6.2: The abyayībhāva, a compound with a prefix or a particle first

Info

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

Most compounds join two nouns. A few join a noun to one of the small words that never change their form, a prefix (upasagga, 🔼) such as upa (“near”) or a particle (nipāta, ⏏️) such as yathā (“as”): upanagaraṁ (“near the town”) is upa with nagara (“town”), and yathābhūtaṁ (“as it truly is”) is yathā with bhūta (“true”, “real”). Kaccāyana names such a compound an abyayībhāva {319}. Its first member carries the meaning, and the whole word tells where, when, how or how far something happens, as an adverb does in English. Kaccāyana’s own examples are a grammarian’s, but words of this shape are on every page of the texts: yathābhūtaṁ (chapters 5, 7 and the bonus chapter) and yāvajīvaṁ (“as long as life lasts”, the bonus chapter).

Two things make an abyayībhāva easy to recognise. It is always neuter {320}, whatever the gender of the noun inside it, and it keeps one form wherever it stands in the sentence: a compound ending in a ends in -aṁ {341}, and one ending in i or u has no ending at all {343}, a long final vowel being shortened first {342}. So upanagaraṁ says “near the town” whether the town is the subject, the object or the place of the sentence. When you meet a word that begins with a prefix or a particle and ends in -aṁ, or in a bare short i or u, ask what the first member means: that is the meaning of the word, and the noun after it is what the first member applies to.

How to recognise an abyayībhāva

The first members in Kaccāyana’s examples:

first member	its meaning	example	meaning	rule
upa 🔼	near	upanagaraṁ, upagaṅgaṁ	near the town, near the Ganges	{319}
yathā ⏏️	as, according to	yathāvuḍḍhaṁ, yathābhūtaṁ	according to seniority, as it truly is	{319}
adhi 🔼	concerning	adhicittaṁ	concerning the mind, the higher mind	{319}
pati 🔼	against	patisotaṁ	against the stream	{319}
yāva ⏏️	as long as, as far as	yāvajīvaṁ	as long as life lasts	{319}
tiro ⏏️	through, beyond	tiropabbataṁ, tirokuṭṭaṁ	beyond the mountain, through the wall	{319}
anto ⏏️	inside	antopāsādaṁ	inside the mansion	{319}
ni 🔼 (the dictionary’s nir), the next consonant doubled {28}	without	niddarathaṁ, nimmakasaṁ	free from distress, free from mosquitoes	{319}

The compound keeps one form, by four rules:

what you see	what it means	example	rule
the compound is neuter, whatever the noun inside it	gaṅgā (“the Ganges”) is feminine, upagaṅgaṁ is not	upagaṅgaṁ (near the Ganges), adhikumāri (concerning girls)	{320}
a compound in a ends in -aṁ wherever it stands	one form serves for every ending; only sometimes does an ending keep its shape	upanagaraṁ, yāvajīvaṁ; but adhicittassa (“of the higher mind”)	{341}
a long final vowel is shortened, ā to a, ī to i, ū to u	the neuter compound takes the short vowel	upagaṅgaṁ from gaṅgā, adhikumāri from kumārī, upavadhu from vadhū	{342}
a compound in i or u has no ending at all	the bare word is its only form	adhikumāri, upavadhu (near the young wife), adhitthi (concerning women)	{343}

Every rule number links to the full rule in the Kaccāyana translation; Appendix F gives the meanings of every prefix.

Examples

nagarassa samīpe pavattati kathā → upanagaraṁ

🚻⨀⑥(nagarassa) 🚻⨀⑦(samīpe) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(pavattati) 🚺⨀①(kathā) → 🚻⨀①🆎(upa+nagara)
of the town / in the vicinity / goes on / talk → near the town
upa (“near”) stands for samīpe and comes first {319}; the compound is neuter {320} and ends in -aṁ {341}.

kumārīsu adhikicca pavattati kathā → adhikumāri

🚺⨂⑦(kumārīsu) 🔽(ya)(adhikicca) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(pavattati) 🚺⨀①(kathā) → 🚻⨀①🆎(adhi+kumārī)
girls / with reference to / goes on / talk → concerning girls
kumārī (“girl”) is feminine, but the compound is neuter {320}: its ī is shortened {342} and it takes no ending {343}.

Exercises

Each of the following is an abyayībhāva. Name its first member and say what it means, name the noun it is joined to, and give the meaning of the whole word; the first two you have met in the texts, and the answers link to the sentences; the rest are Kaccāyana’s own. Look the words up in a dictionary and check which of the four rules above each one shows.

Hint

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

1. yathābhūtaṁ
2. yāvajīvaṁ
3. tiropabbataṁ
4. upagaṅgaṁ
5. upavadhu

Answers

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

1. yathābhūtaṁ

🚻⨀①🆎(yathā+bhūta)
as it truly is
yathā (“as”) with bhūta (“true”, “real”): an abyayībhāva {319} in -aṁ {341}; Bonus: 18, 1.21, samāhito yathābhūtaṁ jānāti passati, and 7: 7.1.

2. jīvassa yattako paricchedo → yāvajīvaṁ

🚻⨀⑥(jīvassa) 🚹⨀①(yattako) 🚹⨀①(paricchedo) → 🚻⨀①🆎(yāva+jīva)
of life / however much / limit → as long as life lasts
yāva (“as long as”) stands for yattako paricchedo (“whatever the limit”): an abyayībhāva {319} in -aṁ {341}; Bonus: 32, 21.1, yāvajīvaṁ arahanto.

3. pabbatassa tiro → tiropabbataṁ

🚹⨀⑥(pabbatassa) ⏏️(tiro) → 🚻⨀①🆎(tiro+pabbata)
of the mountain / beyond → beyond the mountain
tiro (“beyond”) comes first: an abyayībhāva {319} in -aṁ {341}.

4. gaṅgāya samīpe pavattati kathā → upagaṅgaṁ

🚺⨀⑥(gaṅgāya) 🚻⨀⑦(samīpe) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(pavattati) 🚺⨀①(kathā) → 🚻⨀①🆎(upa+gaṅgā)
of the Ganges / in the vicinity / goes on / talk → near the Ganges
upa (“near”) stands for samīpe {319}; gaṅgā (“the Ganges”) is feminine, but the compound is neuter {320}, its ā shortened {342}, in -aṁ {341}.

5. vadhuyā samīpe pavattati kathā → upavadhu

🚺⨀⑥(vadhuyā) 🚻⨀⑦(samīpe) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(pavattati) 🚺⨀①(kathā) → 🚻⨀①🆎(upa+vadhū)
of the young wife / in the vicinity / goes on / talk → near the young wife
upa (“near”) with vadhū (“young wife”), feminine, but the compound is neuter {320}: its ū is shortened {342} and it takes no ending {343}.