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palokato

paloka

masc abl sg of paloka (noun); masc abl pl of paloka (noun)

1. paloka (masc): falling apart; dissolution; disintegration
2. palokato (ind): as falling apart; as disintegrating

Built from

• pa — prefix · forth, forward
  The prefix intensifies action and draws it outward into manifestation. Concrete imagery: things stepping forth and becoming visible.
• lok — root · see, appear
  The root √lok means 'to see' and 'to appear'; loka is the visible world, the realm of appearance. Cognate to English 'look' and Greek leukos 'bright, white' (that which is seen).
• a — ending · masc nom sg
  The thematic vowel that marks this as a masculine noun of the a-stem class.
• to — ending · adverbial marker
  The indeclinable suffix -to (originally an accusative singular) converts the noun into an adverb meaning 'in the manner of, as'.

Analysis. pa + loka, 'forth into the place/world', hence the scattering-forth of form: the accusative singular palokam fossilized in adverbial -to suffix, used as an indeclinable to mean 'as falling apart, in the manner of disintegration'.

Etymology. pa- (forward, forth, out ahead) + loka (world, realm, place; from √lok 'to see, to appear', hence 'that which appears', the visible order of things). The prefix intensifies the inherent sense of loka as the domain of appearance and change; together they denote the breaking-up or dissolution of the formed world. Cognate to English 'look' and 'locale'.

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

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