Thgis is to reply Nina's question.

cittaa gaavo yassa, so cittagu can be translated: he (so) whose (yassa)
cows (gaavo) are spotted (cittaa). Here, i.e., in the explanatory
sentence, cittaa is an adjective, nom. plural. The word citta-gu is a
bahubbiihi cpd. A b. cpd can function either as a noun or as an
adjective. In fact, in languages like Pali, an adjective can always
function as a noun; e.g. ratto can mean red (adj.) or the red one (n.).

Regards.

Mahipaliha

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, "Ong Yong Peng" <pali.smith@...> wrote:
>
> Dear Nina,
>
> many thanks for the explanation. I did a quick search on CSCD, and
> found that cittagu is a post-canonical term. CSCD lists three sources
> of the term. Two of them of the philological texts
> Moggallaana-byaakara.na.m and Padaruupasiddhi. The third is an
> exposition by the late Ledi Sayadaw, Nirutti-diipanii.
>
> I understand that 'citta-miga', spotted antelope, means an antelope
> with (beautiful) spots, or simply an antelope with spots/marks on its
> body. Here, 'citta' derives from 'cetati'.
>
> Using what we have learnt, 'cittagu' literally means "oxen with
> marks/spots". However, the meaning has been twisted to be "[a person]
> who has spotted cows and oxen", probably some kind of hunter or
> herder. Hence, I guessed the term is a bahubbiihi compound.
>
> What do you think?
>
> metta,
> Yong Peng.
>
>
> --- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Nina van Gorkom wrote:
>
> > 1. Is 'cittagu' a bahubbiihi compound?
> >
> > 2. What part of speech is cittaa? PED has citta as a neuter noun,
> > meaning 'painting'. It also gives an example, citta-miga: the
> > spotted antelope. However, cittaa in the phrase seems to be a past
> > participle:
> >
> > cittaa gaavo yassa, so
> > were spotted / oxen / of whom / he
> > he, of whom the oxen were spotted
> >
> > So, is 'citta' a past participle?
>
> --------
> There are different stems. Citta and citra (cetati): to be bright.
> variegated, beautiful. cittaa gavo seems to me a p.p. . Spotted in
> the sense of variegated or beautiful. I do not know whether this is a
> bahubbiihii compound.
> There is a word citta.m meaning painting.
>