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ovadanti
ovadati
pr 3rd pl of ovadati (verb)
- advises; instructs; admonishes; lit. speaks down
Built from
- o — prefix · down, off
Variant of ava-, the downward-oriented prefix. The concrete image of speech directed downward or onto another became the sense of authoritative instruction or admonition.
- vad — root · speak, say
A root meaning speech or utterance; cognate with Latin vadere in the sense of uttering or going forth in speech (though vadere primarily means 'go').
- a — ending · thematic vowel
The thematic vowel marking this as an a-class verb stem.
- nti — ending · 3rd plural present
The ending for 3rd person plural in the present indicative, with -n- as the tense-marking nasal and -ti reflecting the verb's person and number.
Etymology. ova- (variant stem of ov-, from ava- 'down') + vad- 'speak': lit. 'speaks down to'. Related to Latin vadere 'to go', though the prefix ava- 'down, off' (from Proto-Indo-European *aw-) carries the sense of bearing or speaking down upon someone with authority or reproach. The concrete imagery of downward speech became abstract instruction.