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sotasamphasso

sotasamphassa

masc nom sg of sotasamphassa (noun)

1. contact with the ear; auditory impression; sonic experience

Built from

• sota — root · ear
  Derives from√śru (hear), Sanskrit śrotra. The ear as the sense-faculty receiving sound.
• sam — prefix · together, with
  Saṁ brings things into union; here it marks the meeting of sense-faculty and object that constitutes contact.
• phassa — stem · contact, impression
  From phusati (to touch), cognate with English push. Phassa is the phenomenal impact of sense-object on sense-faculty, a key term in dependent origination (paṭiccasamuppāda).

Analysis. Compound: sota (ear) + samphassa (contact). Sota is the organ of hearing; samphassa is contact or impression arising from sense-object meeting sense-faculty. In the analysis of sense experience, sotasamphassa denotes the tactile or phenomenal contact at the ear-door (sotadvāra), one of the six types of phassa in the dependent-origination sequence.

Etymology. Sota derives from Sanskrit śrotra, from root śru (hear); samphassa from sam (together) + phassa (contact, touch), where phassa comes from phusati (touches, contacts), cognate with English push. The compound appears frequently in the Abhidhamma and suttas analyzing the six sense-doors and the arising of feeling through contact.

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

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