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buddhavacana

8.6: Passive and causative

Section 8.1 read a verb from its ending: the time, the person and the number. Two pieces that sit between the root and that ending change who the subject of the sentence is. With ya the verb is passive (kamma, 🔴): the subject is the thing acted on, ayaṁ vuccati (“this is said”), and the one who acts, if named at all, takes the ③ ending {288}. With e, aya, āpe or āpaya it is causative (kārita, 🟠): the subject makes someone else act, kāreti (“makes [him] do”), and the one made to act takes the ② ending, or ③ {300}.

So once the ending is read, ask what sits just before it. Kaccāyana gives the passive the attanopada endings (🔵, -te, -ante) {453}, vuccate, but the texts nearly always swap them for the parassapada endings of 8.1 {518}, vuccati: a passive verb usually ends exactly like an active one, and only the piece before the ending gives it away; chapter 7’s labbhetha keeps an attanopada ending (7: 2.2).

The passive piece ya {440}

Section titled “The passive piece ya {440}”

ya goes on every root alike {440}, after a root such as vaca has lost its final a {521}, but it rarely stays visible: after a consonant it melts into that consonant, after a vowel it stays, and an ī may be put in before it.

what you see example root rule
-cc-, -jj-, -jjh-, -ññ-, -yy-: ya and the root’s last consonant have become one doubled letter of the c group, or y vuccati (“is said”), vimuccati (“is liberated”), bhaññamāne (“being spoken”), haññati (“is struck”) vaca, muca, bhaṇa, hana {441}
-bbh-, -ss- and the like: ya has taken the shape of the consonant before it labbhati (“is obtained”), upalabbhati (“is found”), dissati (“is seen”) labha, disa {443}
-īya-, also written -iyya-: an ī put in before ya karīyati (“is done”) kara {442}
-āya-, -īya- after a root that ends in a vowel paññāyati (“is clearly known”), dīyati (“is given”), khīyati (“is exhausted”) ñā, dā (its ā to ī), khī {440}, {502}

The causative piece {438}

Section titled “The causative piece {438}”

Kaccāyana writes the four pieces ṇe, ṇaya, ṇāpe, ṇāpaya {438}. The ṇ is not a sound of the word: it is dropped {523}, and it signals that the root’s vowel is strengthened {483}, a to ā, i to e, u to o: kara gives kār-, and pabbajati (“goes forth”, the bonus chapter’s pabbajeyyaṁ, Bonus: 26, 12.8) gives pabbājeti (“makes go forth”, ordains). Before a vowel that o or e opens out into āv or āy {515}: su (“hear”) gives sāveti (“makes hear”). A root ending in two consonants keeps its vowel, cinteti {483}.

what you see example root rule
-e- before the ending kāreti (“has it done”), deseti (“teaches”, literally “makes point out”) kara, disa {438}, {523}, {483}
-aya- kārayati, namayanti (“straighten”), damayanti (“tame”) kara, nama, dama {438}, {523}, {483}
-āpe- kārāpeti, paṭivāpeti (“pulls back”) kara, vā {438}, {523}, {483}
-āpaya- kārāpayati kara {438}, {523}, {483}
the same piece before a past ending, -esi, -esuṁ, or in a verb-like form, -etabba; in -ita only the strengthened root shows desesi (“taught”), saddamanussāvesuṁ (“proclaimed”), bhāvetabbaṁ (“to be developed”), bhāvitaṁ (“developed”) disa, su, bhū {438}, {515}

The three questions, in order:

flowchart TD
  Q["the ending is read (8.1): what sits just before it?"] -->|"-cc-, -jj-, -ññ-, -bbh-, -ss-, -īya-, -āya-"| Y{"does the dictionary gloss it as 'is …'?"}
  Q -->|"-e-, -aya-, -āpe-, -āpaya-"| E{"is the root of the cura class?"}
  Q -->|"only the class's own piece: -a-, -ṇā-, -o- …"| A["an active verb: 8.2"]
  Y -->|"yes"| P["passive: vuccati, karīyati; the doer in ③"]
  Y -->|"no"| D["an active verb of the divu class: bujjhati"]
  E -->|"no"| C["causative: kāreti, deseti; the one made to act in ②"]
  E -->|"yes"| V["a plain verb: cinteti, vedeti"]

Examples

Section titled “Examples”

The passive with the ending of the active {518}:

virāgā vimuccati

🚹⨀⑤(virāga) 🔵⨀🤟▶️(vimuccati)
from detachment / is liberated → from detachment he vimuccati (becomes liberated)
vimuccati, “is liberated”, the passive: muca + ya as -cc- {441}, with the active ending {518}; 9: 9.1.

Kaccāyana’s own example of the ī {442}, in the bonus chapter:

karīyati hidaṁ buddhānaṁ sāsanan’ti

▶️🤟⨀(karīyati) 🔼(hidaṁ) 🚹⨂⑥(buddha) 🚻⨀①(sāsana) 🔼(ti)
is practised / surely in this case / of Buddha / teaching / quote → surely in this case the teaching of the Buddha is practised
karīyati 🔴: kara + ī + ya {442}; the teaching, sāsanaṁ, is the subject in ①; Bonus: 45, 9.8.

