‹ Back to the text

cassa

ca

masc dat sg of ca (letter); masc gen sg of ca (letter)

1. ca (letter): (gram) letter c; 14th letter of the alphabet; palatal consonant
2. cassa (sandhi): and there would be; but there would be; and there might be
3. cassa (sandhi): if there would be; but if it could be
4. cassa (sandhi): and for him
5. cassa (sandhi): and of this; and of him; and his; but his

Built from

• ca — root · and (conj.)
  Enclitic conjunction. Related to Latin -que 'and' and Greek kai, all from the same Indo-European particle for coordination.
• assa — stem · would be; if it were
  Optative/conditional form of √as 'to be'. Cognate with Sanskrit āsa (optative), Latin esse, English is. Also functions as an enclitic particle for possession: 'his, of him, for him'.

Analysis. ca (enclitic conjunction, 'and') + assa (optative/conditional of atthi 'to be': 'would be, might be, if there were'). The form contracts in sandhi: ca + assa → cassa. In some contexts assa functions as a genitive/locative enclitic particle meaning 'his, of him, for him'.

Etymology. assa is the optative of atthi (√as, 'to be'), cognate with Sanskrit asti, Latin esse, English is. The prefix ca is an enclitic conjunction meaning 'and', related to Latin -que and Greek kai. The combination expresses condition, hypothesis, or possession depending on syntactic context.

Meanings from the Digital Pāḷi Dictionary; morphology and etymology by Claude.

Lite mode — plain HTML for e-readers and old browsers. Full version