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tayassu

sandhi contraction of taya + ssu

1. exactly three

Built from

• taya — root · three
  Cardinal numeral from PIE *treyes, shared with English three, Latin tres, Greek treis. Marks the quantity or rank of three.
• ssu — ending · ordinal marker
  Suffix forming ordinal numbers (first, second, third) by attaching to cardinals. The contraction tayassu (rather than tayassu) shows elision of final -a in sandhi before a consonant cluster.

Analysis. taya (three) + ssu (ordinal suffix); contracted in sandhi where final -a of taya elides before ssu. The ordinal 'third' is formed from the cardinal taya by the suffix -ssu, which marks ordinal position. This contraction appears in compounds and nominal phrases.

Etymology. taya from Proto-Indo-European *treyes (three); cognates: English three, Latin tres, Greek treis, Sanskrit trayas. The ordinal suffix -ssu is a fossilized case ending marking sequence or order.

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

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