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tenahāyasmanto

sandhi contraction; nominative plural

1. in that case venerables; if that's so venerables

Built from

• tena — stem · that (instrumental)
  Demonstrative pronoun in instrumental singular. Cognate with Latin ta-, English that, Sanskrit tat.
• hi — root · indeed, emphasis
  Emphatic particle; cognate with Sanskrit hi. Often cliticizes to following word.
• āyasmanto — stem · venerables (nominative plural)
  Respectful vocative/nominative for monks. Formed āyus 'life' + -mant (agent suffix), literally 'life-endowed, worthy of life'. Āyus is cognate with Sanskrit āyus, Latin aevum, Greek aiōn.

Analysis. tena (instrumental singular of tat 'that', with emphatic particle hi 'indeed') + āyasmanto (nominative plural of āyasmant 'venerable'). The contraction hi + ā → hā is standard sandhi when a syllable ending in a high vowel meets one beginning with ā. Tena + hi form a fixed collocation meaning 'in that case' or 'therefore'; āyasmanto addresses the audience.

Etymology. tena from tat (demonstrative pronoun 'that'), cognate with Sanskrit tat, Latin ta-, English that. hi is an emphatic particle cognate with Sanskrit hi 'indeed'. āyasmant is a respectful title formed from āyus 'life' (cognate with Sanskrit āyus, Latin aevum 'age', Greek aiōn 'aeon') + the agentive suffix -mant, meaning 'worthy of long life' or 'venerable'.

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

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