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aniccanti
anicca
adj + iti (quoted form); appears as aniccanti in sandhi
- impermanent; inconstant; not lasting; discontinuous; disordered; unstable; unreliable; irregular
- rare; irregular; unusual
- (gram) optional; not mandatory; lit. impermanent
- impermanence; inconstancy; instability; irregularity; lit. not permanent
Built from
- a — prefix · not, without
Plain negation; anicca means 'non-permanent', lacking the quality of permanence or fixedness.
- nicca — root · permanent, lasting
From √nic 'to hold fast, cling'; the abstract sense of fixedness and stability underpin the meaning 'not subject to change'.
- -ṃ — ending · accusative singular
The accusative marks aniccaṃ as the object of the quotative particle iti, turning the adjective into a noun-like quotation of the concept itself.
- iti — root · thus, so
A particle that marks direct speech or quoted concepts; here it converts the adjective into a substantive phrase meaning 'the concept of impermanence'.
Analysis. anicca (impermanent) + iti (thus, so) — a quotative phrase meaning 'impermanence' or 'the fact of being impermanent'; aniccanti shows sandhi where final -ṃ of aniccaṃ + initial i- of iti → -anti in continuous utterance.
Etymology. a- (not, negation) + nicca (permanent, lasting, from √nic 'cling, hold fast'); cognate with Latin niteo 'shine, be fixed' and English niche (a fixed place). The concrete sense of 'holding fast' became 'lasting, fixed'; negation yields 'not fixed, unstable'.