Exploring Traditional Pali Grammar 5
Kaccaayana suttas 7 and 8, and sutta 8 from Saddaniiti, by way of comparison.
This installment includes the definitions of
'vagga' or consonant class and of 'niggahiita' or
.m sound, and a corresponding rule from
Aggava.msa's Saddaniiti which further clarifies
the definition of niggahiita.
Text:
vaggaa pañca pañcaso mantaa /7/
tesa.m kho byañjanaana.m ka-kaaraadayo
ma-kaarantaa pañca pañcaso akkharavanto vaggaa
naama honti / ta.m yathaa ka kha ga gha ^n / ca
cha ja jha ña / .ta .tha .da .dha .na / ta tha da
dha na / pa pha ba bha ma iti vaggaa naama honti
/ vagga iccanena kvattho / vagganta.m vaa vagge //
Translation:
There are five classes of fives, ending with 'ma' /7/
Among these very consonants, from 'ka' to 'ma',
there are five 'classes' by name, possessing
syllables by fives. The following
ka kha ga gha ^n
ca cha ja jha ña
.ta .tha .da .dha .na
ta tha da dha na
pa pha ba bha ma
are called 'classes'. What is the purpose of (the
term) 'class'? (Because of its use in the rule)
preceding a class (member) optionally the last
(nasal) member of that class.
[end of translation]
Words:
akkharavanto: nominative plural from the
adjective akkharavaa 'possessing syllables'. (the
suffix -vaa can be added to nouns in the sense of
'possessing')
pañcaso: (adverbial) by fives, in groups of five
manta: here < ma-anta. Which has (the letter)
'ma' as its end. (Not to be confused with manta =
skt mantra)
vagga: group, class
vaa: 'or', in grammatical suttas 'optionally'
Notes:
tesa.m byañjanaana.m: I've translated 'among
these' taking it as a partitive genitive,
equivalent to a locative (see Speijer _Sanskrit
Syntax_ § 116, page 86)
I've separated pañca from pañcaso here, though in
Senart they are joined as a compound. My way of
reading the vutti connects the words like this:
'pañca vaggaa' (five classes), 'pañcaso
akkharavanto' (possessing syllables by fives,
possessing syllables in groups of five). It's
also possible that it should be read as a
compound 'pañcapañcaso' meaning 'in five fives'
or 'five by five' or something like that. I'm
unsure here.
vagganta.m vaa vagge: this payoga (example of
application) is rule Kc 31, concerning
niggahiita-sandhi. (niggahiita is defined in the
next sutta, below). What it says is that if '.m'
occurs before a consonant belonging to a class
(vagga), that .m optionally (vaa) changes to the
last member (the nasal) of that class. This
explains forms like 'tañ ca' < ta.m ca, 'ta^n
kaaru.nika.m' < ta.m kaaru.nika.m, 'tan
nibbuta.m' < ta.m nibbuta.m, etc.
These five classes are named according to their
first member. So the class "ka kaa ga gha
^n", is called 'ka-vagga', the class "ca cha
ja jha ña", is called 'ca-vagga' etc.
'a.m' is called niggahiita. What is the purpose
of (defining the term) 'niggahiita'? (Because of
its use in the rule) 'a.m' before a consonant
(remains) niggahita.
[end of translation]
Words:
niggahiita: the nasal sound 'a.m'
Notes:
The payoga rule is to Kc 30, which is the rule
immediately preceding the rule quoted in Kc 7
above. It states that niggahiita remains
niggahiita before consonants. This can appear to
contradict Kc 31 which we just learned states
that niggahiita changes to the nasal of the class
of a consonent it precedes. However the word
'vaa' in Kc 31 indicates that this rule is
optional. Kc 30 and 31 taken together mean that
niggahiita preceding a consonant can either
remain as it is, or change to the corresponding
nasal.
It's important to realize that the niggahiita
proper is only the nasal sound .m, even though in
the rule the entire syllable 'a.m' is given to
exemplify the sound. This is a requirement of the
Indian writing system. Saddaniiti, another
traditional Pali grammar written by the learned
Burmese bhikkhu Aggava.msa, clarifies this point
in its rule 8, specifying that it's the sound
_following the vowel_ in a.m, i.m or u.m which is
called niggahiita.
That which is heard after the vowel (in) 'a.m i.m u.m', that is niggahiita /8/
sarato: sara (vowel) plus the ablative suffix
'to'. Together with 'para' (beyond) it means
'after the vowel'.
In his typically erudite style, Aggava.msa finds
a canonical example including all three of these
varieties of niggahiita, a.m, i.m and u.m :
"aha.m keva.t.tagaamasmi.m ahu.m
keva.t.t.adaarako" (Apadaana PTS page 300, line
19) tentative translation: "In Keva.t.ta village
I existed as a boy of Keva.t.ta".