A Practical Grammar of the PŒli Language
Chapter 10

Verbs

354. Conjugation, or the inflection of verbs, consists in making the verbal root undergo certain changes in form, by the addition to it of certain prefixes and terminations to show the difference of Voice, of Tense, of Mode, of Person, and of Number.

355. There are two voices:
(1) The Active, called in PŒli: parassapada (lit. a word for another) and
(2) The Reflective in PŒli called attanopada (lit. a word for one's self).

356. The Active Voice, or parassapada may be said to be used, when the fruit or consequence of the action; expressed by the verb passes on to another person or thing other than the subject or agent; the Reflective Voice or attanopada, is used when the fruit or the consequence expressed by the verb accrues to no one else but to the the agent. The Reflective voice merely implies that the agent has the ability to do that action or suffer that state which is denoted by the Root.

357. It must here be remarked that the Reflective Voice has lost very much of its importance, and that the distinction between Active and Reflective has been almost if not altogether effaced, and that the choice between the Active or Reflective is mostly determined now by metrical exigencies. It therefore follows the Reflective Voice or the "Middle Voice," as it is also called, is confined to poetry, and is but rarely found in prose.

358. There are six Tenses:
(1) The Present; and its preterite.
(2) The Imperfect; used originally to express a definite past.
(3) The Aorist, expressing time recently past. This is now the only true past tense in PŒli, and is very extensively used.
(4) The Perfect, originally an indefinite past. This tense is of very rare occurrence.
(5) The Future, expressing future time in general and its preterite.
(6) The Conditional, expressing future time relatively to something that is past, and an action unable to be performed on account of some difficulty in the way of its execution.

359. There are three Modes of the Present Tense:
(1) The Indicative.
(2) The Imperative.
(3) The Optative.

360. The Present, the Perfect and the Future Tenses, have each a Participle, called after them:
(1) The Present Participle.
(2) The Perfect Participle.
(3) The Future Participle.

Remarks. The Perfect Participle, mostly formed from the root, is principally of past and passive meaning; sometimes also of Neuter meaning.

361. There is also a Participle of Necessity, also called Future Passive Participle and Potential Participle, which is but a Verbal Adjective.

362. According to the Base on which they are formed the Present and the Future Participles may be active or passive in sense.

363. There are two Verbal Nouns:
(1) The Infinitive, in the Accusative Case-form; sometimes (rarely), in the Dative Case-form; which has nothing to do with the Conjugation and the Tense Systems; and has the sense of a regular infinitive.
(2) A Gerund so-called, which is but the Case-form of a derivative noun having the force of an absolute participle.

364. There are two Numbers: the Singular and the Plural.

365. There are three Persons: the First, Second and Third Persons.

366. From what has been said above, it will be seen that the tenses group themselves into four well defined classes or systems.
(1) The Present System, composed of:
(a) The Present Indicative, and its preterite.
(b) The Imperfect.
(c) The Present Imperative.
(d) The Present Optative.
(e) The Present Participle.
(2) The Aorist System, composed of:
(a) The Aorist Tense only.
(3) The Perfect System, comprising:
(a) The Perfect Tense.
(b) The Perfect Participle.
(4) The Future System composed of:
(a) The Future Tense.
(b) The Conditional.
(c) The Future Participle.

367. There is a division of the tenses, more fictitious than real, into "Special Tenses" and "General Tenses". From such a division, one would be inclined to think that the former are formed on a special base or modified form of the root, and the latter, therefore, from the root itself. But such in fact is not the case, for it will later on be, remarked that the special and the general tenses not seldom interchange their bases.

368. As, however the Present System is by far the most important, and as it is made the basis of the different Conjugations or Classifications of Verbs, we will in the next section explain the formation of the several stems or bases of the Present System (otherwise called "Special Tenses") of which there are ten, divided into Seven Conjugations. These bases are in consequence called "Special Bases".

369. The Conjugation of Verbs is furthermore divided into Primitive and Derivative Conjugations.

(A) Primitive Verbs

Formation of the special bases of the Present System

Conjugation

370. The verbs of the First Conjugation form the Present stem or base in four ways, as follows:

(1) The roots end in a Consonant, and, to form the base or stem, simply add a.

Examples
Roots. Bases.
Ãpac, to cook. paca.
Ãlabh, to obtain. labha.
Ãmar, to die. mara.
Ãrakkh, to keep, guard. rakkha.
ÃyŒc, to entreat beg. yŒca.
Ãvad, to tell, say. vada.
Ãtar, to cross. tara.
Ãj´v, to live. j´va.
Ãbhar, to carry. bhara.

371. To this division belong those roots which, ending in a consonant preceded by i or u, sometimes do, and sometimes do not strengthen the vowel (i, u).

Examples
(Without Strengthening)
Roots. Bases.
Ãtud, to know, destroy. tuda.
Ãphus, to touch. phusa.
Ãlikh, to write. likha.
Ãnud, to remove. nuda.
(With Strengthening)
Roots. Bases.
gup, to keep, watch. gopa.
subh, to shine, be beautiful. sobha.

(2) The roots of this division do not take the conjugation sign a: the personal endings of the tenses are added directly to the root.

Examples
Roots. Bases.
ÃyŒ, to go. yŒ.
ÃvŒ, to blow. vŒ.
ÃÊhŒ, to stand. ÊhŒ.
ÃkhyŒ, to tell (with prefix Œ). khyŒ.
Ãbrè, to speak. brè.

Remarks. (a) To this class may be said to belong the roots ending in i, ´ or u, u which, when a is added to them, do not take their semi-vowel substitute, but are merely gunated (109, 104-107).

Examples
Roots. Bases.
Ãn´, to lead. ne (or naya) (3rd Division).
Ãji, to conquer. je (or java) (3rd Division).
Ãhè, to be. ho.
Ãku, to sound. ko (or kava) (3rd Division).

Remarks.
(b) To these transformed roots, which at first sight appear to be pure roots, the personal endings are added, as after the roots: yŒ, vŒ, ÊhŒ, etc., (2nd Division).
(c) So that these roots assume two special bases: one in e or aya, and one in o or ava, according as the last vowel is i, ´ or u, è.