The passive piece inside a participle of 8.8, with the ⑦ of “while” (5: 11.1; the same words open 7: 12.3 and 9: 10.3):

Imasmiñca pana veyyākaraṇasmiṁ bhaññamāne

*️⃣🤟🚻⨀⑦(ima) ⏏️(ca) ⏏️(pana) 🚻⨀⑦(veyyākaraṇa) 🚻⨀⑦🔽(māna)(bhaññamāna)
in this / and / moreover / detailed exposition / being spoken → And while this detailed exposition was being spoken
bhaññamāne: bhaṇa + ya, ṇ and ya one ññ {441}, then -māna and the ⑦ ending; the exposition is what is spoken, not the speaker.

The causative in the past, with its lengthening:

bhummā devā saddamanussāvesuṁ

🚹⨂①(bhumma) 🚹⨂①(deva) 🟢⨂🤟⏮(saddamanussāveti)
earth-dwelling / devas / raised a cry → bhummā devā (the earth-dwelling devas) raised a cry
saddamanussāvesuṁ 🟠, “made the cry heard”: saddaṁ + anussāvesuṁ, causative e {438} on su strengthened to sāv {483}, {515}, before the past ending -suṁ; 5: 12.1.

The -aya- causative:

Attānaṁ damayanti paṇḍitā.

🚹⨀②(atta) ▶️🤟⨂(damayati) 🚹⨂①(paṇḍita)
self / tames / the wise → The wise tames the self.
damayanti 🟠: dama (“be tame”) + aya {438}, “make tame”; the one made tame, attānaṁ, is the object in ② {297}; Bonus: 21, 4.

Exercises

Section titled “Exercises”

Each of the following is from chapter 5, 7 or the bonus chapter. Find the verb or verb-like form and say which piece stands before its ending, whether it is passive, causative or neither, and what its root is; a dictionary gives the root’s class.

  1. Ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, sammāvāyāmo.
  2. Tassa me tathāgato vā tathāgatasāvako vā dhammaṁ desesi.
  3. labbhetha ca rūpe
  4. Usukārā namayanti tejanaṁ;
  5. dukkhanirodhagāminī paṭipadā ariyasaccaṁ bhāvetabban’ti
  6. Taṁ kiṁ maññatha, bhikkhave, rūpaṁ niccaṁ vā aniccaṁ vā”ti?

Answers

Section titled “Answers”

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

  1. Ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, sammāvāyāmo.

🚹⨀①(ima) ▶️🤟⨀(vuccati) 🚹⨂⓪(bhikkhu) 🚹⨀①(sammāvāyāma)
this / is said / bhikkhave / right effort → Bhikkhave, this is said to be “sammāvāyāma” (right effort).
Passive 🔴: vaca + ya as -cc- {441}, with the active ending {518}; sammāvāyāmo, the thing said, in ①; Bonus: 35, 21.24.

  1. Tassa me tathāgato vā tathāgatasāvako vā dhammaṁ desesi.

🚹⨀⑥(ta) *️⃣👆⚧⨀②(ahaṁ) 🚹⨀①(tathāgata) 🔼(vā) 🚹⨀①(tathāgatasāvaka) 🔼(vā) 🚹⨀②(dhamma) ⏮🤟⨀(desesi)
of that / me / Tathāgata / or / disciple of the Buddha / or / Dhamma / taught → Because of that, the Tathāgata and his disciples taught the Dhamma to me.
Causative 🟠: disa (“point out”, the bhū class) + e {438} before the past ending -si; what is taught, dhammaṁ, in ② {297}; Bonus: 26, 12.3.

  1. labbhetha ca rūpe

🔵⨀🤟⏯(labhati) ⏏️(ca) 🚻⨀⑦(rūpa)
could be obtained / and / in form → and rūpa could be obtained
Passive 🔴: labha + ya as -bbh- {443}, here with the attanopada ending -etha {425}, {453}; 7: 2.2.

  1. Usukārā namayanti tejanaṁ;

🚹⨂①(usukāra) ▶️🤟⨂(namayati) 🚻⨀②(tejana)
arrow-maker / straighten / arrow → Arrow makers straighten arrow;
Causative 🟠: nama (“bend”) + aya {438}, “make bend”; the arrow, tejanaṁ, in ② {297}; Bonus: 21, 2.

  1. dukkhanirodhagāminī paṭipadā ariyasaccaṁ bhāvetabban’ti

🚺⨀①🆎(dukkhanirodha+gāmī) 🚺⨀①(paṭipadā) 🚻⨀①🆎(ariya+sacca) 🚻⨀①🔽(tabba)(bhāvetabba) ⏏️(iti)
leading to the cessation of suffering / path / realisation / to be developed / thus → ‘This dukkhanirodhagāminī paṭipadā ariyasacca should be bhāvetabbaṁ (developed)’: thus
Causative 🟠 under the -tabba of 8.8: bhū (“be”) strengthened to bhāv {483}, {515} + e {438}, bhāveti, “makes be”, develops; 5: 8.2.

  1. Taṁ kiṁ maññatha, bhikkhave, rūpaṁ niccaṁ vā aniccaṁ vā”ti?

*️⃣🤟🚻⨀②(ta) *️⃣🤟🚻⨀②(kiṁ) 🟢⨂🤘▶️(maññati) 🚹⨂⓪(bhikkhu) 🚻⨀①(rūpa) 🚻⨀①(nicca) ⏏️(vā) 🚻⨀①🆎(na+nicca) ⏏️(vā) ⏏️(iti)
that / what / do you think / bhikkhave / form / permanent / or / impermanent / or / (end quote) → “Bhikkhave, what do you consider: is rūpa (form) nicca (permanent) or anicca (impermanent)?”
Neither: -ññ- is the divu class’s own ya {447}, {444}, √man (3, ya), and the dictionary glosses it “think”, not “is …”: active; 7: 6.1.