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buddhavacana

6.3: The kammadhāraya, two words for one thing

Open any page of the Canon and you meet words like mahāpuriso (“a great man”), kaṇhasappo (“a black snake”) or, in chapter 7, anattā (“not-self”) and aniccaṁ (“impermanent”): two words that name one and the same thing, made into one. Kaccāyana calls such a compound a kammadhāraya {324}, a compound of two words with the same referent (tulyādhikaraṇa): kaṇho sappo is a snake, and it is black. When the two join, the ending of each member drops {317} and the whole takes one ending, like any other noun; this book marks the compound 🆎 with its members in their lemma form, 🚹⨀①🆎(kaṇha+sappa). The question to ask when you meet one is: do both members name the same thing? If the first describes the second (“black” + “snake”, “great” + “man”, “not” + “self”), it is a kammadhāraya; if the compound means “the X of Y” it is a tappurisa (6.5), and if it names a third thing it is a bahubbīhi (6.6).

Four first members change their shape when they join, and these are the ones to learn to recognise: mahanta (“great”) becomes mahā {330}, a feminine word goes back to its masculine shape {331}–{332}, the word na (“not”) becomes a or an {333}–{334}, and ku (“bad”) becomes kad or kā {335}–{336}. Kaccāyana counts every kammadhāraya as a tappurisa as well {326}, which is why the rules for na speak of a tappurisa; and a kammadhāraya whose first member is a numeral has a name of its own, the digu {325} (6.4).

The kinds of kammadhāraya

Section titled “The kinds of kammadhāraya”
what you see what it means example rule
an adjective, then its noun the noun as described: a snake that is black kaṇhasappo (“a black snake”, kaṇha + sappa) {324}
a noun, then another noun for the same person or thing both names at once: a brahmin woman who is a girl brāhmaṇadārikā (“a brahmin girl”, brāhmaṇī + dārikā) {324}
mahā-, or maha- with the next consonant doubled “great”: mahanta in its compound shape mahāpuriso (“a great man”), mahapphalaṁ (“of great fruit”), mahabbhayaṁ (“great danger”) {330}
a feminine word in its masculine shape, then a feminine noun the first word describes the second khattiyakaññā (“a khattiya maiden”, khattiyā + kaññā) {331}, {332}
a- before a consonant, an- before a vowel “not”: the word na abrāhmaṇo (“a non-brahmin”), aniccaṁ (“impermanent”); anariyo (“ignoble”), anattā (“not-self”) {333}, {334}
kad- before a vowel, kā-, or ku- before a consonant “bad”, and kā- also “a little”: the word ku kadannaṁ (“bad food”), kālavaṇaṁ (“a little salt”), kujanā (“bad people”) {335}, {336}

The maha- shape doubles the consonant after it {29}, so mahabbhayaṁ carries the same mahanta as mahāpuriso. The rule for a feminine word is stated first for a bahubbīhi, dīghajaṅgho (“one whose shins are long”, dīghā + jaṅghā) {331}, then extended to the kammadhāraya {332}; it applies only to a word that has a masculine shape to go back to, so brāhmaṇabandhu (“a brahmin’s kinswoman”) keeps its form in brāhmaṇabandhudārikā. kā- for ku means “a little” and now and then “bad”, as in kāpurisā (“wretched men”) {336}. Every rule number links to the full rule in the Kaccāyana translation; the chapter overview tables every rule of the Samāsakappa.

Examples

Section titled “Examples”

kaṇho ca so sappo ca → kaṇhasappo

🚹⨀①(kaṇho) ⏏️(ca) *️⃣🤟🚹⨀①(so) 🚹⨀①(sappo) ⏏️(ca) → 🚹⨀①🆎(kaṇha+sappa)
black / and / it / a snake / and → a black snake
adjective + noun {324}: kaṇha (“black”) describes sappa (“snake”); both endings drop and the compound takes its own.

mahanto ca so puriso ca → mahāpuriso

🚹⨀①(mahanto) ⏏️(ca) *️⃣🤟🚹⨀①(so) 🚹⨀①(puriso) ⏏️(ca) → 🚹⨀①🆎(mahanta+purisa)
great / and / he / a man / and → a great man
mahā for mahanta {330}: “great” + “man”; it is the first part of mahāpurisavihāro in Bonus: 44, 2.6.

Rūpaṁ, bhikkhave, anattā.

🚻⨀①(rūpa) 🚹⨂⓪(bhikkhu) 🚹⨀①🆎(na+atta)
form / bhikkhave / not-self
“rūpa (form), bhikkhave, is anattā (not-self).” 7: 2.1: an for na before a vowel {334}; before a consonant a, aniccaṁ (“impermanent”).

Exercises

Section titled “Exercises”

Each of the following compounds you have met in the texts, chapters 5, 7, 9 or the bonus chapter, in the form it has there; the answers link to the sentences. Resolve it into its members, say which kind of kammadhāraya it is, and give the meaning. Look the word up in a dictionary and check its first member against the table above.

  1. brahmacariyaṁ
  2. sāyanhasamayaṁ
  3. anuttaraṁ
  4. anagāriyaṁ
  5. amataṁ

Answers

Section titled “Answers”

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

  1. brahma + cariya → brahmacariyaṁ

🚻⨀①🆎(brahma+cariya)
holy + conduct → pure life
adjective + noun {324}: brahma (“holy”, “highest”) describes cariya (“conduct”, “way of life”); 9: 9.2, vusitaṁ brahmacariyaṁ, and 7: 11.4.

  1. sāyanha + samaya → sāyanhasamayaṁ

🚹⨀②🆎(sāyanha+samaya)
evening + time → in the late afternoon
noun + noun {324}: sāyanha (“evening”) and samaya (“time”) name one time; Bonus: 44, 1.3, sāyanhasamayaṁ paṭisallānā vuṭṭhito.

  1. na + uttara → anuttaraṁ

🚻⨀①🆎(na+uttara)
not + higher → unsurpassed
an for na before a vowel {334}: uttara (“higher”); 5: 12.1, anuttaraṁ dhammacakkaṁ pavattitaṁ.

  1. na + agāriya → anagāriyaṁ

🚻⨀②🆎(na+agāriya)
not + belonging to a house → to homeless state
an for na before a vowel {334}: agāriya (“belonging to a house”); Bonus: 26, 12.8, agārasmā anagāriyaṁ.

  1. na + mata → amataṁ

🚻⨀①🆎(na+mata)
not + dead → free from death
a for na {333}: “not dead”, the deathless, a name of nibbāna; Bonus: 49, 66.2, amataṁ ajjāpi ca labhanīyamidaṁ.