Dear Jim and Nina,

thank you for the interesting discussion. I find that we are more used to grammars which enable us to read and use a dictionary, but less familiar with grammars which help us to appreciate the mechanics and dynamics of a language, be it English, Pali or any other language.

Initially, I was puzzled with "The non-vikara.na-suffix, however, kha, cha, sa-and-so-on [is] many-fold." However, after Jim's clarification, I believe we are on the right track.

Please let me explain.

To have a word in Pali, more often we have

root (dhaatu) + suffix (paccaya) + inflectional ending (vibhatti)

Sometimes, instead of one suffix, we can also have a secondary suffix. I believe vikara.na refers to the 15 or 17 standard suffixes in the conjugation of active and passive verbs in various tenses and moods, and non-vikara.na refers to non-standard suffixes.

I do not think we are in any hurry to find an English word for vikara.na. On the other hand, I do think our study of Saddaniiti will further our appreciation of the Pali texts and the language in which they are written.

metta,
Yong Peng.

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Jim Anderson wrote:

Although "vikara.na" isn't in the PED, you can find a definition in Sanskrit dictionaries. Monier-Williams has the following:

vi-karaNa 2. m. (for 1. � [p= 950,1]) " producing a change. " (in gram.) a term for the affix or conjugational characteristic which is placed between the root and terminations , the inserted conjugational affix (according to pANini these affixes are zap , zapo luk , zlu , zyan , znu , za , znam , u , znA , yak , and cli [with its substitutes] , tAsi , sya , sip , the first nine of which are added in the Pres. , Impf. , Imperative , and Potential , and before a kRt which contains a mute palatal z , in the case of Active verbs ; yak is added in the case of the karman or bhAva i.e. Passives or Neuters ; cli is added in the Aorist , tAsi in the 1st Future , sya in the 2nd Future and Conditional , and sip before leT. ; lug-vikaraNa , " having luk for its vikaraNa " [said of roots of cl. 2.] ; AkhyAta-pada-vikaraNAH , " words which modify the finite verb " i.e. make it accented)

So it has a wider application in Sanskrit than in Pali. The term is also found in the Kaccaayana and Moggallaana schools. It seems that Aggava.msa doesn't use the term in his Suttamaala, preferring to use just "paccaya" instead.