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mātāpi

mā

feminine nominative singular + api (particle); form: mātāpi

1. mā (fem): moon
2. mā (root): (gram) √mā (measure)
3. mātar (fem): mother

Built from

• mā — root · measure, mark
  The root √mā carries the sense of 'marking' or 'measuring out'; the mother is she who marks or measures out care and time for the child.
• tā — ending · feminine nominative singular
  The suffix -tā forms feminine agent nouns from roots; here it makes mātā (mother) as a marked feminine singular.
• api — prefix · even, also
  The particle api emphasizes inclusion or equivalence, often carrying the force of 'even' or 'also'; here it lends the sense that even a mother (the closest relation) is included in the scope of a statement.

Analysis. mātā (mother) + api (even, also) — 'even a mother' or 'a mother also'; used to emphasize inclusion or contrast, often with the sense of 'even one's own mother'.

Etymology. mātā derives from √mā (measure, mark), the root also appearing in Sanskrit mātr̥ and Latin māter; the concrete sense is 'she who measures out' or 'marks out (time, nurture)', shifted to 'mother'. English mother, German Mutter, and Latin māter are all cognates from the Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr.

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

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