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dukkhamanveti

pr 3rd sg of dukkhamanveti (verb)

1. suffering follows; discomfort comes after; trouble trails

Built from

• dukkha — root · suffering
  du- (bad, wrong) + kha (ease, opening). The concrete image is constriction or discomfort in space; dukkha literally 'bad ease' or 'cramped'.
• anu — prefix · along after, following
  Trailing behind; following the track of. Cognate with Greek ana- in the sense 'along, up through'. Shows spatial imagery of movement in the wake of something.
• eti — root · goes, moves
  From √i 'to go'; cognate with English 'go', Latin 'ire'. The sense 'goes after' or 'follows' emerges from the spatial trajectory of anu + motion.

Analysis. dukkhaṃ (accusative: suffering) + anveti (follows after): suffering that is trailed after, hence suffering that pursues or dogs one.

Etymology. dukkha (suffering, from du- 'bad' + kha 'space/ease', literally 'bad ease') + anveti (follows, from anu- 'along after' + √i 'go'; cognate with English 'go' and Latin 'ire'). The compound shows how suffering is conceived as something that tracks one's steps, an inescapable shadow.

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

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