‹ Back to the text

sotāyatanaṁ

sotāyatana

noun, accusative singular (n.)

1. ear faculty
2. ear sense-door
3. auditory sensitivity

Built from

• sota — stem · ear
  From PIE *h₂ewes-, cognate with Latin auris, Greek ōs. The physical organ of hearing.
• ā — ending · possessive genitive
  Links the possessor (ear) to the thing possessed (sense-door).
• yatana — stem · pasture, sense-door
  From √i (go): originally a grazing-ground or track, extended to mean a domain or sphere through which experience passes.

Analysis. sot-ā-yatana: sot- is the possessive genitive stem of sota (ear), ā is a linking vowel, yatana means "pasture, sphere, sense-door"—literally "the ear's sense-sphere." In the Abhidhamma, one of the six internal sense-doors (ajjhattika āyatana) through which consciousness engages the world.

Etymology. sota is cognate with Sanskrit śrotra, Greek ōs (ōtos), and Latin auris, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewes- (ear). yatana from √i (go): a place where (consciousness) goes, a field or domain.

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

Lite mode — plain HTML for e-readers and old browsers. Full version