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aññatarasmiṁ

aññatara

indefinite pronoun, locative singular (referring to 'a certain one', 'some one')

1. a certain
2. some
3. one or other

Built from

• aña — root · other
  Related to Sanskrit anya and Latin alius, from IE *al- 'beyond'; denotes what stands apart or differs.
• tara — ending · comparative
  Suffix marking selection or comparison; here creates an indefinite sense 'some one (rather than another)'.
• smiṁ — ending · locative singular
  Locative case ending -smiṁ marks location; the whole phrase means 'in a certain place' or 'on some occasion'.

Analysis. aña + tara: aña means 'other' or 'different', tara is a comparative suffix denoting selection among alternatives; together 'some one or other of several'

Etymology. aña is cognate with Sanskrit anya, Latin alius, English 'other' — all from Indo-European *al- meaning 'beyond, other'. The -tara suffix marks comparative selection (like Greek -teros in heteros 'the other of two').

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

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