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divassāti

diva

masculine noun, locative/instrumental form divassa with emphatic particle iti

1. diva (masc): heaven; sky above
2. diva (masc): day
3. divassa (ind): by day; during the day

Built from

• div- — root · sky, shine
  From PIE *dyew- 'bright sky'; cognates include Sanskrit div-, Latin deus, dies, and the name of the Germanic god Tiw. The concrete sense 'bright sky' underlies both 'heaven' and 'day'.
• -a — ending · masculine nominative
  Standard masculine singular nominative ending in Pali.
• div- — stem · sky, day
  The stem before locative inflection.
• -ssa — ending · locative/instrumental singular
  Locative case ending marking location or time ('in/during'); here 'during the day'.
• iti — prefix · thus, emphatic particle
  An indeclinable emphasizing particle, often marking the end of direct speech or strengthening an assertion; here asserting 'by day, thus'.

Analysis. divassa (locative singular of diva, 'by day') + iti (emphatic particle 'thus, so'); used adverbially to mean 'by day, during the day' or as an emphatic assertion about daylight.

Etymology. Pali diva from Indo-European *dyew- 'sky, shine', the root of Sanskrit div-, Latin deus 'god' (originally 'sky-being'), Greek zeus, English Tiw (Germanic sky-god). The semantic shift from 'sky' to 'day' (the period when sky is bright) is natural and paralleled in Latin dies. The locative ending -ssa and particle iti are inherited grammatical formations.

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

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