A Practical Grammar of the Paali Language

Chapter IX

Pronouns, Pronominal Adjectives, and Pronominal Derivatives

288. (I) Personal Pronouns

289. Declension of aha.m, I

Of all genders.

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	aha.m: I	maya.m, amhe, vaya.m: we
Gen.	mama, mayha.m, mama.m, amha.m: my, mine	amhaaka.m, amha.m, asmaaka.m, no: our, ours
Dat.	mama, mayha.m, mama.m, amha.m, me: to me, for me	amhaaka.m, amha.m, asmaaka.m, no: to us, for us
Acc.	ma.m, mama.m: me	amhe, amhaaka.m, asme, amhe, no: us
Ins.	mayaa, me: by me	amhehi, amhebhi, no: by us
Abl.	mayaa, me: from me	amhehi, amhebhi, no: from us
Loc.	mayi: in, on, upon me	amhesu, asmaasu, asmesu: in, on, upon us

290. Declension of tva.m, thou

Of all genders.

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	tva.m, tuva.m, ta.m: thou	tumhe: you
Gen.	tava, tava.m, tuyha.m, tumha.m, te: thy, thine	tumhaaka.m, tumha.m, vo: your, yours
Dat.	tava, tava.m, tuyha.m, tumha.m, te: to thee, for thee	tumhaaka.m, tumha.m, vo: to you, for you
Acc.	tava.m, ta.m, tuva.m, tva.m, tya.m: thee	tumhe, tumhaaka.m, vo: you
Ins.	tvayaa, tayaa, te: by thee	tumhehi, tumhebhi, vo: by you
Abl.	tvayaa, tayaa, tvamhaa, te: from thee	tumhehi, tumhebhi, vo: from you
Loc.	tvayi, tayi, in, on, upon thee	tumhesu, in, on, upon you

291. (II) Demonstrative Personal Pronouns

Declension of so, saa, ta.m: this, that, he, she, it

292. Masculine: so, he, this, that

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	so, sa	te
Gen.	tassa	tesa.m, tesaana.m
Dat.	tassa	tesa.m, tesaana.m
Acc.	ta.m	te
Ins.	tena	tehi, tebhi
Abl.	tasmaa, tamhaa	tehi, tebhi
Loc.	tasmi.m, tamhi	tesu

293. Feminine: saa, she, this, that

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	saa	taa, taayo
Gen.	tassaa, tassaaya, tissaa, tissaaya, taaya	taasa.m, taasaanam
Dat.	tassaa, tassaaya, tissaa, tissaaya, taaya	taasa.m, taasaanam
Acc.	ta.m	taa, taayo
Ins.	taaya	taahi, taabhi
Abl.	taaya	taahi, taabhi
Loc.	tassa.m, tissa.m, taaya.m	taasu

294. Neuter: ta.m, it, this, that

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	ta.m, tad	taani
Gen.	tassa	tesa.m, tesaana.m
Dat.	tassa	tesa.m, tesaana.m
Acc.	ta.m, tad	taani
Ins.	tena	tehi, tebhi
Abl.	tasmaa, tamhaa	tehi, tebhi
Loc.	tasmi.m, tamhi	tesu

295. There is a common substitute of so, saa, ta.m, obtained by replacing t wherever it occurs, by n, for the three genders. Thus we have:

Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
nassa=tassa	naaya=taaya	na.m=ta.m
nena=tena	nassaa=tassaa	nena=tena
na.m=ta.m	nassaaya=tassaaya	na.m=ta.m
nasmaa=tasmaa	nassa.m=tassa.m	nasmaa=tasmaa
nasmi.m=tasmi.m	naaya.m=taaya.m	nasmi.m=tasmi.m
ne=te	naa=taa, taayo	ne=te
nehi=tehi	naahi=taahi	nehi=tehi
nesa.m=tesa.m	naasa.m=taasa.m	nesa.m=tesa.m
nesu=tesu	naasu=taasu	nesu=tesu

296. The forms with n as above given are generally used when a noun which has been already mentioned, is referred to; as, ta.m khaadaapessaami nan 'ti, I'll make you eat him (viz., a monkey previously mentioned).

