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chayimāni

sandhi contraction of cha + imāni

1. these six

Built from

• cha — root · six
  From IE *s̥weks̥; related to Latin sex, Greek hex. The number six, fundamental in Pali doctrinal lists (six sense bases, six internal and external āyatana).
• imāni — root · these (neut. pl. acc.)
  Neuter plural accusative of the demonstrative pronoun idam 'this'. The -āni ending marks plural accusative for neuter nouns.

Analysis. cha (six) + imāni (these, neuter plural accusative of idam), contracted: 'these six' — a common numerical phrase in doctrinal enumeration.

Etymology. cha from Indo-European *s̥weks̥, cognate with Latin sex, Greek hex, English six; imāni from the demonstrative stem i-, showing the regular neuter plural accusative ending -āni.

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

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