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purisoti

purisa

masc nom sg + iti (quotative particle)

1. man; male; person
2. servant; labourer; lit. man
3. (gram) grammatical person; 3rd 2nd 1st person
4. male; masculine
5. World Soul (in Sāṃkhya system)

Built from

• puriso — stem · man, person
  Nominative singular of purisa. The referent is marked as masculine by the -o ending.
• iti — prefix · thus, as quoted
  Quotative particle marking direct speech or a cited word. Cognate with Latin ita 'thus' and English it; derives from an Indo-European demonstrative stem *id-.

Analysis. puriso (nom sg of purisa) + iti, a quotative construction: 'a man', as in 'he said "a man" (i.e. the word purisa itself or the concept of manhood)'.

Etymology. purisa is of uncertain origin within Pali; it may be an early borrowing or a form whose Sanskrit cognate puruṣa (from Vedic, meaning 'man', 'person', 'spirit') reflects an older layer. The root sense is 'man, person, male', with no secure Indo-European cognates, though Sanskrit puruṣa entered philosophical usage (Sāṃkhya's World Soul). The particle iti ('thus', 'so', 'as quoted') is cognate with Latin ita and English it, from the same demonstrative root.

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

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