(3) The roots of this division end in i, ´ or u, è which, before the conjugational sign a, are respectively changed to ay and av (103-110).

Examples
Roots. Bases.
Ãn´, to lead, guide. (Ãn´ + a =) naya.
Ãji, to conquer. (Ãji + a =) jaya.
Ãbhè, to be. (Ãbhè + a =) bhava.
Ãku, to make a sound. (Ãku + a =) kava.
Ãkhi, to govern. (Ãkhi + a =) khaya.
(See above no. 2 Remarks (a, c).

(4) The verbs of the Fourth division of the First Cojugation form their special bases by reduplicating the root.

Examples
Roots. Bases.
ÃÊhŒ, to stand. tiÊÊhŒ.
ÃdŒ, to give. dadŒ.
ÃdhŒ, to hold. dadhŒ.
Ãha, to forsake. jahŒ.
Ãhu, to sacrifice. juho.

Remark. These retain the long Πbefore the personal endings of the present and of the Imperative.

372. The Rules of Reduplication are as follows:

(1) Reduplication consists in the doubling of the first consonant in a root together with a vowel that follows it. If the root begins with a vowel, that vowel alone is reduplicated.

(2) A gutteral is reduplicated by its corresponding palatal.

(3) An unaspirate is always reduplicated by an unaspirate (See chart para 9) which means that an unaspirate is reduplicated by itself.

(4) The initial h of a root, is reduplicated by j.

(5) An aspirate is reduplicated by its unaspirate.

(6) v is generally reduplicated by u.

(7) A long vowel is shortened in the reduplicated syllable. That is:
(a) a or Πtakes a in reduplication, and sometimes:
(b) i or ´ takes i.
(c) u or è takes u but sometimes a.
(d) i is occasionally changed to e.
(e) u is changed to o, sometimes.
(f) a of the root, following the first consonant, is sometimes lengthened to Œ.

Examples
Simple Roots. Reduplicated Bases.
ÃdhŒ, to hold. (Rule 372, 5, 7-a) dadhŒ.
ÃdŒ, to give. (Rule 372, 3, 7-a) dadŒ.
Ãkit, to cure. (Rule 372, 2, 7-b; 88) cikiccha.
Ãgam, to go. (Rule 372, 2, 7-a) jagama.
Ãkhaº, to dig. (Rule 372, 2, 7-a) cakhana.
Ãhar, to bear. (Rule 372, 4, 7-a, f) jahŒra.
Ãhas, to laugh. (Rule 372, 4, 7-a, f) jahŒsa.
Ãbudh, to know. (Rule 372, 3, 7-e) bubodha.
Ãsuc, to mourn. (Rule 372, 3, 7-e) susoca.
Ãpac, to cook. (Rule 372, 3, 7-a) papaca.
Ãchid, to cut. (Rule 372, 5, 7-d) cicheda.
Ãbhè, to be. (Rule 372, 5, 7-c) babhuva.
Ãvas, to live. (Rule 372, 6, 7-f) uvŒsa.
Ãvad, to say. (Rule 372, 6, 7-f) uvŒda.
Ãah, to say. (Rule 372, 1; 22) Œha.

Remarks. The above rules of reduplication apply as well to the perfect tense; but as the perfect is very seldom used in PŒli, the student ought not to assume existence of any form unless it be actually found in the course of his reading.

373. The Verbs of the Second Conjugation form their Special Bases by inserting niggah´ta before the last consonant of the root, and then adding a, as in the 1st conjugation. Niggahita follows the usual rules of sandhi (39).

Examples
Roots. Bases.
Ãrudh, to restrain. rundha.
Ãmuc, to free. mu–ca.
Ãchid, to cut. chinda.
Ãlip, to smear. limpa.
Ãbhuj, to eat. bhu–ja.
Ãpis, to grind. pimsa.

374. The sign of the Third Conjugation is ya, which is added to the root; the rules for the Assimilation of ya (70 ff.), are regularly applied.

Examples
Roots. Bases.
Ãyudh, to fight. Ãyudh + ya (74, vi) = yujjha.
Ãbudh, to know. Ãbudh + ya (74, vi) = bujjha.
Ãpas, to see. Ãpas + ya (76, i) = passa.
Ãdus, to vex. Ãdus + ya (76, i) = dussa.
ÃgŒ, to sing. ÃgŒ + ya = gŒya.
ÃjhŒ, to think. ÃjhŒ + ya = jhŒya.

Remark. The roots of this conjugation ending in long Πare sometimes given under the form of e also; thus:

ge = gŒ, to sing.
ve = vŒ, to weave.
jhe = jhŒ, to think, meditate.

375. The forms in Œ (gŒ, etc.) belong, as we have already seen, to the Third Conjugation, but those in e belong to the First Conjugation (3rd Division), and form their bases by the addition of a. Thus:

ge + a = gŒya.
ve + a = vŒya.

Remarks. Note well that final e + a = Œya with lengthening of the first a.

376. The Verbs of the Fourth Conjugation form the present Stem or Base by the addition of öu, or öa if the root end in a vowel; but uöu, or uöŒ, if the root end in a consonant.

Remarks.
(a) The u of öu and uºu may be strengthened to o.
(b) This u or o may, before a personal ending beginning with a vowel, be changed to va (27ii a, b).

Examples
Roots. Bases.
Ãsu, to hear. suöŒ or suöo.
ÃŒp (with prefix pa = pŒp) attain pŒpuöŒ or pŒpuöo.

(c) The long Œ of öŒ, uöŒ is retained before the personal endings of the Present and of the Imperative except the 3rd Person Plural. Occasionally, however, it is found shortened.
(d) In a few cases the ö is de-lingualized and changed to the dental nasal, viz., n, following in this the analogy of the Sanskrit.

377. Verbs of the Fifth Conjugation form their bases by adding nΠto the root, which as a rule ends in a vowel.

Remarks.
(a) If the final vowel of the root is long (2), it is shortened before nŒ.
(b) Under the influence of a preceding Sanskrit r or ¨, this nŒ is sometimes lingualised and becomes öŒ.

