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attahetu

indeclinable (locative instrumental compound)

1. for one's own sake

Built from

• atta — stem · self, own
  Reflexive pronoun derived from PIE *h₂et-mo-. Cognates: Sanskrit ātman, Latin ipse, English itself; the sense of turning inward, of self-reference.
• hetu — stem · reason, cause
  From √hē 'to be, exist', meaning literally 'that which stands' or 'ground'; used in locative or instrumental case here to show 'for the sake of' or 'because of'. The concrete sense of standing as a ground becomes the abstract idea of causation and motive.

Analysis. atta (self) + hetu (reason, cause): a compound meaning 'for the reason of self' or 'as one's own cause'; used adverbially to indicate motivation or purpose directed toward oneself.

Etymology. atta from Proto-Indo-European *h₂et-mo- (reflexive pronoun 'self'); cognate with Sanskrit ātman, Latin ipse, English itself. hetu from √hē (to be, exist), related to Sanskrit hetu 'cause, reason'. The spatial sense is inward: from external causation to internal motivation.

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

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