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buddhavacana

M: Overview of Kaccāyana

The material in this appendix is mostly drawn from a class called A Short Introduction to the Kaccāyana Pali Grammar: Its Background, Techniques and Terminology taught by Aleix Ruiz-Falqués, Shan State Buddhist University, Taunggyi, Myanmar in 2020.

Genesis of Kaccāyana

Section titled “Genesis of Kaccāyana”

There are actually two components of Kaccāyana:

  • Kaccāyana-byājkarana (circa 6th century CE) and the author is not known (but ascribed to Mahā Kaccāyana Thera) - this contains the concisely stated rules (called sutta) that form the basis of Pali grammar; and
  • Kaccāyana-vutti (circa 8th centure CE) by Saṅghanandin, which represents a commentary and explanation of the rules together with examples.

Kaccāyana itself draws from multiple earlier sources such as:

  • Prātiśākya treatises, Vedic phonetics (various authors)
  • Pānini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī (“Eight Lessons”)
  • Kātantravyākarana by Šarvavarman

So, Kaccāyana draws and inherits from a long tradition of Sanskrit grammar and technical terms. According to Pind (2012) approximately 215 sutta from Kaccāyana are based on Kātantravyākarana, and approximately 300 sutta are modifications from Panini. However, more than half the sutta in Kaccāyana are not derived from Sanskrit, so the grammar as a whole does not reflect Sanskrit usage and vocabulary.

Kaccāyana structure

Section titled “Kaccāyana structure”
mindmap
  Kaccāyana
    I. Sandhi
      i. Definitions
      ii. Vowel sandhi
      iii. Consonant sandhi
      Iiv("iv. niggahīta (ṃ) sandhi")
      v. Miscellanea
    II. Nāma
      i. Definitions, Internal sandhis, Default Declensions
      ii. Pronominal declension, an-stems
      iii. Pronominal dec. continued, mano-gaṇa, an-stems, tar-stems.
      iv. an-stems cont., feminine stems, adv. pronouns, nta-stems
      v. Adverbial affixes
      vi. KĀRAKA
      vii. SAMĀSA
      viii. TADDHITA
    III. Ākhyāta
      i. Definitions
      ii. Special stems, causatives, bhāva, vb. classes
      iii. Reduplication, Special stems
      iv. Special affixes and stems
    IV. Kibbidhāna
      i. Definition of kicca and kit affixes
      ii. Use of affixes with tenses, voices, etc.
      iii. niṭṭhā affixes
      iv. Modification of vb. stems in primary derivation
      v. UṆĀDI

Types of rules in Kaccāyana

Section titled “Types of rules in Kaccāyana”

Several saññā “technical terms”, within an adhikāra “domain”, following paribhāsā “metarules”, will be subject to vidhi “operations” in order to derive words or sentences.

PlantUML Diagram
PlantUML Diagram

How does a vidhi (operation) work

Section titled “How does a vidhi (operation) work”

Most vidhi “operational” rules teach paccaya “affixation” or ādesa “replacement” using previous definitions (saññā-s). It is all about adding particles to a base, and then replacing them if/when needed.

To understand vidhi-s, we should keep in mind the following code of case endings:

  • ABL. = “after X”
  • GEN. = “instead of X”
  • NOM., ACC. = “X”, ādesa (“replacement”)
  • LOCATIVE1: “before X”
  • LOCATIVE2: “in the sense of X”

Affixation (paccaya)

Section titled “Affixation (paccaya)”
timeline
  Left : Ablative
    : After X
  A : Nominative
    : Affix A is inserted

Error generating PlantUML diagram: Request failed with status code 520

@startebnf
affixation = ablative (* After X *), nominative (* A is inserted *);
ablative =
  (nominal_base (* liṅga *) |
  verbal_base (* dhātu *)), "smā" ;
@endebnf

Replacement (ādesa)

Section titled “Replacement (ādesa)”
timeline
  Left : Ablative
    : Ablative
    : Ablative
    : After X
  A : Genitive
    : Nominative
    : Nominative
    : Replace A
  B : Nominative
    : Nominative
    : Accusative
    : With B
  Right : Locative
    : Locative
    : Locative
    : Before Y
  Marker : ca (and)
    : api (also)
    : vā (or)
    : kvaci (sometimes)
    : na (not)
    : niccam (required)
  Semantic : Locative
    : "in the sense of ..."
PlantUML Diagram

Elision (lopaṃ)

Section titled “Elision (lopaṃ)”
timeline
  Left : Ablative
    : After X
  A : Nominative
    : Instead of A
  lopaṃ: Accusative
    : elision
  Right : Locative
    : Before Y

Error generating PlantUML diagram: Request failed with status code 520

@startebnf
elision =
  [ablative (* After X *)],
  genitive (* Instead of A *),
  "lopaṃ" (* elision *),
  [locative (* Before Y *)];
@endebnf

Structure of a rule (sutta)

Section titled “Structure of a rule (sutta)”

Error generating PlantUML diagram: Request failed with status code 520

@startebnf
rule =
  aphorism (* sutta *),
  gloss (* vutti *),
  {example} (* udāharaṇa *),
  {counter_example} (* kimudāharaṇa *),
  [application] (* payojana *),
  [result] (* gahaṇaphala *);
@endebnf
stateDiagram-v2
  direction LR
  [*] --> upasagga
  [*] --> dhātu
  upasagga --> upasagga
  upasagga --> dhātu
  dhātu --> paccaya