Examples
Roots. Bases.
Ãci, to heap, collect. cinŒ.
Ãk´, to buy, barter. (Sansk. kr´) k´öŒ, or kiöŒ.
Ãdhè, to shake. dhunŒ.
Ãji, to conquer, win. jinŒ.
Ãas, to eat. asnŒ.
ÃjŒ, to know. jŒnŒ.
Ãyu, to mix, associate. yunŒ.

Remarks. The long Πof nΠis retained in all the persons of the Present and Imperative, except in the 3rd Plural. The short form in na is also often found.

378. The Verbs of the Sixth Conjugation form their Special Bases by adding u to the root; this u generally strengthens to o, which before an ending beginning with a vowel is changed to va (27).

Examples
Roots. Bases.
Ãkar, to do, make. karo.
Ãtan, to stretch, expand. tano.
Ãkuö, to make a sound. kuöo.
Ãvan, to beg, ask for. vano.

Remarks.
(a) The conjugation of Ãkar is highly irregular and formed on several bases and will be given in full later on.
(b) The roots belonging to this Conjugation are remarkably few.

379. The Verbs of the Seventh Conjugation form their Special bases by adding to the root aya, which by contraction may be replaced by e. The forms in e are more commonly met than those in aya. (Compare: 1st conjugation 3rd Division).

Remarks. The following should be carefully noted:
(a) When the radical vowel is u, it is changed to o, provided it be not followed by a Conjunct Consonant.
(b) Radical a, if followed by a single consonant, is generally lengthened, in some cases, however, it remains short.
(c) It will be perceived from the above that the verbs of the Seventh Conjugation have two bases: one in e and one in aya (Compare: 1st Conjugation, 3rd division.)

Examples
Root. Base.
Ãcur, to steal. core or coraya.
Ãgup, to guard, shine. gope or gopaya.
Ãpus, to nourish. pose or posaya.
Ãbandh, to bind. bandhe or bandhaya.
Ãt´r, to finish, accomplish. tire or t´raya.
Ãcha¶¶, to throw away. cha¶¶e or cha¶¶aya.
Ãkath, to say. kathe or kathaya.

380. A great many roots can form their bases according to two or three or even most Conjugations, in which case the meaning of each Special Base from the same root, differs, in most instances, from the original meaning of the root itself. This will be better understood by several examples. The numbers after the bases refer to the conjugations.

Examples
Roots. Bases.
subh sobha (1), to shine. Ãsubh + a = sobha.
subh sumbha (2), strike. Ãsubh + µ + a = sumbha.
kus kosa (1), to call, cut. Ãkus + a = kosa.
kus kussa (3), to embrace. Ãkus + ya, kusya = kussa (76).
tik teka (1), to go. Ãtik + a = teka.
tik tikuºŒ (4), to oppress. Ãtik + uºŒ = tikuºŒ.
r´ re (1), to expand. Ãr´ + a = re.
r´ r´öŒ (5), to inform. Ãr´ + öŒ = r´öŒ.
l´ laya (1) to liquify. Ãl´ + a = laya.
l´ l´nŒ (5), to approach. Ãl´ + nŒ = l´nŒ.
tan tana (1), to aid, assist. Ãtan + a = tana.
tan tano (6), to expand, stretch Ãtan + u (=o) = tano.
va¶¶h va¶¶ha (1), to grow, increase. Ãva¶¶h + a = va¶¶ha.
va¶¶h va¶¶he (7), to pour from one vessel into another. Ãva¶¶h + e = va¶¶he.
vid vida (1), to know. Ãvid + a = vida.
vid vijja (3), to be, have. Ãvid + ya = vidya = vijja.
vid vind (2), to find, get, enjoy. Ãvid + µ + a = vinda.
vid vede, vedaya (7), to feel, speak. Ãvid + e = vede or vedaya.

Conjugation of the Present System

First Conjugation

381. The bases of the verbs having been formed according to the rules given in the preceding paragraphs, there only remains to add to them the appropriate Personal Endings. We now give the Personal Endings for the tense of the Present-System, which is by far the most important, omitting the Present Participle, which will be treated in a special chapter.

Remarks.
(a) In the singular Optative Active Voice, e may be substituted for eyyŒmi, eyyŒsi and eyya.
(b) The vowel of the base is dropped before a Personal Ending beginning with a vowel.
(c) Before mi and ma of the Present Indicative, the a of the base is lengthened.
(d) In the 2nd person singular Active of the Imperative, hi may be dropped and the base or stem alone used. Note that before hi the a of the base is lengthened.

382. As has been said above (370) the First conjugation has four divisions. The roots ending in a consonant and adding a to form the base, are extremely numerous.

383. The following is the paradigm of Ãpac, to cook.

Remarks.
(a) The Augment a of the Imperfect may be omitted, so that we also have the forms: paca, pacaµ, paco, etc.
(b) The final vowel of the 3rd person singular active may also be long: apacŒ, apacè.

384. The above Personal-Endings of the Special Tenses are affixed to the Special Base of the seven Conjugations, after the model of Ãpac.

385. Roots of the Ist Conjugation in i, ´ and u, è, require no explanations. The base being obtained, (371, 3) the above Endings are merely added to it.

386. The roots of the first conjugation which take the Personal Endings directly (371, 2) are not numerous.

387. It must be here noted that in PŒli, all the roots are not conjugated in the Active and the Reflective voice for all the tenses. Especially so is the case with the roots that take the personal endings directly.

Remarks. Before nti, 3rd. Plural, Πof the root is shortened.

388. In the Optative, a y is inserted before the Personal Endings: yŒyeyyŒmi, yŒpeyya, vŒyeyya, vŒye, etc.

389. Some roots of this class are guºated (110) generally in the Reflective and 3rd Plural Pres.
Active: Ãbrè, to speak.

Remarks. In the Plural 1st and 2nd Persons Reflective the u is sometimes found shortened.

390. Other roots of this conjugation are:
Ãhan, to strike, kill, 3rd singular = hanti. but 3rd plural = hananti. In the Aorist we have: ahani, hani, etc.

