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saṅkhatoti

saṅkha

3rd sg. present indicative of saṅkhatoti (denominative from saṅkhata)

1. saṅkha (masc): conch shell; Turbinella pyrum
2. saṅkha (masc): (comm) name of a long rooted aquatic plant
3. saṅkha (masc): name of a mythological future king
4. saṅkhata (pp): created; constructed; conditioned; fabricated; lit. put together
5. saṅkhā (fem): measurement; enumeration; calculation
6. saṅkhā (fem): definition; classification; concept; category
7. saṅkhā (fem): name; term; appellation; designation
8. saṅkhā (fem): (gram) number in word formation
9. …

Built from

• saṁ — prefix · together, completely
  Brings things into one unified state; marks the completed, composite nature of what follows.
• kḷ/kha — root · arrange, construct
  The concrete sense of fitting or fashioning parts into a whole. The geminated kh suggests intensive action.
• a — ending · past participle marker
  Marks the completed state: 'constructed, put together, conditioned.'
• to — ending · nominative sg. masc.
  Agrees with the implicit subject; allows saṅkhata to function nominally.
• iti — ending · quotative particle
  Marks an utterance or statement as closed: 'thus, in this way.' Treats the adjective as a complete assertion.

Analysis. saṅkhato (past participle, nominative sg. masc., 'constructed') + iti (quotative particle, 'thus, so that'). The phrase treats saṅkhata as a verbal noun: 'it is [the case] that [something is] constructed.' In the canon, often marks the doctrinal point that all conditioned phenomena are saṅkhata.

Etymology. saṅkhata is the past participle of saṅkharoti (√kḷp 'to arrange, construct, fashion'), with the prefix saṁ- ('together, completely') intensifying the root. The underlying image is things brought together into one coherent whole—hence 'constructed, conditioned, put together.' Related to Sanskrit saṃskṛta ('polished, refined, constructed'); the root √kḷp appears in Greek kósmos ('order, arrangement') through Indo-European *kelpH- 'to turn, fashion.'

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

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