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dukkhadomanassānaṁ

dukkhadomanassā

genitive plural feminine of dukkhadomanassā (a feminine noun formed as a compound)

1. suffering and dejection
2. pain and mental anguish
3. distress and displeasure

Built from

• du- — prefix · bad, gone wrong
  The prefix du- marks negation and deficiency: things gone awry. Cognate with Greek dys- (dysfunction).
• kha — root · ease, comfort
  From Indo-European *sweHd-, related to Sanskrit sukha and English sweet; dukkha inverts it.
• do — prefix · bad
  Reduplicative or emphatic form of du-; marks mental turbulence.
• manas — root · mind
  Sanskrit manas; cognate with English mind, German Minne. Here suffixed -assā (feminine).
• aṁ — ending · accusative
  Part of the genitive plural inflection -ānaṁ marking possession or relation in the plural.

Analysis. dukkha (suffering, pain) + domanassā (displeasure, dejection, low spirits): a compound denoting the paired mental states of physical suffering and emotional distress often mentioned together in the canon.

Etymology. dukkha from du- (bad, wrong) + sukha (ease, pleasure) — originally "poorly placed, uncomfortable"; domanassā from domanassa, du- + manas (mind) — literally "bad mind"; both are ancient Indo-European formations where dys- (Greek) parallels du-.

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

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