Dear Dimitry,

I don't know enough to give you a well-informed opinion. I usually try
to find glosses in commentaries, grammatical treatises, and so on. The
following is what I've been able to come up with so far:

catusaccadhamme vicinaatiiti dhammavicayo. -- As 147. The word
'dhamma' is here given in the sense of the truths (saccaani) but I
suspect that it investigates other dhammas too or maybe the 4 truths
cover it all.

tasmi.m kho pana samaye dhammaa honti; dhammesu dhammaanupassii
viharatiiti aadisu nissattanijjiivataaya.m. -- As 38. The meaning is:
states (from -taa = bhaava) without being or soul.

I saw that you prefer 'mental qualities' over 'mental states'. I've
also come across 'mental objects'. I can't say for sure whether any of
these are absolutely right or wrong but I wonder if 'mental' might not
be too narrow in leaving out the 'physical' (ruupas). I think when one
says 'mental objects' the meaning is associated with 'gocara' (field)
or 'visaya' (scope). This is the meaning when we think of dhammas as
objects (aaramma.nas) of mind (mano) just as visible objects are
objects of the eye.

The list of 23 meanings is rather old and in need of further revision.
At the time, I hadn't even looked at the Abhidhaanappadiipikaa which
gives 14 meanings at §784 (see also §94). 'aacaaro' (conduct,
behaviour) is another one to add to the list. Other interesting things
I saw (in the .tikaa) were ~naayo = yutti and five kinds of
cognizables (~neyyas). One of these days I'll have to spend a lot of
time studying this very important word 'dhammo'.

Best wishes,
Jim

> Dear Jim,
>
> Thank you very much for the comprehensive glosses.
>
> Would you be so kind to indicate which of those 23 meanings are
> in your opinion most applicable in the case of dhamma-vicaya, and in
> the case of 'dhammaa' as the fourth frame of reference?
>
> Best wishes,
> Dimitry