297. Demonstrative Pronouns

298. Declension of eso, esaa, eta.m: this

299. The student will readily perceive that the above Demonstratives are formed simply by prefixing e to so, saa and ta.m. They are declined exactly like so, saa, ta.m.

300. As in the case of so, saa and ta.m, so also with eso, esaa and eta.m, the t may be replaced all through by n, so that we obtain the forms: enena, ena.m, enaaya, etc., whose declension presents no difficulty whatever. These forms are also used in referring to a noun already mentioned.

301. eso, esaa, eta.m may be translated by "that" sometimes.

302. The neuter etad (=eta.m) is used in composition before a vowel.

303. This pronoun is also used pleonastically with a personal pronoun (294, f).

304. e, is considered as the base of pronouns ena, eta, etc. It is much used in derivation.

Declension of aya.m: this; this here

305. Masculine:

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	aya.m	ime
Gen.	assa, imassa	imesaana.m, imesa.m, esaana.m, esa.m
Dat.	assa, imassa	imesaana.m, imesa.m, esaana.m, esa.m
Acc.	ima.m	ime
Ins.	anena, iminaa	imehi, imebhi, ehi, ebhi
Abl.	asmaa, imasmaa, imamhaa	imehi, imebhi, ehi, ebhi
Loc.	asmi.m, imasmi.m, imamhi	imesu, esu

306. Feminine:

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	aya.m	imaa, imaayo
Gen.	assaaya, assaa, imissaaya, imissaa, imaaya	imaasaana.m, imaasa.m
Dat.	assaaya, assaa, imissaaya, imissaa, imaaya	imaasaana.m, imaasa.m
Acc.	ima.m	imaa, imaayo
Ins.	imaaya, assaa, imissaa	imaahi, imaabhi
Abl.	imaaya, assaa, imissaa	imaahi, imaabhi
Loc.	assa.m, imissa.m, assaa, imissaa, imaaya.m, imaaya	imaasu

307. Neuter:

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	ida.m, ima.m	imaani
Gen.	imassa, assa	imesa.m, imesaana.m, esaana.m, esa.m
Dat.	imassa, assa	imesa.m, imesaana.m, esaana.m, esa.m
Acc.	ida.m, ima.m	imaani
Ins.	iminaa, anena	imehi, imebhi, ehi, ebhi
Abl.	imasmaa, amhaa, asmaa	imehi, imebhi, ehi, ebhi
Loc.	imasmi.m, asmi.m, imamhi	imesu, esu

Declension of asu, that

308. Masculine:

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	asu	amuu, amuyo
Gen.	amussa, adussa, amuno	amuusa.m, amuusaana.m
Dat.	amussa, adussa, amuno	amuusa.m, amuusaana.m
Acc.	amu.m	amuu, amuyo
Ins.	amunaa	amuuhi, amuubhi
Abl.	amusmaa, amumhaa, amunaa	amuuhi, amuubhi
Loc.	amusmi.m, amumhi	amuusu

309. Feminine:

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	asu	amuu, amuyo
Gen.	amussaa, amuyaa	amuusa.m, amuusaana.m
Dat.	amussaa, amuyaa	amuusa.m, amuusaana.m
Acc.	amu.m	amuu, amuyo
Ins.	amuyaa	amuuhi, amuubhi
Abl.	amuyaa	amuuhi, amuubhi
Loc.	amussa.m, amuya.m	amuusu

310. Neuter:

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	adu.m, amu.m	amuuni, amuu
Gen.	amussa, adussa	amuusa.m, amuusaana.m
Dat.	amussa, adussa	amuusa.m, amuusaana.m
Acc.	adu.m, amu.m	amuuni, amuu
Ins.	amunaa	amuuhi, amuubhi
Abl.	amusmaa, amumhaa, amunaa	amuuhi, amuubhi
Loc.	amusmi.m, amumhi	amuusu