Ãi to go, strengthened to e; the weak base ya is also used (cf. 1st Conjugation 3rd division, such roots as Ãn´, strong base ne and weak base naya. Similarly: Ãji, strong base je and weak base jaya.). We therefore obtain:
1. emi ema
2. esi etha
3. eti enti and yanti.

ÃÊha, to stand, ÊhŒti, ÊhŒsi, etc.
ÃpŒ, to guard, protect, pŒti, pŒsi, etc.

Remarks. (a) Roots of this class may like others belonging to different conjugations, be compounded with verbal prefixes.

Examples
ÃkhyŒ, to tell + Œ = ŒkhyŒ + ti = ŒkhyŒti.
ÃÊhŒ + ni = niÊÊhŒ + ti = niÊÊhŒti, to be finished.
Ãhan + ni = nihan + ti = nihanti, to strike down.
Ãi + upa = upe (21) + ti = upeti, to approach.

(b) the Œ of ÃÊhŒ is shortened to a when the root is reduplicated(1st Conjugation, 4th division).
(c) ÃÊhŒ, in composition with Verbal Prefixes, often assumes the Special base Êhaha.

Examples
ÃÊhŒ + saµ = saöÊhŒti, or saöÊhahati, or santiÊÊhati (See Niggahita sandhi), to stand.
ÃÊhŒ + pati = patiÊÊhŒti or patiÊÊhahati, to stand fast, firmly.
ÃÊhŒ + ud = uÊÊhŒti or uÊÊhahati, to stand up.

391. Similarly, ÃdhŒ, which at first sight would appear to belong to the 1st Conjugation, 2nd Division, de-aspirates itself into daha, and migrates into the Ãpac class (370, 1). Moreover it is used only with Verbal Prefixes. This root also belongs to the reduplicating-class (372) and consequently has also the base dadhŒ. A base dhe, of the same root, is extensively used.

Examples
ÃdhŒ to carry, bear, hold + ni = nidahati, or nidadhŒti, or nidheti, to put down, hold aside, lay aside.
ÃdhŒ + abhi = abhidahati, or abhidadhŒti, or abhidheti, to declare, point out.

392. Some roots belonging to the Reduplicating Class (371, 4th Division), also take the Personal Endings directly in the Present Tense and the lmperative.*

*Throughout all this chapter many PŒli grammars have been consulted, such as: Saddan´ti, Niruttid´pan´, Galonpyan, AkhyŒtapadamŒla, etc.

393. By false analogy, some roots in i, (371, 3rd division), seem to belong to the class of roots which take the endings directly; but in reality, these roots belong not to the 2nd division, but to the 3rd division, the endings being added, not after the root, but after the strengthened base (105), i or ´ having first been changed to e under the influence of a (21, i). Those bases are conjugated exactly like Ãcur, base core, the paradigm of which is given below. The Reflective Voice of such roots is formed from the base in aya.

Remark. The Optative may also be formed on the base in ne as:

394. Other roots are:
Ãs´, to lie down, base: se or saya.
Ãji, to conquer, base: je or jaya.
öi, to set a net, base: ¶e (in o¶¶eti).

Remark. The most important root of the Root-Class is Ãas, to be; which is rather defective; it will be given a special chapter (See Defective Verbs).

Reduplicating Class

395. The verbs of this class are characterised by taking a reduplicating syllable: the rules have been given above (372). The conjugation presents no difficulty, e.g. ÃdŒ, to give.

396. Some tenses of this verb are formed directly from the base; they will be given in their proper place.

Remarks.
(a) Of ÃdŒ, we also find the bases dajj and de, formed by false analogy: dajjŒmi, dajjasi, dajjati, dajjŒma, dajjatha, dajjanti, etc., demi, desi, deti; dema, detha, denti, etc.
(b) There is an anomalous form of the singular present very probably formed on the analogy of the plural: dammi, dasi, dati.
(c) The Reflective forms do not exist for most of the tenses, only a very few are met with: the first singular. and first plural: dade, dadŒmase.
(d) In the root ÃÊha the final Œ of the base is preserved long only in the first singular and plural present.
Sing. Plur.
tiÊÊhŒmi tiÊÊhŒma.
tiÊÊhasi tiÊÊhatha, ÊhŒtha.
tiÊÊhati tiÊÊhanti.

It will be remarked that ÊhŒtha, 2nd person plural, is formed directly from the root.

The 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th Conjugations

397. The conjugation of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Classes does not present any difficulty; the Personal endings are added as has already been shown for the First Conjugation.

Second Conjugation

398. Ãchid, base: chinda (373). to cut.

Present Active. Present Reflective.
Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural.
1. chindŒmi chindŒma chinde chindŒmhe
2. chindasi chindatha chindase chindavhe
3. chindati. chindanti chindate chindante

399. The other Tenses are formed regularly, as:
chindeyyŒmi, chindeyyŒsi, chindeyya, or chinde; chindeyyŒma, chindŒyyatha, chindeyyuµ.

And so on for the other Tenses.

Remark. The root Ãrudh, to obstruct, has five bases: rundhati, rundhiti; rundh´ti, rundheti and rundhoti.

Third Conjugation

400. Ãdiv, base: dibba (77), to play.

Present Active. Present Reflective.
Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural.
1. dibbŒmi dibbŒma dibbe dibbŒmhe
2. dibbasi dibbatha dibbase dibbavhe
3. dibbati dibbanti dibbate dibbante

The other Tenses are formed regularly, as: Imperfect adibba, adibbo, adibba, adibbamhŒ, adibbattha, adibbu.

Optative: dibbe, dibbeyya, dibbeyyŒmi, dibbeyyŒsi, etc.

Fourth Conjugation

401. Ãsu, base: suöŒ (376), or suno, to hear.

