Re: Interrogative pronoun at end of sentence

Am Feb 3, 2015 um 10:28 schrieb Nyanatusita nyanatusita@... [palistudy] <palistudy@yahoogroups.com>:

Dear members,

I have a few questions with regards an unusual type of sentence construction in Pali. 

 

In Kumārapañhā section of the Khuddakapāṭhā the interrogative pronoun kiṃ is placed at the end of a sentences in Ekaṃ nāma kiṃ? Sabbe sattā āhāraṭṭhitikā. Dve nāma kiṃ? Nāmañca rūpañca. Tīṇi nāma kiṃ? Tisso vedanā.etc. : “What is the one? All beings are sustained by nutriment. What are the two? Name and matter. …”.

 

The parallel of the first question in the Sangiti Sutta of the Digha Nikaya instead has Katamo eko dhammo? Sabbe sattā āhāraṭṭhitikā. “What is the one thing? …”

 

The question sentences are very short and there are no explicit verbs.

I have not been able to find any other examples of kiṃ occurring at the end of a sentence in Pali works.  Are there any other examples? 

Can this construction be due to influence of Sanskrit or Sihala? Did Panini make a rule on this?

 

Ven. Ānanda Maitreya in his Pāḷi Made Easy (lesson 9) states that, “A question [in Pāḷi] begins with ‘api’, ‘api nu’ or ‘kiṃ’. ‘Kiṃ’ may be placed even at the end of a sentence, e.g. … kiṃ gacchasi? gacchasi kiṃ? (Do you go?).''

However, I have not been able to find any examples of this in any of the digitalized Pali works on the Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana edition of VRI. 
Perhaps Ānanda Maitreya is basing himself on a source influenced by Sanskrit or Sinhala grammars?

In Sanskrit can apparently be placed at the end of similar short sentences. I found this in an online spoken Sanskrit dictionary, but the source is not given :

अस्याः नाम किम् ?	asyAH nAma kim ?	sent.	What is its name?  [ object is feminine ]
	तव नाम किम्?	tava nAma kim?	sent.	What is your name?
	भवतः नाम किम् ?	bhavataH nAma kim ?	m	What is your name?
	भवत्याः नाम किम् ?	bhavatyAH nAma kim ?	f	What is your name?

http://www.spokensanskrit.de/index.php?script=HK&beginning=0+&tinput=nAma+kim%3F+&trans=Translate&direction=AU

 

In the commentary on the Khuddakapāṭhā a comment is found regarding the Ekaṃ nāma kiṃ? question. Although it does not discuss the placement of kiṃ, it mentions an unusual Sinhalese variant reading, kiha instead of kiṃ. Could this possibly indicate that the placement of kim at the end of the sentence is due to the influence of the Sihala language? 

Ettha ca ekaṃ nāma kinti ca kihāti ca duvidho pāṭho, tattha sīhaḷānaṃ kihāti pāṭho. Te hi kinti vattabbe kihā ti vadanti. Keci bhaṇanti ‘‘ha-iti nipāto, theriyānampi ayameva pāṭho ti ubhayathāpi pana ekova attho. Yathā ruccati, tathā paṭhitabbaṃ. Yathā pana sukhena phuṭṭho atha vā dukhena, dukkhaṃ domanassaṃ paṭisaṃvedetī’ ti evamādīsu katthaci dukhanti ca katthaci dukkhanti ca vuccati, evaṃ katthaci ekanti, katthaci ekkanti vuccati. Idha pana ekaṃ nāmāti ayameva pāṭho.

 

Nyanamoli, Minor Reader and Illustrator p. 81-82 translates: “ And here in the phrase 'One is what?' (ekaṃ nāma kiṃ) the reading is twofold as kiṃ and ki ha. Herein, the Sinhalese reading is ki ha; for they say 'ki ha' when 'kiṃ'should be said. Some assert that ha is a particle, and also that this too is the reading of those of the Elders' Tradition. However, the meaning is the same in either case, and it can be read according to preference. …”

 

The exact origins of the Khuddakapāṭhā are not known. It appears to be a chanting book for novice monks and might have been compiled in Sri Lanka. Are the Kumārapañhā found in the works of any other early Buddhist tradition?

 

The only other occurrence of kiṃ at the end of question sentence that I know of is in a modern version of the question and answer version of the preliminary duties that is recited before the Pātimokkha recital. It is only done in one tradition in Sri Lanka and probably composed around the middle of the 20^th century. In this version, one monk questions whether the preliminaries have been done and the other answers. These are examples of the questions:

Chanda-pārisuddhi. Chandārahānaṃ bhikkhūnaṃ chandapārisuddhi-āharaṇaṃ kataṃ kiṃ? ... Utukkhānaŋ:  hemantādīnaŋ  tiṇṇaṃ utūnaṃ, ettakaṃ atikkantaṃ, ettakaṃ avasiṭṭhan’ti. Evaṃ utu-ācikkhanaṃ kataṃ kiṃ? .... Ovādo. Bhikkhunīnaṃ ovādo dātabbo dinno kiṃ? .... Uposathassa etāni pubbakiccan’ti vuccati kiṃ.

In these version kiṃ is preceded by a verb and parts of a verses found in the Kaṅkhāvitaraṇī Pātimokkha commentary (i.e. Chandapārisuddhi, utukkhānaṃ, / Bhikkhugaṇanā ca ovādo. / Uposathassa etāni / Pubbakiccanti vuccati.)

 

The sentence construction of these questions appears to be quite unusual. Can it be influenced by Sinhala or Sanskrit?

Best wishes,

                              Bhikkhu Nyanatusita