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cattārīsampi

cattārīsa

nt, nom./acc. sg. + api (emphatic particle)

1. cattārīsa (nt): in reference to MN117 Mahācattārīsakasuttaṃ; lit. consisting of forty
2. cattārīsā (card): forty (40)

Built from

• catta — root · four
  Cognate with English four, Latin quattuor, Greek téssares; from PIE *kʷetwór. The numeral base.
• ārīsa — stem · tens (tens-form)
  Derived from ārī 'ten', with suffix -sa forming a multiplicative stem; lit. 'by tens' or 'in the tens place'.
• aṃ — ending · nominative/accusative neuter singular
  Marks the neuter nominative or accusative singular; undergoes sandhi assimilation before the vowel in api.
• pi — ending · even, also, emphatic particle
  Enclitic particle from api, reinforcing or widening scope; here emphasizing 'forty even' or marking inclusivity.

Analysis. cattārīsa 'forty' + api 'even, also'; the nominative neuter cattārīsaṃ undergoes sandhi before the vowel-initial particle, yielding cattārīsaṃ + api > cattārīsampi.

Etymology. cattārīsa is a compound of catta 'four' (from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwór-, cognate with English four, Latin quattuor, Greek téssares) and ārīsa 'ten times', from ārī (tens) + -sa (suffix forming multiplicatives). The form reflects the cardinal 'forty' built as 'four tens'.

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

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