Venerable Bhante Pandita, dear Yong Peng,
I am continuing with the Relational Grammar and quoting.
Bhante, I repeat the whole text of your post, because this is a way of
reviewing.
op 20-02-2005 15:26 schreef Ven. Pandita op ashinpan@...:

"Ajja etena maggena mayaa gantabba.m"

>
> First, let's see the main verb, which is obviously "gantabba.m". It is a
> Future Participle derived from *the root gam plus the suffix tabba*
> Future Participles can be used with both Passive and Absolute voices
> (See RG - 2).

Nina quotes:
<Passive Voice
1. The verb must be only transitive.
2. The object must be active while the subject, if any, inactive.
3. The verb is a conjugated form or a present, past or future participle.
E.g. Purisena/purisehi nagara.m gamiiyate.
(Inactive subject) (Active object) (Transitive passive verb)
= The town is gone (to) by (the/a) man.
Purisena nagara.m gata.m= The town is gone to by (the/a) man.
(Past Participle )
Purisena nagara.m gantabba.m= (The/A) town should be gone (to) by (the/a)
(Future Participle)
***

Bh: Either of them can be assumed here for the sake of further

> analysis but let's begin with Passive voice since Absolute voice is
> rather rare in Pali literature. Taken as a passive verb, it should be
> literally translated, "should be gone (to)".
>
> [Here we should note that the Pali root "gam", in contrast with the
> English verbs "go, move, etc.", is of use as a transitive verb; its
> object is usually the destination of one's movement]
>
> As a Passive verb, "gantabba.m" needs an active object (RG - 2). Where
> is it? Nowhere. The absence of the active object here is an illustration
> of a very important concept in RG, so I think I should explain it only
> at the final stage; I would ignore it now and go on to other words.
>
> Now "mayaa"; it is a first person pronoun in instrumental singular. It
> is the inactive subject of "gantabba.m". So:
>
> mayaa ---> gantabba.m (ISV) [ See the Inactive Subject relation in RG - 9]
> Trs: --- should be gone (to) by me ---

Nina quotes:
<C. Inactive Subject Relation4 (ISV)
Here an Inactive subject is related to a passive/ absolute verb.
Purisehi ha~n~nate/ hata.m =... is killed by (the) men.
Purisehi hantabba.m =... should be killed by (the) men.
Purisehi ---> ha~n~nate/ hata.m / hantabba.m (ISV)>
****
Bhante: maggena ---> gantabba.m (IMP) [See the Implemental relation in RG -
9]

> Trs: --- should be gone (to) by road

Nina quotes:
<A. Implemental Relation1 (IMP)
Here a noun expressing a sort of implement or means to perform an
action is related to a verb expressing that action.
Pharasunaa chindati = ... cuts with (an/ the) axe.
Pharasunaa ---> chindati (IMP)>
****
Bhante: etena ---> maggena (IAD) [ See the Identical Adjective relation in
RG - 15]

> Trs: --- by (this) road

Nina quotes:
<Identical Adjective relation1 (IAD)
Here a noun in adjectival use is related to a noun it modifies. The
adjective must follow the case of the substantive but may differ in gender
and number.
mahataa purisena =...with (a/ the) great man
mahataa ---> purisena (IAD)
Nandaa naama saro = (the) lake Nandaa by name---
Nandaa ---> saro (IAD)
viisati purisaa = twenty men---
viisati ---> purisaa (IAD)
Note: mark the difference of gender in the second example and that of both
gender and number in the last.>
*****
Bhante: ajja ---> gantabba.m (LOV) [ See the Locus-Verb relation in RG -
12]

> Trs: --- should be gone (to) today

Nina quotes:
<LOCATIVE CASE

A. Locus - Verb Relation1 (LOV)
Here a noun expressing a point in space or time is related to a verb,
which
denotes the action that takes place there or then. Sometimes, it is related
to an
entity situated there or then.
ga"ngaaya.m naayati = ... bathes in the Ganges (river).
ga"ngaaya.m ---> nhaayati (LOV)
rattiya.m sayati = ... sleeps at night.
rattiya.m ---> sayati (LOV)>

*****
Bhante: When all words are combined, the translation would become:

> ". . . should be gone (to) by this road by me"
>
> Here we should note that:
> 1. All other words except the main verb in the sentence are not
> independent --- each of them must be somehow related to some other word.
> 2. When two words are correctly related, these two alone must make sense
> irrespective of other words.
> 3. A note on "ajja". It is in fact an indeclinable but we in Burma view
> indeclinables (nipaatas) as nouns with nominal cases invisible yet
> inferable from the context. Here we rely on the sense of "ajja" to view
> it as a noun with Locative case and to define its relation accordingly.

****
Text insertion:
**********

> Now I would discuss the missing active object of "gantabba.m". In actual
> Pali writing, such a word is omitted when the author feels certain that
> it would be obvious from the context. If you are to translate such a
> sentence, it would be your responsibility to find and give it in your
> translation. Explicitly mentioning the words missing in the original
> Pali is called the Principle of Text Insertion (paa.thasesa).
>
> Suppose there have been two places mentioned in this context, namely,
> Raajagaha and Naalandaa. Then the hidden active object must be Raajagaha
> because it agrees with "gantabba.m" in gender, case and number (RG -1)
> --- in this case, neutral gender, nominative case and singular number
> (Naalandaa is improper here since it is of feminine gender and fails to
> agree with Naalandaa). You see, the gender, etc., of "gantabba.m" are
> clues to help you interpret the sentence.
>
> Then the complete translation would become:
>
> "Raajagaha should be gone to by this road by me"
>

Nina: the text insertion explanation is most helpful. Thank you very much.
With respect,
Nina.