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dukkhanti

dukkha

sandhi form (dukkhaṃ + iti): 'suffering is'

1. dukkha (adj): uncomfortable; unpleasant
2. dukkha (adj): painful
3. dukkha (nt): discomfort; suffering; unease; unpleasantness; something unsatisfactory; trouble; a bummer; stress
4. dukkha (nt): pain; physical discomfort
5. dukkhanti (sandhi): suffering; pain; uncomfortable
6. dukkhaṃ (ind): badly; with difficulty; uncomfortably

Built from

• du(r) — prefix · bad, hard
  Privative and intensifying prefix. Registers the character of suffering as something gone wrong or fundamentally misaligned.
• kh — root · be hollow/lack ease
  Root sense uncertain; the form itself carries the image of deprivation or unease that characterizes the Four Noble Truths' central concept.

Analysis. dukkhaṃ (accusative of dukkha 'suffering') + iti (quotative particle 'thus, that'). The form arises when anusvāra (ṃ) assimilates before the vowel of iti, yielding dukkhanti in continuous speech.

Etymology. du(r)- (prefix: bad, gone wrong; cognate with Greek dys- in dysfunction) + √kh (root: possibly from a verb meaning 'to be hollow or empty, to lack', though the etymology is uncertain). The compound registers suffering as that which lacks ease or wholeness. The prefix du(r)- shapes dukkha as inherently deficient or opposed to sukha ('ease, well-being').

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

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