Present Active.
Sing. Plur. or Sing. Plur.
1. suöŒmi suöŒma suöomi suöoma
2. suöŒsi suöŒtha suöosi suöotha
3. suöŒti suöanti suöoti suöonti, sunvanti

Remarks.
(a) The other Tenses are formed on the base: suöŒ final Œ being dropped before initial i and e, as: suöeyyami, suöeyyŒsi etc, suöissŒmi, suöissŒma, suöissasi, etc.
(b) Ãsak, to be able, belongs to this conjugation, but has developed several bases: sakkuöŒti with the k doubled; sakkoti, by assimilation (57) sak+no=sakno, sakko+ti=sakkoti. Similarly, there is a form sakkŒti obtained by the same process; sak+nŒ=sakna, sakkŒ+ti=sakkŒti: and still another form occurs, with short a: sakkati
(c) ÃŒp, to attain, with prefix pa (pa+Œp=pŒp), shows 3 forms: pappoti, pŒpuöŒti, pŒpuöoti. Ãgah, to take, seize has for base: gaöhŒ with metathesis (111, p.35): gaöhŒmi, gaöhŒsi, etc.
(d) We have already said that the ö is very often de-lingualised (376, d). That is to say, many of the roots belonging to the 4th Conjugation form their bases according to the 9th Conjugation of Sansk. verbs, by adding nŒ to the root. For instance from Ãci, to collect, to heap, we have: cinŒti, to gather; ocinŒti, ocinati, to pick up, to gather.
Remark that the base may be with short a as well as with long Œ and that this is the case with many of the roots of this conjugation, cf. sa–cinati, sa–cinoti, sa–cinŒti, to accumulate.
(e) From Ãbhè we have a verb abhisambhunati and abhisambhunoti, to obtain. The root of this verb is said by some grammarians to be Sansk. Ãbh¨´, but this is most improbable. Some native grammarians give a root sambhè, found only in the Dhammapada, not perceiving it is merely a compound of prefix sam+Ãbhu.

Fifth Conjugution

402. Ãdhè to shake; base dhunŒ, (377).

Active. Reflective.
Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur.
1. dhunŒmi dhunŒma dhune dhunŒmhe
2. dhunŒsi dhunŒtha dhunase dhunavhe
3. dhunŒti dhunanti dhunate dhunante, dhunare.

Remarks.
(a) Other Verbs belonging to this class are:
Ãj–Œ, jŒ, –Œ, to know, base: jŒna.
Ãas, to eat, base : asnŒ.
Ãmun=Ãman, to think, base: munŒ.
(b) The student will have remarked that the 4th and 5th Conjugations very often interchange their bases. This is owing to the false analogy of Sansk. roots.

Sixth Conjugation

403. Ãkar, to make, to do, base karo (378).

Present.
Sing. plur.
1. karomi karoma
2. karosi karotha
3. karoti karonti

Remarks.
(a) There are several bases of the root Ãkar as: karo, kara, kubb; the conjugation of this verb, as already said (378, a) will be given in full in the chapter on Defective Verbs.

Ãtan, to stretch, base: tano (strong); weak base=tanu.
Present.
Active. Reflective.
Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur.
1. tanomi tanoma tanve (27) tanumhe
2. tanosi tanotha tanuse tanuvhe.
3. tanoti tanonti tanute tanvante(27)

(b) The roots belonging to this Class are very few.

7th Conjugation

404. The roots of the 7th Conugation, as has been remarked above (379), have two bases: one in e and one in aya, which are conjugated exactly like the roots of the 1st Conjugation, 3rd Class, (See 393).

Irregular Bases

Some roots form their Special bases according to none of the above given rules; and they are in consequence called Irregular. The principal are here given.

Ãgam, to go Special base gaccha.
Ãyam, to restrain Special base yaccha.
Ãguh, to hide Special base gèhe.
ÃdhŒ, to hold Special base daha, dhe (391).
ÃdŒ, to give Special base dajja.
ÃjŒ, jan, to be born Special base jŒya.
ÃpŒ, to drink Special base piva.
öaµs, to bite Special base ¶asa.
ÃdhmŒ, to blow Special base dhama.
Ãvyadh, (=vadh) Special base vadha.
Ãsad, to sit Special base s´da.
ÃÊhŒ, to stand Special base tiÊÊhŒ.
Ãis, to wish Special base iccha.
Ãvad, to speak, say Special base vajja, vajje, vada, vŒde.
Ãmar, to die Special base miya, miyya, mara.
Ãgah to take, seize Special base gheppa.*
Ãgam, to go Special base ghamma, gaggha.*
Ãjir, to gow old, decay Special base jiya, jiyya.
Ãdis, das to see Special base dakkha, daccha.*

*These forms are given by the Saddan´ti and the AkhyatapadamŒlŒ. They are regularly conjugated like gaccha: ghammŒmi, ghammasi ghammati;, etc,. ghagghami ghagghasi ghagghati; etc. ghammeyya, gagghe, gaggheyya, etc. The bases dakkha and daccha from Ãda, dis are formed on the false analogy of the future base, which we shall see when treating of the future. Most of the changes noticed above correspond to similar changes which occur in the 1st, 4th and 6th Conjugations of Sanskrit verbs.

The Aorist

405. The Aorist is the only true past tense in PŒli. The Personal Endings of the Imperfect and those of the Aorist have become hopelessly mixed up and the native grammarians are at a loss to differentiate between the Imperfect and the Aorist; but the Aorist has generally superseded the Imperfect. There are many anomalies which the student cannot possibly understand without a slight knowedge of Sanskrit grammar; he need not however, be detained by these considerations just now. The usual Endings of the Imperfect have already been given (381); much will be achieved if he, for the present, devotes his attention to the following paragraphs.

406. The Aorist is supposed to be formed from the root but as a matter of fact, it is formed indif
ferently either from the root or from the base.

407. The desinences (endings) of the Aorist are:

Remarks.
(a) The student will remark, on comparing the above Endings with those of the Imperfect, that it is difficult to make out the Imperfect from the Aorist (the blending of Imperfect and Aorist is well known to students of Comparative Philology); the only criterion is, that the Imperfect is generally formed on the Special Base, and the Aorist, on the root. But even this is not an absolute criterion, and the fact remains that these two tenses can scarcely be differentiated.
(b) Of the above Endings, however, the most commonly used and most distinctively Aoristic are:
Sing. Plur.
1. iµ imha, imhŒ.
2. i ittha.
3. i iµsu, (isuµ).
(c) The nasal of aµ is often omitted, and a alone remains.
(d) The Aorist of the great majority of verbs is formed with the desinences given in (b).

