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ayameva

aya

nominative singular masculine of ayaṃ (demonstrative pronoun); sandhi form before eva

1. aya (masc): good luck; good fortune
2. aya (adj): coming; going
3. aya (masc): way
4. aya (masc): reason, source
5. aya (nt): iron
6. ayameva (sandhi): just this; simply this; this exact
7. ayas (masc): iron
8. ayaṃ (pron): this; this person; this thing
9. …

Built from

• aya — root · this (demonstrative)
  Old deictic pronoun. Cognates: Sanskrit idam, Greek idē. The concrete force is direct pointing.
• eva — ending · indeed, just, simply (emphatic particle)
  Reinforces and restricts the pronoun to the immediate referent. Cognate: Sanskrit eva. Used to sharpen focus or emphasis in the clause.

Analysis. ayaṃ + eva: 'this' + 'indeed/just' — a demonstrative pronoun reinforced by the emphatic particle, often translated 'just this' or 'this very thing'.

Etymology. ayaṃ is an old demonstrative pronoun, cognate with Sanskrit idam and Greek idē (behold); the root sense is deictic pointing. eva is an emphatic/restrictive particle, cognate with Sanskrit eva, ultimately from Indo-European *ai̯ (to go), underlying 'to aim at, direct toward'.

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

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