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kathañca
katha
indeclinable (adverb); sandhi form kathaañca with ca (and)
- katha (adj): with words; having talk; asking
- kathañca (sandhi): and how?
- kathaṃ (ind): how?
- kathaṃ (ind): what's the reason?
- kathaṃ (ind): what? like what?
- kathā (fem): talk; speech; conversation; discussion
- kathā (fem): argument; debate; lit. talk
- kathā (fem): discourse on; lecture on; sermon on; lit. talk on
- …
Built from
- katha — root · how, what
From the interrogative stem *kwa-tH-, related to Sanskrit kathaṁ and Latin quō. Represents the *kw- family of interrogatives, with concrete spatial sense 'in which direction' underlying 'how' and 'what'.
- ṃ — ending · locative-instrumental
Marks the indeclinable adverbial form; in Sanskrit, the nominative-accusative neuter kataṁ becomes the adverbial kathaṁ (with -a- inserted), and this -ṃ ending holds the adverb in place as a fixed form.
- ca — ending · and, also
Enclitic conjunction meaning 'and'; the preceding -ṃ undergoes sandhi before voiceless c-, yielding -ñc-, contracted to -ñ- in speech: kathaṃ + ca → kathañca.
Analysis. kathaṃ + ca: 'how' + 'and'; the sandhi contraction -ṃ + c- → -ñc- yields kathaññca, regularized to kathaññca or written kathañca. Expects the speaker to connect a manner or means to what precedes: 'and how (should one proceed)?', 'and what is the way?'
Etymology. kathaṃ is the indeclinable (locative-instrumental) form of kathaṁ, from an interrogative stem *kwa-tH-, related to Sanskrit kathaṁ (how), Latin quō (whither, in what way—from *kwo-), and English who, what (from the same *kw- interrogative root). The concrete sense is 'in which direction', 'by which path', broadening to 'by what method' and 'how'.