311. Relative Pronouns

Declensions of yo, yaa, ya.m

312. Masculine: yo, who; he who; whoever; what

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	yo	ye
Gen.	yassa	yesa.m
Dat.	yassa	yesa.m
Acc.	ya.m	ye
Ins.	yena	yehi, yebhi
Abl.	yasmaa, yamhaa	yehi, yebhi
Loc.	yasmi.m, yamhi	yesu

313. Feminine: yaa, she; she who; whoever; what

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	yaa	yaa, yaayo
Gen.	yaaya, yassaa	yaasa.m
Dat.	yaaya, yassaa	yaasa.m
Acc.	ya.m	yaa, yaayo
Ins.	yaaya	yaahi, yaabhi
Abl.	yaaya	yaahi, yaabhi
Loc.	yaaya.m, yassa.m	yaasu

314. Neuter: ya.m, it; which; that which

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	ya.m, yad	yaani
Gen.	yassa	yesa.m
Dat.	yassa	yesa.m
Acc.	ya.m, yad	yaani
Ins.	yena	yehi, yebhi
Abl.	yasmaa, yamhaa	yehi, yebhi
Loc.	yasmi.m, yamhi	yesu

315. Interrogative Pronouns

Declension of ko, kaa, ki.m

316. Masculine: ko, who? what?

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	ko	ke
Gen.	kassa, kissa	kesa.m, kesaana.m
Dat.	kassa, kissa	kesa.m, kesaana.m
Acc.	ka.m	ke
Ins.	kena	kehi, kebhi
Abl.	kasmaa, kamhaa	kehi, kebhi
Loc.	kasmi.m, kamhi, kismi.m, kimhi	kesu

317. Feminine: kaa, who? what?

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	kaa	kaa, kaayo
Gen.	kaaya, kassaa	kaasa.m, kasaana.m
Dat.	kaaya, kassaa	kaasa.m, kasaana.m
Acc.	ka.m	kaa, kaayo
Ins.	kaaya	kaahi, kaabhi
Abl.	kaaya	kaahi, kaabhi
Loc.	kaaya, kassaa, kaaya.m, kassa.m	kaasu

318. Neuter: ki.m, what?

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	ki.m	kaani
Gen.	kissa, kassa	kesa.m, kesaana.m
Dat.	kissa, kassa	kesa.m, kesaana.m
Acc.	ki.m	kaani
Ins.	kena	kehi, kebhi
Abl.	kasmaa, kamhaa	kehi, kebhi
Loc.	kasmi.m, kamhi, kismi.m, kimhi	kesu

319. Indefinite Pronouns

320. The indefinite pronouns are formed by adding ci (cid), api and cana, to the interrogative pronouns.

321. ci, or, before a vowel cid is the suffix most commonly used to form these pronouns.

322. cana.m=cana, is also found; both are sometimes shortened to ca.

Declension of koci, kaaci and ki~nci

323. Masculine: koci, any, some, anyone

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	koci	keci
Gen.	kassaci	kesa~nci
Dat.	kassaci	kesa~nci
Acc.	ka~nci, ki~nci	keci
Ins.	kenaci	kehici
Abl.	kasmaaci	kehici
Loc.	kasmi~nci, kamhici, kismi~nci, kimhici	kesuci

324. Feminine: kaaci, any, some, anyone

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	kaaci	kaaci, kaayoci
Gen.	kaayaci, kassaaci	kaasa~nci
Dat.	kaayaci, kassaaci	kaasa~nci
Acc.	ka~nci	kaaci, kaayoci
Ins.	kaayaci	kaahici
Abl.	kaayaci	kaahici
Loc.	kaayaci, kaaya~nci, kassa~nci	kaasuci

325. Neuter: ki~nci, any, some, anything

The neuter is declined like the masculine, except:

	Singular	Plural
Nom.& Acc.	ki~nci	kaanici

326. By placing na, not, before the indefinite pronouns we get the meanings: none, no one, nothing, etc.

327. ci, cana may also be placed after adverbs, to give them an indefinite sense, as: kuhi.m, where? kuhi~nci, kuhi~ncana.m, anywhere. kudaa, when? kudaacana.m, ever, sometimes. kadaa, when? kadaaci, sometimes.

