6.5: The `tappurisa`: the king's son and the compounds of ② to ⑦

rājaputto (“the king’s son”) is the two words rañño putto made into one. The second member, putto, names the thing; the first says whose son, and if the two stood apart it would carry the ⑥ ending, rañño (“of the king”). Kaccāyana calls such a compound a tappurisa {327}: a word that would carry the ② ending or any later one, ③ to ⑦, is joined to the word that follows it, and the compound keeps the sense of the ending that was dropped. The name is itself one: tappuriso is tassa puriso, “his man”.

With the kammadhāraya, these are the commonest compounds in the texts. When you meet a compound, ask two questions. Is it the kind of thing its last member names? A rājaputto is a putto, and the compound takes its gender from that member; a compound that names something else, chinnahattho (“one whose hand is cut off”), is the bahubbīhi of section 6.6, and one whose members name the same thing, mahāpuriso (“a great man”), the kammadhāraya of 6.3. And what small English word links the members, “of”, “by”, “for”, “from”, “in”? That word is the ending the first member has lost, and it names the kind.

The six kinds, by the ending of the first member

One phrase and its compound for each ending, ② to ⑦; the ending is the one chapter 4 gives the first word for its work in the sentence:

ending	the first member is …	phrase → compound	meaning	rule
② `dutiyā`	the object, or the place gone to {297}	`bhūmiṁ gato` → `bhūmigato`	gone to the ground	{327}
③ `tatiyā`	the instrument {286}, or the doer {288}	`sallena viddho` → `sallaviddho`	pierced by an arrow	{327}
④ `catutthī`	the one it is for {293}	`kathinassa dussaṁ` → `kathinadussaṁ`	cloth for the `kathina`	{327}
⑤ `pañcamī`	the source, “from” {295}, or the thing feared {271}	`corā bhayaṁ` → `corabhayaṁ`	fear of thieves	{327}
⑥ `chaṭṭhī`	the owner, “of” {301}	`rañño putto` → `rājaputto`	the king’s son	{327}
⑦ `sattamī`	the place or time, “in”, “at” {302}	`rūpe saññā` → `rūpasaññā`; `saṁsāre dukkhaṁ` → `saṁsāradukkhaṁ`	perception of form; suffering in `saṁsāra`	{327}

The rule’s other examples, sabbarattisobhaṇo (“beautiful the whole night”, ② of a stretch of time {298}), issarakataṁ (“made by a lord”, ③) and dhaññarāsi (“a heap of grain”, ⑥, from the plural dhaññānaṁ) among them, run the same way, and so does the Fire Sermon’s rāgagginā (“with the fire of passion”, ⑥: rāgassa aggi, 9: 2.6). The Digital Pāḷi Dictionary names the kind by this ending, in the Pāḷi of the first column: a chaṭṭhī tappurisa had the ⑥ ending on its first member, a dutiyā tappurisa the ②.

In each the ending of the first member is dropped {317} and the member stands in its lemma form, the form a word has before its ending, rañño as rāja, bhūmiṁ as bhūmi {318}; the whole compound then takes an ending of its own, as bodhirukkhamūle (“at the foot of the Bodhi tree”) in 3: 2.1 carries the ⑦.

The `kammadhāraya` and the `digu` count as `tappurisa` too

The second rule here is a naming rule: the kammadhāraya and the digu are called tappurisa as well {326}, so that a rule for the tappurisa reaches them: na (“not”) at the head of a tappurisa becomes a {333}. Every example begins with na:

phrase	compound	the compound is	rule
`na brāhmaṇo`	`abrāhmaṇo` (“a non-brahmin”)	a `kammadhāraya`, `na` with a noun	{326}, {333}
`na pañcavassaṁ`	`apañcavassaṁ` (“not five years”)	a `digu`, `na` with a numeral compound	{326}, {333}

The a- for na is treated in section 6.3; every rule number links to the full rule in the Kaccāyana translation, and chapter 6 tables them all.

Examples

rañño putto → rājaputto

🚹⨀⑥(rañño) 🚹⨀①(putto) → 🚹⨀①🆎(rāja+putta)
of the king / son → the king’s son
⑥ {327}: the first member answers “whose?”; rañño loses its ending and stands as rāja.

bhūmiṁ gato → bhūmigato

🚺⨀②(bhūmiṁ) 🚹⨀①(🔽(ta)(gato)) → 🚹⨀①🆎(bhūmi+gata)
to the ground / gone → gone to the ground
② {327}: the first member is where one has gone; a word like gato (“gone”) often ends a ② compound.

Exercises

Each of the following is a tappurisa from chapters 3 and the bonus chapter, in the form it has there, with a link to its sentence. Split it into its members, say which ending the first member would carry on its own, and give the meaning. Look the word up in a dictionary and check the kind it is given.

bodhirukkhamūle (3: 2.1)
saṅkhāranirodho (3: 4.1)
vimuttisukhapaṭisaṁvedī (3: 2.2)
samādhijaṁ (Bonus: 39, 11.1)
tathāgatasāvako (Bonus: 26, 12.3)
sammāsambuddhadesitaṁ (Bonus: 48, 3.2)

Answers

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

bodhirukkhassa mūle → bodhirukkhamūle

🚹⨀⑥🆎(bodhi+rukkha) 🚻⨀⑦(mūle) → 🚻⨀⑦🆎(bodhirukkha+mūla)
of the Bodhi tree / at the foot → at the foot of the Bodhi tree
⑥ {327}: two compounds in one, bodhirukkha being itself bodhiyā rukkho; the whole takes the ⑦ ending.

saṅkhārānaṁ nirodho → saṅkhāranirodho

🚹⨂⑥(saṅkhārānaṁ) 🚹⨀①(nirodho) → 🚹⨀①🆎(saṅkhāra+nirodha)
of mental constructions / cessation → the cessation of mental constructions
⑥ {327}: a plural first member, as in dhaññarāsi; every -nirodho of chapter 3 is built so.

vimuttisukhaṁ paṭisaṁvedī → vimuttisukhapaṭisaṁvedī

🚻⨀②🆎(vimutti+sukha) 🚹⨀①(paṭisaṁvedī) → 🚹⨀①🆎(vimuttisukha+paṭisaṁvedī)
the bliss of liberation / experiencing → experiencing the bliss of liberation
② {327}: the object of paṭisaṁvedī (“experiencing”); vimuttisukhaṁ is itself vimuttiyā sukhaṁ, ⑥.

samādhimhā jaṁ → samādhijaṁ

🚹⨀⑤(samādhimhā) 🚻⨀①(jaṁ) → 🚻⨀①🆎(samādhi+ja)
from focus / born → born from focus
⑤ {327}: “born from”, the source {295}; -ja (“born”) closes a ⑤ compound as -gato closes a ②.

tathāgatassa sāvako → tathāgatasāvako

🚹⨀⑥(tathāgatassa) 🚹⨀①(sāvako) → 🚹⨀①🆎(tathāgata+sāvaka)
of the Tathāgata / disciple → disciple of the Buddha
⑥ {327}: “the disciple of the Tathāgata”, as rājaputto is “the son of the king”.

sammāsambuddhena desitaṁ → sammāsambuddhadesitaṁ

🚹⨀③🆎(sammā+sambuddha) 🚻⨀①🔽(ta)(desita) → 🚻⨀①🆎(sammāsambuddha+desita)
by the perfectly awakened one / taught → taught by the perfectly awakened one
③ {327}: the doer {288} of desitaṁ (“taught”), as in issarakataṁ (“made by a lord”); the word describes nibbānaṁ.