‹ Back to the text

gopariṇāyakā

gopariṇāyaka

masc nom pl of gopariṇāyaka (noun); masc instr sg of gopariṇāyaka (noun); masc abl sg of gopariṇāyaka (noun); masc voc sg of gopariṇāyaka (noun); …

1. leader of the cattle; leader of the herd

Built from

• go — root · cattle
  From √gam "to go, move". The animal named for going/movement. Cognate with English "cow" and Greek bous through PIE *gwou-.
• pari — prefix · around, all the way
  Spatial prefix suggesting circular or comprehensive motion. Like Greek peri- (perimeter). Here: leading cattle in circuit or complete management of the herd.
• ṇāy — root · lead, conduct
  Related to √nī "to lead". Cognate with Latin ducere and English "duke" (leader). The abstract notion of guidance grows from the concrete image of going ahead.
• aka — ending · agent
  Nominalized suffix forming agent nouns: one who does the action. Here: one who leads (cattle around).

Analysis. go- (cattle, from √gam; cognate with English "cow" from PIE *gwou-) + pariṇāyaka (one who leads around). Pariṇāyaka itself: pari- (around, all the way round) + √nī (lead, conduct; cognate with Latin ducere "lead"). The compound thus means literally "one who leads cattle around", a herder or drover.

Etymology. The root √nī (to lead, conduct) cognates with Latin ducere, Sanskrit nayati. Pari- (around, in all directions, suggesting complete circuit or comprehensive management) is from the same PIE root as Greek perí. Go- (cattle) is from √gam (to go, move) and relates to Greek bous "ox" and English "cow" through PIE *gwou-. The suffix -aka forms agent nouns. Together the word pictures a person who moves cattle about in circles, driving a herd.

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

Lite mode — plain HTML for e-readers and old browsers. Full version