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janapadakathaṁ

janapadakathā

accusative singular feminine of janapadakathā; surface form shows sandhi (final ā + accusative ending -ṁ → -kathaṁ)

1. talk of the country-folk
2. rustic or common speech
3. worldly gossip

Built from

• jana — root · people
  From PIE *gn̥- 'to be born'; cognate with Latin gens, genus, Greek genos. Denotes a body of kinspeople.
• pada — root · region, place
  From PIE *ped- 'foot'; cognate with English foot, Latin pes. Concretely a footstep or place, hence a region or realm.
• kathā — stem · talk, discourse
  From kath- 'to speak'; the -ā suffix marks the feminine noun. Denotes speech or narrative.
• -ṁ — ending · accusative
  Marks the object of a verb; here the accusative form of kathā after sandhi contraction with preceding -ā.

Analysis. janapada (the countryside, villages) + kathā (talk, discourse). A compound denoting the speech and chatter of common people as opposed to the Buddha's teaching.

Etymology. janapada from jana (people; Sanskrit janā, Latin gens, genus; Proto-Indo-European *gn̥- 'to be born, beget') + pada (region, place; Sanskrit pada, related to English 'foot' via Proto-Indo-European *ped-); kathā from kath- (to speak; Sanskrit kath-, related to Greek hexis 'state, condition').

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

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