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sobheyyāti
sobhati
3rd sg optative of sobhati (or conditional sobheyyā + iti)
- sobhati (pr): shines; radiates (in)
- sobhati (pr): looks beautiful (in); lit. shines
- sobhati (pr): counts (for); compares (to); is worth; lit. shines
- sobheti (pr): adorns; graces; embellishes; beautifies; lit. causes to shine
Built from
- sobh — root · shine, radiate
The root sense is visual brightness or luminous appearance. The meaning extends to beauty and worthiness as things that 'show forth'.
- e — ending · optative marker
The vowel e marks the optative mood (potential, conditional) in Pali verb conjugation.
- yya — ending · optative suffix
The suffix -yya forms the optative stem, expressing possibility or conditionality.
- ā — ending · 3rd singular
Final -ā marks 3rd singular in optative forms.
- ti — ending · thus (particle)
The enclitic particle ti 'thus' grammaticalizes the optative into an adverbial or rhetorical phrase.
Analysis. sobheyya + iti: optative form of sobhati ('would shine') + 'thus', a frozen conditional or optative phrase used as an adverb meaning 'would it shine?' or 'would it be worthy?'
Etymology. Root √sobh- is unanalyzed in Pali; possibly connected to √shubh- 'shine, be bright' in Sanskrit (as in śobhate 'shines, appears'). The concrete sense is radiance or beauty appearing visibly. No certain Indo-European cognate.