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upavadeyyuṃ

upavadati

opt 3rd pl of upavadati (verb)

1. blames; criticizes; finds fault (with someone about); lit. speaks near
2. assumes; lit. speaks near

Built from

• upa — prefix · near, up close
  Spatial proximity. Cognates: Greek hypo-, Latin sub-, English up. The sense of approach and nearness becomes addressing someone directly in speech.
• vad — root · speak, say
  Cognate with Latin vadere 'go', English wade. Here combined with upa to mean 'speak to/at someone'.
• a — ending · present stem
  Thematic vowel marking the present tense stem of the a-class verb.
• deyyuṃ — ending · 3rd plural optative
  Optative mood in the 3rd plural active: expresses a wish or potential ('they might speak near', 'they might blame').

Analysis. upa + vadati: 'speaks near' (upa, approach) + vadati (speaks), literally 'to speak in the vicinity of someone', hence to address criticism toward them.

Etymology. upa- (near, up close to, approach; cognate with Greek hypo-, Latin sub-, English up) + √vad (speak; cognate with Latin vadere 'go', English wade). The prefix upa- reverses the spatial sense of nearness into the social sense of addressing someone directly with blame.

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

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