Hi,

I hope the following can be of assistance.

>
>
>If I take the verb form "pacati" for example, would "paca" be the stem
>and "pac-" be the root and "-ti" the ending?

Yes. The stem is what you put the endings on. The root is what you make the stem out of. Some more examples:

Root Stem Pres. 3rd Sing
i e eti
gam gaccha gacchati
ci cinaa cinaati
nat nacca naccati
dis dese deseti

The roots are divided into classes, or ga.na-s, (called conjugations by Warder), and each class has its own way of creating stems from the roots. This is covered in Warder, though it's split up throughout the book instead of all being covered in one place. Some roots also take irregular stems.

In the above examples, the root 'i' (class I, Warder chapter 1) has had its vowel strengthened to 'e' to make the stem. (see the vowel gradation chart Warder page 12).

The root 'gam' (class I, Warder chapter 2) takes the irregular stem 'gaccha'.

The root ci (class V, Warder chapter 15) adds 'naa' to make the stem.

The root 'nat' (class III, Warder chapter 11) adds 'ya' to make the stem. The resulting 'ty' in 'natya' assimilates to 'cc' according to a regular rule in Pali.

The root 'dis' (class VII, Warder chapter 3) takes strengthening of the root vowel and adds 'aya' to make the stem: desaya-. Then, because of a common sound change in Pali 'aya' reduces to 'e' leaving dese- as the stem.

etcetera

Note that the numberings of these classes can differ in different works. I'm using Warder's numbering since you mentioned his book. Class VII here, for example, would be called class X in a Sanskrit grammar. There are also slightly different numberings in traditional Pali grammars. Still, the principles are the same.

> Buddhadata mentions
>"bhava" as base. Does that mean stem?

Yes, if by that you mean the stem derived from the root bhuu. Stem/base are interchangeable.

>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?

As far as I know, the concept 'root' doesn't apply to English. It's specific to ancient Indian languages.

>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?

Personally I don't think it makes much sense to speak of nouns has having roots except in cases where the noun is clearly derived from a verb (such as gamana 'the act of going' from gam).

best regards,

/Rett