Hi Steve (or SCB),
Welcome to the list! I'd like to add some more comments to Khristos's
earlier response to your questions regarding sandhi (the euphonic
conjunction of letters or sounds). This is one aspect of learning Pali that
presents difficulties to the beginner. Here on this list, from the end of
2009 to the beginning of 2011. I posted a series on the sandhi chapter of
Kaccayana's grammar which is the oldest one to come down to us.
This chapter contains 51 suttas or terse aphorisms followed by a gloss
(vutti) and, if the sutta is a rule, examples are given. I will quote from
this chapter to help explain the sandhi of "myāyaṃ" and "yuddhāyāti".
In showing that "myāyaṃ" is the equivalent of "me ayaṃ", Khristos has
correctly performed a division of the two conjoined words (padaccheda).. The
substitution of "y" for "e" in "me" is explained by rule 17 (Kc 17):
Sutta 17: Yam edantass' ādeso.
transl: "y" is the substitute of "e".
Vutti: Ekārassa antabhūtassa sare pare kvaci yakārādeso hoti.
transl: Of the letter "e" at the end (of a word) followed by a vowel, there
is in some cases substituted the letter "y".
The lengthening of the initial "a"of "ayaṃ" is explained by rule 25 (Kc 25):
Sutta 25: Dīghaṃ.
transl: Long.
Vutti: Sarā kho byañjane pare kvaci dīghaṃ papponti.
transl: Vowels followed by a consonant in some cases become long.
"yuddhāyāti" can be divided into the following two words: "yuddhāya iti".
The elision (lopa) of the initial "i" of "iti" is explained by rule 13:
Sutta 13: Vā paro asarūpā.
transl: Optionally the following (vowel) after a dissimilar (one)
Vutti: Saramhā asarūpā paro saro lopaṃ pappoti vā.
transl: After a dissimilar vowel, the following vowel optionally obtains
elision.
The lenghtening of the final "a" of "yuddhāya" is explained by rule 16:
Sutta 16: Pubbo ca.
transl: And the preceding vowel.
Vutti: Pubbo ca saro parasaralope kate kvaci dīghaṃ pappoti.
transl: And the preceding vowel,when elision of the following vowel is
performed, in some cases becomes long.
Just read your response to Khristos. Regarding the font encoding, both the
Velthuis scheme and UTF-8 for displaying the special characters are
acceptable on this list. Your email program settings will need to be changed
to read and send out emaols using the special UTF-8 characters.
Best wishes,
Jim
----- Original Message -----
From: <scbeadle@...>
To: <palistudy@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2012 9:14 PM
Subject: [palistudy] (unknown)
Hi Pali Study Group.
I'm a new student of Pali, working independently. Was hoping to get
clarification of a couple of terms. Am working on the
Sakuṇagghisuttaṃ, which is Sutta 1 in the Buddhavacana text
by Wallis. In the third sentence, there are the terms:
"myāyaṃ" -- like the relative pronoun yāyaṃ ? But
why the initial "m" ? Possibly related to the preceding word "na" ?
"yuddhāyā'ti" -- like the dative singular of yuddha, which
should be yuddhāya ? But then why is the final "a" long, instead of
short ? Is the "a" lengthened because of the combination with the
following "iti" ?
I apologize if the answers are obvious, I am a beginner. Thanks for any
help. SCB