teneva

ta

pronoun (instrumental singular) + particle; sandhi form

ta (pron): that
ta (letter): (gram) letter t; 24th letter of the alphabet; dental sibilant
tena (pron): with him; by him; with that; by that
tena (ind): thereby; because of that; on that account; lit. by that; with that
tena (ind): there
teneva (sandhi): just by that; because of that very thing; by that alone

Built from

te — stem · that (instrumental)
Instrumental case of the demonstrative pronoun ta, meaning 'by/with that' or 'through that'. The form shows the root ta- (cognate with Sanskrit tat, Greek to, Latin tu-) with instrumental ending -na contracted to -na, then reshaped to te- in sandhi contexts.
na — ending · instrumental
The instrumental singular marker (Sanskrit -na), showing the means or agent by which an action is performed. Here it completes tena 'by that'.
eva — stem · alone, just, precisely
An emphatic and restrictive particle (Sanskrit eva) marking identity, restriction, or exclusivity—like English '-self' (himself) or 'alone'. It intensifies the preceding word, so teneva means 'by that alone' or 'by that very thing'.

Analysis. tena (instrumental singular of ta 'that') + eva (particle of emphasis and restriction 'alone, just, precisely'); the two words coalesce in sandhi (tena + eva → teneva). Tena means 'by that' or 'through that', and eva intensifies it to mean 'by that alone' or 'by that very thing'—marking exclusive causation or exclusive means.

Etymology. ta- is the demonstrative root (cognate with Sanskrit tat, Greek to, Latin tu-/tu-s in tu-us 'thy'); -na is the instrumental suffix (Sanskrit -na, cognate with English -ness as a means-marker in older formations). Eva is an ancient particle of identity and restriction (cognate with Sanskrit eva, possibly related to the root iva 'thus, like'), functioning like English '-self' or 'alone'.

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

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