhuṁ udapādi

🚻⨀①(cakkhu) 🟢⨀🤟⏮(uppajjati)
insight / arose
udapādi is u (“up”) + √pad (“go”), “went up”: a d is inserted after u before a vowel {35}, and the a after it is the a put before the root in the past {519} (5: 5.1).

Exercises

Each word below is from the texts; the link beside it leads to the sentence. Name its prefix, the shape it has at the join and the root or word after it, and say what it adds to the meaning, and check the dictionary’s construction field.

Hint

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

1. pajānāti (3: 6.4)
2. abhisambuddho (5: 9.1)
3. saṅkhārā (3: 3.1)
4. pariññeyyaṁ (5: 5.2)
5. paṭipadā (5: 2.4)
6. nissaraṇaṁ (Bonus: 50, 3.3)
7. ajjhattaṁ (7: 7.1)
8. uppajjati (9: 2.4)

Answers

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

1. pajānāti

🟢⨀🤟▶️(pajānāti)
knows
pa + √ñā (“know”): pa sharpens the root, “knows clearly”; nothing changes at the join (3: 6.4).

2. abhisambuddho

🚹⨀①🔽(ta)(abhisambuddha)
fully awakened
abhi (“fully”) + saṁ (“fully”) + √budh (“wake”), two prefixes: abhi unchanged before s, sam before b {31} (5: 9.1).

3. saṅkhārā

🚹⨂①(saṅkhāra)
mental constructions
saṁ (“together”) + √kar (“make”): the ṁ becomes ṅ before kh {31} (3: 3.1).

4. pariññeyyaṁ

🚻⨀①🔽(ṇya)(pariññeyya)
to be fully understood
pari (“all round”) + √ñā (“know”): the ñ doubles after the short i {28}; -eyya says “to be … -ed” (chapter 8) (5: 5.2).

5. paṭipadā

🚺⨀①(paṭipadā)
way
pati (“towards”) + √pad (“go”), the way: pati becomes paṭi {48}, nothing else changes (5: 2.4).

6. nissaraṇaṁ

🚻⨀①(nissaraṇa)
way out of
nī (“out”) + √sar (“go”), “going out”: the s doubles after the prefix {28} and the ī written short (Bonus: 50, 3.3).

7. ajjhattaṁ

⏏️(ajjhattaṁ)
internal
adhi (“in”) + atta (“self”): adhi becomes ajjh before a vowel {45}; “in oneself”, inwardly (7: 7.1).

8. uppajjati

🟢⨀🤟▶️(uppajjati)
arises
u (“up”) + √pad (“go”), “goes up”: the p doubles after u {28} (9: 2.4).