Other Pronouns

328. attaa, self, own, oneself (154), is very much used as a reflexive pronoun; so also are: aatumaa, self, own, etc., which is but another form of attaa, and very rarely used in Buddhist writings: tuma, having the same meaning, is still less frequent.

329. In composition the bases are: atto, atuma and tuma.

330. saya.m, oneself, by oneself and saama.m, self, both indeclinable, are often used as Reflexive Emphatic Pronouns.

331. attaa, aatumaa and tuma are properly nouns used pronominally.

332. A few other nouns are thus used pronominally; the following are the most usual.

333. bhava.m, lord, sir, (166). It is a very respectful term of address, used for the second pers. pronoun; the verb is put in the third person.

334. Ayya, lord, master; a Buddhist monk; it is used chiefly in addressing Buddhist monks, and is then often used with bhante (166).

335. aavuso, friend, brother; is also used as a pronoun sometimes. It is used mostly by senior monks to junior monks, aavuso is indeclinable.

Pronominal Derivatives

Possessive Pronouns

336. A few possessive pronouns are formed from the bases of the first and second personal pronouns by means of suffixes: iiya and aka, the vowel of the bases being sometimes lengthened before aka. Base possessive pronoun mad (289, a) madiiya, mine, my, my own. mam (289, a) maamaka, mamaka, mine, my, my own. amhad (289, d) amhadiya, ours, our own. tad (290, a) tadiya, thine, thy, thy own. tava (Gen.) taavaka, thine, thy, thy own.

337. A great number of adjectives and adverbs are derived from pronominal bases by means of suffixes, the principal of which are the following:

(a) di (dii), disa, disaka, risa, tara, tama, ka.
(b) daa, daani, tra, tha, thaa, tha.m, ti, to, va (vat), rahi, ha.m, ha, hi.m, va, va.m, di.

The former (a) are used to form adjectives, and the latter, (b), adverbs.

The following are the principal derivatives by means of the above suffixes.

338. (a) Adjectives

339. di (dii), disa, disaka and risa, express likeness, resemblance; the vowel of the stem being lengthened before them.

Examples

Pronominal base	Adjective
ma (289, a)	maadii, maadisa, maarisa, like me, such as I
ta (290, a)	taadi, taadisa, taadisaka, like him, like that, such
amha (289, d)	amhaadisa, like us
tumha (290, b)	tumhaadisa, like you
i (307, a)	iidii, iidisa, iirisa, iidisako, like this, such as this
e (304)	edii, edisa, erisa, like this, such as this
eta (298, 302)	etaadisa, etaarisa, such as this or that, such
ki (318, a, b)	kiidii, kiidisa, kiirisa, like what? of what kind?

340. The suffix dikkha, has the same meaning as disa, etc. It is obtained by assimilation from the Sanskrit d.rk.sa. Hence we have also the forms:

taadikkha = taadisa,
kiidikkha = kiidisa,
edikkha = edisa,
iidikkha = iidisa, etc.

341. In edi, edisa, etc., the stem i is strengthened (105), in iidisa, etc., it is merely lengthened (19).

342. Tara and tama, which are used for the comparison of adjectives (238), are also added to the interogative stem to form pronominal adjectives which, in meaning, differ but little from the single stem. Hence we have:

katara, which? what?
katama, which? what?

