I am sorry to ask such a basic question that has probably more to do
with linguistics than with Pali, but I am confused about the
difference between root and stem. I read again Warder on this topic
but it doesn't really clarify the issue. Could anybody give me a short
and clear explanation?
If I take the verb form "pacati" for example, would "paca" be the stem
and "pac-" be the root and "-ti" the ending? Buddhadata mentions
"bhava" as base. Does that mean stem?
Is there a difference in English between root and stem? For example in
"sings" is "sing" the stem and "s" the ending, the root being the same
as the stem? I was looking in a simple French grammar book and they
seem to mention only the stem ("radical") but not the root ("racine").
In chanter (to sing) for example "chant-" is the stem.
Same question with nouns. If nara is a masculine stem, what would be
the root of this noun? Why are nouns classified under stems since the
stem form is actually never used?
Sorry again for these questions which might seem out of place,