408. The Aorist may be divided into three types:
(i) Radical Aorist.
(ii) Stem or Base Aorist.
(´i) Sigmatic Aorist.

Remarks.
(a) As its name indicates, the Radical Aorist is formed directly from the root.
(b) The Stem Aorist is formed on the Special Base.
(c) The Sigmatic Aorist is distinguished by an s that comes between the root and the personal endings given in (407, b).

(i) The Radical Aorist

409. This Aorist is not very common. We will give a few examples. Let it be first remarked that the Aorist may also take the augment a before it, as does the imperfect.

410. from Ãgam, and ÃgŒ and Ãgè (subsidiary forms of Ãgam,) to go, we have:
(a) Sing. Plur.
1. agaµ, agamŒ, agamiµ agumha
2. agŒ, agamŒ aguttha
3. agŒ, agami aguµ, agamiµsu.

(b) Ãas, to be (With augment a)
Sing. Plur.
1. Œsiµ Œsimha.
2. Œsi Œsittha.
3. Œsi Œsuµ, Œsiµsu.

411. ÃÊhŒ.
Sing. Plur.
1. aÊÊhaµ aÊÊhamha.
2. aÊÊho aÊÊhattha
3. aÊÊha aÊÊhaµsu, aÊÊhuµ.

Remark. For the doubling of initial Êh see 33.

412. From Ãkar we find: akaµ (1st singular), no doubt formed on the analogy of: akŒ (1st, 2nd and 3rd singular); akŒ being itself from the Vedic form: akar, the loss of the r is compensated by the lengthening of the final a.
In the 1st singular we also have: akaraµ, akariµ.
In the plural: 2. akattha; 3. akaruµ, akarè, akariµsu.

413. Ãhè (a form of Ãbhè) to be.
3rd singular: ahè, ahu, and before a vowel, ahud.
1st plural: ahumhŒ; 3rd plural: ahuµ.

414. Ãda.
1st singular: adŒ, which is also 2nd and 3rd singular.
In the plural we find: 3rd aduµ, adaµsu, adŒsuµ.

415. The augment a is not inseparable from the Aorist, so that we meet with such forms as:
gŒ=agŒ, etc.

(ii) Stem Aorist

416. As has already been said, this aorist is formed on the stem or base, not on the root. The aug
ment may or may not be retained.

ÃpŒ, base: piva, to drink.
Sing. Plur.
1. piviµ pivimha
2. pivi pivittha
3. pivi piviµsu

For the Reflective;
Sing. Plur.
1. pive pivimhe
2. pivise pivivhaµ
3. piva, pivŒ pivu, pivuµ, piviµsu, pivisuµ.

417. The great bulk of Primitive Verbs (369) form their Aorist according to the above (piva); it is therefore extremely common, both with and without the augment; let it be stated once for all that this augment is of much more frequent occurence in prose than in poetry; in the latter its retention or rejection is regulated by metrical exigencies. We will now give a few more examples:

Ãbhuj, to eat base: bhu–ja Ãgam, to go, base gaccha

(iii) Sigmatic Aorist

418. Sigmatic Aorist is formed by inserting s between the radical vowel or the vowel of the base and the personal endings given above (407, b).

419. So that we obtain the following desinences:
Sing. Plur.
1. siµ (=s+iµ). simha (=s+imha).
2. si (=s+i). sittha (=s+ittha).
3. si (=s+i). suµ (=s+uµ).

420. As will be readily understood, this formation of the Aorist is used with roots ending in vowels, and the s is inserted to join the endings to the root or to the base. It will be seen lower down, however, that they are added also to some roots ending in a consonant when the s becomes assimilated to that consonant.

421. The sigmatic desinences are used mostly with the Derivative Verbs, principally the Causative Verbs (See: Derivative Conjugation), which end in the vowel e. The verbs of the 7th Conjugation, which also end in e, form their Aorist in the same way.

Examples
(Causative Verbs).

422. ÃhŒ, to abandon, Causative base: hŒpe. Ãtas, to tremble, Causative base: tŒse.

Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur.
1. hŒpesiµ hŒpesimha tŒsesiµ tŒsesimha
2. hŒpesi hŒpesittha tŒsesi tŒsesittha
3. hŒpesi hŒpesuµ tŒsesi tŒsesuµ
Remarks. In the 3rd plural the form in iµsu is also frequent: hŒpesiµsu. tŒsesiµsu.
(Verbs of the 7th conjugation).

423. Ãcur, to steal, base: core. Ãkath, to tell, base: kathe.

Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur.
1. coresiµ coresimha kathesiµ kathesimha
2. coresi coresittha kathesi kathesittha
3. coresi coresuµ, coresiµsu kathesi kathesuµ, kathesiµsu

Remarks.
(a) To the base in aya endings given in (407, b) may be added directly without the Insertion of sigmatic s, so that we have also:
Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur.
1. corayiµ corayimha kathayiµ kathayimha
2. corayi corayittha kathayi kathayittha
3. corayi corayuµ, corayiµsu kathayi kathayuµ, kathayiµsu
(b) This holds good for the Causative Verbs which have also a base in aya.

424. The Sigmatic Aorist desinences are placed after some roots which do not belong to the 7th conjugation or to the derivative verbs:
(i) After roots ending in a vowel, with or without the augment a.
(ii) After some roots ending in a Consonant, in which case the usual rules of assimilation (85) are strictly applied.

Examples of (i)
ÃdŒ, to give: adŒsiµ, adŒsi, adŒsimha, etc.
ÃÊha, to stand: aÊÊhŒsiµ, aÊÊhŒsimha, etc.
ÃhŒ, to abandon: ahŒsiµ, ahŒsi, ahŒsimha, etc.
Ãsu, to hear, assosiµ, assosi, assosimha, etc.
ÃyŒ, to go: yŒsim, yŒsi, yŒsimha, etc.
Remark. From an illusory ÃkŒ (=Ãkar, to do), we find: akŒsiµ, akŒsi, akŒsimha, etc.
From ÖŒ, to know: a––Œsiµ, a––Œsi, a––Œsimha, etc.

