Dear Ole,
Thank you for the explanation. It is indeed very esoteric! I was
actually wondering if the English "to be" and the Pali "Bhuu" are
somehow etymologically related. They actually sound and look quite
similar.
Regards,
Florent
> Hello,
>
> Actually by looking a few chapters ahead in the second part of
Buddhadatta
> (p74) I found the following explanation which kind of makes sense:
>
> <<A root is a primitive element of the language, expressing an abstract
> idea. It is incapable of any grammatical analysis
>
> A. It is common in European languages to express the idea contained
in the
> root by means of the Infinitive, e.g., Bhuu (to be); but it must be
borne in
> mind that the root is not an Infinitive, but a primary element
expressing a
> crude idea.
>
> B. the Classical Pali Grammarians give all roots ending in
consonants with a
> euphonic vowel at the end, e.g., Pac(a) = to cook; Gam(u)=to go.
This vowel
> however, does not really belong to the root.>>
>
> It is, unfortunately, somewhat more complicated. The /u/ of gam(u)
is not a
> euphonic vowel, but a so-called anubandha, an attached letter,
indicating
> inflectional pecularities of a specific root. In the case of gam(u),
the /u/
> corresponds to Sanskrit /.l/. /u/ was introduced by the Pali grammarians
> because pali disallows the consonant cluster /m.l/. This anubandha
indicates
> that the aorist of the root gam is a so-called root aorist, i.e.,
that it is
> derived from the root gam plus augment and inflectional endings. The
canon
> actually records a few examples of the root aorist, e.g., agama.m 1.
sg.,
> and agama.msu 3. sg.
> Hope this clarifies a tiny bit of the somewhat esoteric field of pali
> grammar as reflected in the works of the pali grammarians.
>
> With kind regards,
>
> Ole Pind
>
>
>
>
> With Metta,
>
> Florent
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
> Click here to rescue a little child from a life of poverty.
> http://us.click.yahoo.com/rAWabB/gYnLAA/i1hLAA/b0VolB/TM
> --------------------------------------------------------------------~->
>
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [Homepage]
> http://www.tipitaka.net [Files] http://www.geocities.com/paligroup/
> [Send Message] pali@yahoogroups.com
> Paaliga.na - a community for Pali students Yahoo! Groups members can set
> their delivery options to daily digest or web only.
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>