6.1: What a compound is

Info

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

Pāḷi runs nouns together into one word: rañño putto (“the king’s son”) becomes rājaputto. Kaccāyana calls this a samāsa (“compound”): nouns joined because their meanings belong together {316}. At the join each member loses its ending {317}, and a member that had changed shape for it goes back to its lemma, the dictionary form {318}: rañño is rāja again. The whole then takes one ending, like any noun. Meeting a long word, ask which words it holds and what ending it carries.

How to recognise a compound

what you see	what it means	example	rule
nouns run together as one word	a samāsa: their meanings belong together	rājaputto, the king’s son	{316}
no ending inside, one at the end	the members’ endings dropped	the -o of rājaputto	{317}
a member in its dictionary form	back in its original form	rāja for rañño	{318}
a first member’s ṁ kept as ṅ or n	a kept ending, in a few names	pabhaṅkaro, maker of light: pabhaṁ + kara	{317}, {31}

Examples

rañño putto → rājaputto

🚹⨀⑥(rañño) 🚹⨀①(putto) → 🚹⨀①🆎(rāja+putta)
of the king / son → the king’s son
Endings of rañño and putto dropped {317}, rañño back to its lemma rāja {318}, one ending on the whole.

Exercises

Resolve each of these words from the Bodhikathā (chapter 3) and the Fire Sermon (chapter 9) into its members and say which ending the whole carries; each is linked to the sentence it stands in.

Hint

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

1. mārasenaṁ (3: 12.3)
2. jarāmaraṇaṁ (3: 3.11)
3. ekapallaṅkena (3: 2.2)
4. bodhirukkhamūle (3: 2.1)
5. saṅkhāranirodho (3: 4.1)
6. cakkhuviññāṇaṁ (9: 2.3)

Answers

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

1. mārassa senā → mārasenaṁ

🚹⨀⑥(mārassa) 🚺⨀①(senā) → 🚺⨀②🆎(māra+senā)
of Māra / army → the army of Māra
māra (Māra) and senā (army): mārassa loses its ending; ② on the whole.

2. jarā ca maraṇaṁ ca → jarāmaraṇaṁ

🚺⨀①(jarā) ⏏️(ca) 🚻⨀①(maraṇaṁ) ⏏️(ca) → 🚻⨀①🆎(jarā+maraṇa)
old age / and / death / and → aging and death
jarā (old age) and maraṇa (death), joined as “and”; ① on the whole.

3. eko pallaṅko → ekapallaṅkena

🚹⨀①(eko) 🚹⨀①(pallaṅko) → 🚹⨀③🆎(eka+pallaṅka)
one / cross-legged posture → in one cross-legged posture
eka (one) and pallaṅka (cross-legged posture): endings dropped; ③ on the whole.

4. bodhirukkhassa mūlaṁ → bodhirukkhamūle

🚹⨀⑥🆎(bodhi+rukkha) 🚻⨀①(mūlaṁ) → 🚻⨀⑦🆎(bodhirukkha+mūla)
of the Bodhi tree / foot → at the root of the bodhi tree
bodhirukkha (Bodhi tree, itself bodhi + rukkha) and mūla (root): ⑦ on the whole.

5. saṅkhārānaṁ nirodho → saṅkhāranirodho

🚹⨂⑥(saṅkhārānaṁ) 🚹⨀①(nirodho) → 🚹⨀①🆎(saṅkhāra+nirodha)
of mental constructions / cessation → the cessation of mental constructions
saṅkhāra (mental construction) and nirodha (cessation): saṅkhārānaṁ loses its ending; ① on the whole.

6. cakkhusmiṁ viññāṇaṁ → cakkhuviññāṇaṁ

🚻⨀⑦(cakkhusmiṁ) 🚻⨀①(viññāṇaṁ) → 🚻⨀①🆎(cakkhu+viññāṇa)
in the eye / consciousness → eye-consciousness
cakkhu (eye) and viññāṇa (consciousness): cakkhusmiṁ loses its ending; ① on the whole, and the same shape for the other five senses.