Examples of (ii)

425. At a first reading, the student had perhaps better leave unnoticed the few references. to Sanskrit Grammar which will be found in the next few paragrahs. Let him merely assume the forms as they are given: the more advanced student ought, of course, to read them with attention.

426. The s (initial) of Sigmatic desinences, as above given (419), assimilates itself to the last consonant of the root according to the usual rules of assimilation:
(a) From Ãdis=sanskrit .Ãd¨•, we find addakki=Sanskrit adrak-·-is.
The following forms are also found: addakkh´, adakkhi, dakkhi.
(b) From Ãsak, to be able=Sankrit Õak, we have sakkhi, asakkhi; Sanskrit=•ak-·-is.
(c) Ãkus, to revile=Sanskrit Ãkru•, gives akkocchi, but akkosi, without the sigmatic s, is also met with.
(d) Ãbha–j, to break, gives Aorist bhaºki.

Remark. The above examples will, I think, be sufficient to make the student understand the nature of the changes which occur in the formation of the Sigmatic Aorist when the roots end in a consonant; this consonant is generally s (=Sanskrit •) and sometimes j. In Sanskrit, final • (=PŒli s) is regularly changed to k before the initial s of verbal endings thus giving the group k·a, which in PŒli becomes kkha. Again, by another rule of Sanskrit phonetics, final j becomes g, and as no word can end in a mute sonant, this g is changed to its corresponding surd, that is to k. This class of the Sigmatic Aorist, however, is not numerous.

System of The Perfect

427. As has been seen, the perfect system consists of the Perfect tense and the Perfect Participle. The participle will be treated of in the chapter on Participles.

428. The Perfect is characterised by the reduplication of the root. The rules have already been given (372) and should now be read over carefully.

429. The endings are:

Perfect.
Active. Reflective.
Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur.
1. a mha i mhe
2. e ttha ttho vho
3. a u ttha re

Remarks.
(a) Roots ending in a consonant insert an before the above endings beginning with a consonant.
(b) The Perfect is of very rare occurence.

430. Ãpac, Perfect base: papac. Ãbhè, Perfect base: babhèv.

Active. Active
Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur.
1. papaca papacimha babhèva babhèvimha
2. papace papacittha babhève babhèvittha
3. papaca papacu babhèva babhèvu

Reflective. Reflective.
Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur.
1. papaci papacimhe. babhèvi babhèvimhe
2. papacittho papacivho. babhèvittho babhèvivhe
3. papacittha papacire babhèvittha babhèvire

The Future System

431. This system includes the Future, the Conditional and the Future Participle. The Participle will be considered in a special chapter.

432. The Future System has for special characteristic the sign: ssa inserted between the root and the personal endings.

Remarks.
(a) The Future System is frequently formed on the Present base.
(b) The vowel i is often inserted between the ssa and the root or base; in this case the final vowel of the root or base is dropped.
(c) When the ssa is added directly to a root ending in a consonant, the same changes which occur in the Aorist occur also in the Future System, through the assimilation of the initial s of ssa.

433. The Personal Endings for the Future are:
Active. Reflective.
Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur.
1. mi ma µ mhe
2. si tha se vhe
3. ti nti te nte, re

Remarks.
(a) It will be seen that in the active the endings are the same as those of the present indicative. (381)
(b) Before mi, ma and mhe the a of ssa is lengthened.

Examples

434. (i) without connecting vowel i.
(a) Ãi, to go, special base e (390), future base: essa
Active Reflective
Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur.
1. essŒmi essŒma essaµ essŒmhe
2. essasi essatha essase essavhe
3. essati essanti essate essante

Ãn´ to lead, special base ne (371, 3) future base: nessa.
Singular. Plural.
nessŒmi nessŒma
nessasi nessatha
nessati nessanti, etc.

(b) ÃÊhŒ, to stand.
Singular. Plural.
ÊhassŒmi ÊhassŒma
Êhassasi Êhassatha
Êhassati Êhassanti, etc.

Remarks. In the above, ssa is added directly to the root; for the shortening of radical a see (34) again:

ÃdŒ, give.
Singular. Plural.
dassŒmi dassŒma
dassasi dassatha
dassati dassanti, etc.

(ii) with connecting vowel i.

(c) Ãbhè, to be, special base: bhava, future base: bhavissa.

Active. Reflective.
Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur.
1. bhavissŒmi bhavisssŒma. bhavissaµ bhavissŒmhe
2. bhavissasi bhavissatha bhavissase bhavissavhe
3. bhavissati bhavissanti bhavissate bhavisante

(iii) with assimilation of ssa

(d) Ãbhuj to eat. gives bhokkha as future base. (Sansk. Ãbhuj=bhok+·ya=bhok·ya) and we have:
bhokkhati. bhokkhate, bhokkhaµ, etc.

Ãchid. to cut, gives: checcha (Sansk. Ãchid=chet+·ya=cet·ya) then:
checchŒmi, checchasi, checchati etc.

Ãdis, to see, gives a future: dakkha; (=Sans.Ãd¨c=drak+·ya=drak·ya) from this we find - dakkhati, but more frequently dakkhiti. Similarly from the root Ãsak to be able, is obtained sakkhiti.

435. A double future is also found formed from bases like bhokkha, dakka, which, as has been just now explained are already future, by adding to them ssa with the connection vowel -i

Examples
Ãsak, future base: sakkha, sakkhissŒmi, sakkhissasi sakkhissati, sakkhissŒma, etc.

436. From hoti, the contracted form of bhavati, to be, we find the following numerous forms for the future:

Singular
1. hemi, hehŒmi, hohŒmi, hessŒmi, hehissŒmi, hohissŒmi, I shall be.
2. hesi. hehisi, hohisi, hessasi, hehissasi, hohissasi, Thou will be.
3. heti, hehiti, hohiti, hessati, hehissati, hohissati, He will be.

