Dear Petra,
Thank you for the reference in Geiger's Pali Grammar. I'm doubtful of 'avi'
becoming an 'e' in Pali in the case of 'sthavira'. I looked up the entry for
'thera' in the Pāḷi-Myanmar Dictionary and found it in Vol. 9, p.815. It
gives the derivation 'thira + ṇa' which means that it is a taddhitanāma
unlike 'sthavira' which is kṛtnāma. However, it does give 'sthavira' as the
Skt. form at the end of the information on etymology. I also looked up
'thira' on p.762 and it gives a number of derivations including 'ṭhā + ira'.
This dictionary is an excellent source for information on derivation.
Best wishes,
Jim
----- Original Message -----
From: "petra kieffer-pülz kiepue@... [palistudy]"
<palistudy@yahoogroups.com>
To: <palistudy@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: July 23, 2016 7:36 AM
Subject: Re: [palistudy] Digest Number 1627
Dear Jim,
avi may become e in Pali, see Geiger, Pali Grammar § 27: acchera and
acchariya for āścarya; hessati for bhaviṣyati, etc. To this also belongs
sthavira - thera.
Best,
Petra
Am 23.07.2016 um 12:49 schrieb 'Jim Anderson' jimanderson.on@...
[palistudy]:
> Dear Sayalay Dhammanandī,
>
> Always glad to be of some help. I need to correct a wrong reference in my
> previous message: AN I 22-3 should be AN II 22-3. It is hard to find a
> clear
> and simple derivation of the word 'thera' in the Pali texts. It seems to
> me
> to be a taddhita formed from 'thira' (unwavering) which is 'shira' in Skt
> from the root sthā + the uṇādi affix ira (kirac) according to a couple of
> commentaries on Uṇādi Sūtra 1.53. But thera is considered to have the
> meaning of 'elder' as with Skt. sthavira which is also derives from sthā +
> ira (commented on in the same sūtra). It is hard to account for the
> difference in spelling as one would expect a 'thavira' in Pāli.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Jim
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sayalay Dhammanandi sayalaydhammanandi@... [palistudy]"
> <palistudy@yahoogroups.com>
> To: <palistudy@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: July 22, 2016 4:29 PM
> Subject: Re: [palistudy] Digest Number 1627
>
> Dear Jim,
> Thank you! Your help is very much appreciated!
> May you be well and happy!
> With metta Dhammanandi
>
> Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.-------- Original
> message --------From: palistudy@yahoogroups.com Date: 22/07/2016 4:27 pm
> (GMT+07:00) To: palistudy@yahoogroups.com Subject: [palistudy] Digest
> Number
> 1627
>
>