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katamañcāvuso
sandhi contraction (katamaṃ + ca + āvuso)
- and what, friends?; and which, brothers?
Built from
- katama — root · which, what
Interrogative pronoun; forms questions about selection among things. Related to Sanskrit katama and to English
- ṃ — ending · accusative singular
Marks the direct object or the thing questioned in accusative case. Here the -m elides before ca.
- ca — prefix · and, also
Enclitic particle joining clauses and marking addition. Cognate with Latin que and Sanskrit ca; works like English 'and'.
- ā — prefix · toward, up to
Reverses or redirects the sense of a verbal root. Before vuso, it intensifies the address; the initial vowel elides before ca.
- vuso — root · friend, brother
Term of intimate address, especially in monastic contexts. Sanskrit bhavatus 'let him be'; Pali vuso is a shortened vocative form expressing companionship.
Analysis. katamaṃ (interrogative pronoun, accusative singular) + ca (and, also) + āvuso (vocative of āvuso, friend, brother). The contraction drops the final -m of katamaṃ before ca, then elides the initial ā- of āvuso to create -ñcā-. A common opening in dialogue: the speaker asks a follow-up question while addressing the interlocutor directly.