Plural.
1. hema, hehŒma, hohŒma, hessŒma, hehissŒma, hohissŒma. We shall be.
2. hetha, hehitha, hohitha, hessatha, hehissatha, hohissatha. You will be.
3. henti, hehinti, hohinti, hessanti; hehissanti hohissanti. They will be.

Ãkar. to do, gives:
Sing. Plur.
1. kŒhŒmi, I shall do. kŒhŒma, we shall do.
2. kŒhasi, kŒhisi, thou wilt do. kŒhatha, you will do.
3. kŒhati, kŒhiti, he will do. kŒhanti, kŒhinti, they will do.

The Conditional

437. The Conditional takes the augment a before the root.

438. The personal endings are as follows:

Active. Reflexive.
Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur.
1. ssa ssamhŒ ssaµ ssŒmhase
2. sse, ssa, ssasi. ssatha ssase ssavhe
3. ssŒ, ssa, ssati. ssaµsu ssatha ssiµsu
Remark. The above endings are generally joined to the root or the base by means of the connecting vowel i.

Ãpac, to cook:
Active. Reflective.
Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur.
1. apacissaµ apacissamhŒ apacissaµ apacissŒmhase.
2. apacisse,apacissa,apacissi. apacissatha apacissase apacissavhe.
3. apacissŒ,apacissa,apacissati. apacissaµsu apacissatha apacissiµsu.
Remarks.
(a) The conditional may be translated by "if I could cook," or " If I should cook," etc.
(b) The conditional is not very frequently used.

The Participles

(a) Present Participle

Active

439. All participles are of the nature of verbal adjectives, and must agree with their nouns, in number, gender and case.

440. The terminations of the present participle active are: nta, aµ or µ; nta and µ are added to the base, aµ is added to the root.

Examples
Root. Base. Present. Part. Active. Base.
Ãpac, to cook, paca, pacaµ, pacanta, cooking.
Ãkar, to do, kara, karaµ, karonta, doing.
Ãchid, to cut, chinda, chindaµ, chindanta, cutting.
Ãbhaö, to say, bhaöa, bhaöaµ, bhaöanta, saying.
Ãbhè, to be, bhava, bhavaµ, bhavanta, being.
ÃpŒ, to drink, piva, pivaµ, pivanta, drinking.

441. Verbal bases ending in e (1st Conj. 3rd. Division; 7th. Conj. and causal bases. See "Derivative or secondary conjugation") which have also another base in aya take only the termination nta after the base in e, and both ota and µ after the base in aya.

Examples
(1st and 7th Conjugations)
Root. Base. Pres. Part. Act. Base.
Ãcur, to steal. core, coraya. corenta, corayaµ, corayanta.
Ãkath, to tell. kathe, kathaya. kathenta, kathayaµ, kathayanta.
Ãn´, to lead. ne, naya. nenta, nayaµ, nayanta.
Ãji, to conquer. je, jaya. jenta, jayaµ, jayanta.
(Causative.)
Root Caus. Base. Pres. part. act. (base)
Ãdhar to hold dhŒre, dhŒraya. dhŒrenta, dhŒrayaµ, dhŒrayanta.
dhŒrŒpe, dhŒrŒpaya. dhŒrŒpenta dhŒrŒyaµ, dhŒrŒpayanta.
Ãmar, to die mŒre, mŒraya, mŒrenta, mŒrayaµ, mŒrayanta.
mŒrŒpe, mŒrŒpaya, mŒrŒpenta, mŒrŒpayaµ, mŒrŒpayanta.
Ãchid, to cut chede, chedaya. chedenta, chedayaµ, chedayanta.
chedŒpe, chedŒpaya. chedŒpenta, chedŒpayaµ, chedŒpayanta.

442. Bases in öŒ, no, uöŒ, uöo (4th Conj.) and nŒ (5th Conj.) generally take the termination nta.
Examples
Root. Base. Pres. Part. Act. Base.
Ãsu, to hear, suöŒ, suöo, suöanta, suöonta.
Ãk´, to buy, kiöŒ, kiöanta.

443. The stem or base of this Present Participle is in at, or ant as:
Pres Part.
Root. Stem. Nom. Sing. Masc.
Ãpac, pacat, pacant. pacaµ, pacanto.
Ãcar, carat, carant. caraµ, caranto.
Ãbhaö, bhaöat, bhaöant. bhaöaµ, bhaöanto.

444. The Feminine is formed by adding ´ to the stems or bases in at and nta.

445. The Neuter is in µ like the masculine.
Examples
Root. Stem. Masc. Fem. Neut.
Ãpac pacat pacaµ pacat´ pacaµ.
pacant pacanto pacant´ pacantaµ
Ãchid chindat chindaµ chindat´ chindaµ.
chindant chindanto chindant´ chindantaµ.

446. These participles are declined like mahΠ(226) in the Masculine, Feminine and Neuter.
The Present Participle may often be translated by " when ..., while ..."etc.

Reflective Participle

447. The Reflective Participle is formed by the addition of mŒna to the base. It is declined like purisa, ka––Œ, and rèpaµ.
Examples
Reflective Participle.
Root. Masc. Fem. Neuter.
Ãpac pacamŒno pacamŒnŒ pacamŒnaµ
Ãcar caramŒno caramŒnŒ caramŒnaµ
ÃdŒ dadŒmŒno dadŒmŒnŒ dadŒmŒnaµ
Ãsu suöamŒno suöamŒnŒ suöamŒnaµ

448. Another Reflective Participle, much less frequent than the above, is formed by adding Œna to the root. It is declined like that in mŒna.
Examples
Reflective Participle.
Root. Masc. Fem. Neuter.
Ãpac pacŒno pacŒnŒ pacŒnaµ
Ãcar carŒno carŒnŒ carŒnaµ
ÃdŒ dadŒno dadŒnŒ dadŒnaµ
Remarks. As may be seen from the last example, dadŒna, this participle may also be formed from the base.

The Future Participle