343. Some adjectives assume a rather anomalous form; such are, for instance: kittaka, tattaka, yattaka, ettaka, etc. A glance will suffice to show that they are formed on pronominal bases: ya, eta, ki, (ka), etc. The difficulty is to account (for most of them) for the double tt. It is obvious these adjectives were formed by adding the adjectival suffix ka to the adverbial instrumentive in taa (from vat, vant: cf., Sansk. taavaataa from taavat; yaavataa from yaavat). The Paali forms are simply contractions from the Sanskrit forms; as: taavataa + ka = taavataaka: the loss of medial va being compensated by the doubling of the last taa; the aa being shortened before ka, and the aa of the first taa as well, according to euphonic laws. So that:

kittaka, how much? How many? How great?
kittaka = kiivataaka.

ettako, so great, so much, so many.
ettako = etaavataaka.

yattaka, however much; however big or large.
yattaka = yaavataaka.

tattaka, as many, as great, as big or large.
tattaka = taavataaka.

But see also such Sansk. forms as: iyattaka (i-yad-ta-ka); kiyattaka (ki-yad-ta-ka).

The form etta=ettaka, may be accounted for by the further dropping of final ka, the adverb etto, thence, is probably a contracted form etato (Abl. of eta.m); in ettavataa=etaavat, the consonant of the base is doubled.

344. (b) Adverbial Derivatives

Adverbial derivatives from pronominal bases constitute a large and useful class of words.

The principal suffixes used to form these adverbs have been given above (337, b). We will give here a few examples of such formation.

345. daa, daani, rahi express time.

Examples

Pronominal base	Adverb
ka (318, a)	karahi, kadaa, when
i (307, a)	idaani, now; at this time
ta (290, a)	tarahi, tadaa, tadaani, then; at that time
eta (298, 302)	etarahi, now

346. to, tra, tha, dha, ha, ha.m, hi.m, form adverbs of place. Before a short vowel the t of tha is doubled.

Examples

Pronominal base	Adverb
ka, ku (318, a)	kattha, kutra, kuttha, kaha.m, kuha.m, kuhi.m, where? whither? wherein? in what place?
ya (314, d)	yatra, yattha, where, wherein, whither. ya yato, from what?
e (304)	ettha, here, herein
a (307, a)	atra, attha, here
ta (290, a)	tattha, tatra, taha.m, tahi.m, there, thither. ta tato, thence, from that place
i (307, a)	iha, idha, here in this place
i	ito, hence, from this place
eta (298, 302)	etto, through. etato (343), hence

347. thaa, va, va.m, tha.m, ti, form adverbs of manner

Examples

Pronominal base	Adverb
ta	tathaa, thus, so, like that
ka	katha.m, how?
i	ittha.m, thus, in this manner
i	iva, like this, as, as it were
i	iti, thus, in this manner
e	eva, eva.m, so, just so
ya	yathaa, as, like

348. Another suffix va, from vat, (=Sansk. vat), forms adverbs of time and cause from the pronominal bases ta, ya, ki. The final t of vat is dropped according to the phonetic laws obtaining, in Paali, which do not suffer any consonant to remain at the end of a word, except .m; before a vowel however, the final t is revived in the form of a d; as for instance: taava; but; taavad eva.

Pronominal base	Adverb
ya	yaava, until; as long as; in order that
ta	taava, so long, still, yet

Examples

yaavataa, as far as, because.
taavataa, so far, to that extent, on that account.

From other pronominal bases we have:

Pronominal base	Adverb
eta (298)	ettaavataa, to that extent, so far, thus
ki (318, a)	kittaavataa, to what extent? how far?

349. It has been seen that by adding ka to these forms we obtain adjectives of cognate meaning.

350. The suffix di, expressing condition, is found only in yadi, if.

351. The suffix ti, is found in: kati, how many? yati, as many, and tati, so many.

Adjectives Declined Pronominally

353. A few adjectives take the pronominal declension. They are:

• katara, which? what?
• ubhaya, both.
• a~n~na, other.
• a~n~natara, one of several, a certain.
• pubba, first, former.
• para, distant, other.
• apara, subsequent, other.
• uttara, upper, higher.
• dakkhi.na, right, (not left).
• adhara, lower, inferior.
• vissa, all.
• amuka, so and so, such. (310, c)
• asuka, so and so, such.