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aññataroti

aññatara

pronoun, nominative singular masculine

1. a certain; a
2. one; either one (of)
3. another; further; next

Built from

• aññ- — root · other, different
  From Indo-European *an- "not, other", cognate with English "any", Latin "alius". The sense shifts from negation to otherness.
• -tara — ending · comparative
  Marks comparative degree, marking one thing as other or different relative to another. Related to Sanskrit -tara.
• iti — ending · thus, so (particle)
  Emphatic or quotative particle. Indo-European *i-ti, related to Latin "it". Here it emphasizes or crystallizes the sense of the pronoun.

Analysis. aññatara + iti; a compound of the indefinite pronoun aññatara ("a certain") and the particle iti ("thus, so"). The -iti ending converts the pronoun into an adverbial or emphatic form meaning "thus a certain one" or "in a certain way".

Etymology. aññatara is formed from añña ("other, different") + tara (comparative suffix). The root añña derives from Indo-European *an- ("not, other"), cognate with English "any" and Latin "alius" ("other"); the suffix -tara marks comparative degree, related to Sanskrit -tara and English "-er". The particle iti ("thus, so") is Indo-European *i-ti, related to Latin "it" and the English demonstrative "it".

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

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