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sotadhātuyā

sotadhātu

fem instr sg of sotadhātu (noun); fem dat sg of sotadhātu (noun); fem abl sg of sotadhātu (noun); fem gen sg of sotadhātu (noun); …

1. clairaudience; lit. ear element
2. ear; lit. ear state

Built from

• sota — root · ear
  From √śru (hear, flow); cognate with Sanskrit śrotra, English stream, German Strom. The image is sound flowing into the ear.
• dhātu — stem · element, state
  From √dhā (place, establish); the suffix -tu nominates it. One of the fundamental constituents in Abhidhamma analysis; 'that which stands firm' in the sense of a basic layer or quality of experience.
• yā — ending · instrumental/dative/ablative/genitive feminine singular
  The feminine-singular-oblique ending signals agreement with the feminine noun sotadhātu and marks grammatical relation (means, purpose, source, or possession) in this clause.

Analysis. sota + dhātu: 'ear' + 'element/state', a dvandva compound denoting the sensory faculty and its material basis. In the Abhidhamma analysis of the six sense-doors (āyatana), one of the five material sense-faculties (indriya).

Etymology. Sota (ear) descends from √śru (Sanskrit śrotra), the Indo-European root *srew- 'to flow' (English stream, German Strom), originally the flowing of sound into the ear. Dhātu (element, state, constituent) from √dhā 'to place/establish' (English do, Latin facere), denoting a fundamental stratum or quality that 'stands firm' (see sam + ā + dhā in samādhi). The compound is a learned Abhidhamma term for the ear's essential nature as an element.

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

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