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sotaviññāṇaṁ

sotaviññāṇa

neuter nominative/accusative singular of the compound sotaviññāṇa

1. auditory consciousness
2. ear-consciousness
3. the moment of awareness arising at the ear

Built from

• sota — root · ear
  From PIE *swewd- (to hear); the sense organ of hearing.
• viññāṇa — stem · consciousness
  vi- (apart, with clarity) + √jñā (know), literally "knowing distinctly or clearly"; in Buddhist psychology, the basic moment of aware contact with an object.

Analysis. sota (ear) + viññāṇa (consciousness). Ear-consciousness is the first moment of the sensory process when sound contacts the ear-organ, before mental engagement; it is one of the five types of sense-consciousness distinguished in Abhidhamma psychology.

Etymology. Sota derives from Proto-Indo-European *swewd- (to hear), cognate with Latin suādēre, and Sanskrit śrotṛ (hearer); viññāṇa from vi- (apart, with clarity) + jānāti (knows), literally "knowing distinctly", hence consciousness as clear awareness. The compound is a technical term of the Abhidhamma.

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

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