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nāyamāyasmā

sandhi contraction: na + ayaṃ + āyasmā

1. this venerable (is) not

Built from

• na — prefix · not
  Plain negation; cognate with English 'no', Latin 'ne'. Negates the entire phrase.
• ayaṃ — stem · this
  Nominative singular masculine demonstrative pronoun. Points to a specific person.
• ā — prefix · fully, toward
  Intensifying prefix; reverses direction and often adds fullness or honour. Here it deepens the sense of respect.
• √as — root · to be
  Root of existence; cognate with Sanskrit 'as', Greek 'esti', Latin 'est', English 'is'.
• -man-/-mā — ending · agent, one who
  Nominalizing suffix forming agent nouns and honorifics; here creates the respectful title 'one possessed of full being'.

Analysis. A contraction of na (not) + ayaṃ (this, nom. sg. masc.) + āyasmā (venerable, nom. sg. masc., a title of respect for monks). The three words fuse through sandhi: na + ayaṃ becomes nāyaṃ (the final a of na lengthens before the vowel-initial ayaṃ), then nāyaṃ + āyasmā becomes nāyamāyasmā (the final ṃ of nāyaṃ assimilates to the m of āyasmā, and the two words coalesce). Occurs in negations expressing that a particular venerable does not exist or is not present.

Etymology. āyasmā is an honorific epithet derived from the root √as 'to be', with the prefix ā- (toward, up to — here intensifying respect) and the agent suffix -man-/-mā; cognate with Sanskrit āyuṣmān 'possessed of long life, venerable'. The word expresses fullness of being and honour. na is the simple negative, cognate with English 'no' and Latin 'ne'.

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

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