‹ Back to the text

jivhāyatanaṁ

jivhāyatana

neuter noun, accusative singular (or nominative/dative plural)

1. the sense faculty of taste
2. the tongue-base

Built from

• jivhā — root · tongue
  From PIE *gʰewǝ-, relating to tasting and chewing; cognate with English jaw. The tongue as the organ of gustation.
• yatana — stem · basis, sphere
  From √tan (to stretch, extend), meaning the extended or founded basis of sense experience. In the Abhidhamma, one of twelve āyatanas (sense-bases) through which the world is perceived.

Analysis. jivhā (tongue) + yatana (basis, sphere of sense). The compound denotes the material organ and its function as one of the six internal sense-bases (ajjhatikāni āyatanāni).

Etymology. jivhā descends from Proto-Indo-European *gʰewǝ- (to taste, chew); cognate with Sanskrit jihvā, English jaw (from the same root of eating and chewing). yatana is from √tan (to stretch, extend), meaning "extended basis" or "sphere." Together they form the technical Buddhist term for taste-faculty in the Abhidhamma.

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

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