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vadehīti
vada
2nd person singular imperative of vadeti, with enclitic iti
- vada (adj): speaking; who talks
- vada (root): (gram) √vad (say, speak)
- vadeti (pr): calls; describes (as)
- vadeti (pr): makes sound; lit. cause to speak
- vadeti (pr): says; speaks
Built from
- vad — root · speak, say
From √vad; cognate with Latin vādēs (surety, pledging one's word) and Sanskrit vad-. The concrete image is uttering words with force and commitment.
- e — stem · present stem
Thematic vowel marking the present system of vad-.
- hi — ending · 2nd singular imperative
The imperative singular ending -hi (here -hī with lengthening in pause or metrical contexts) commands the listener to perform the action: 'you, speak!'
- iti — ending · quotation/frame particle
Enclitic iti marks the boundary of reported speech, quoted utterance, or a stated maxim: it frames what precedes it as something said, thought, or defined. Doctrinally frequent in sutta formula 'X vadehīti' (he/she spoke thus).
Analysis. vadehi (2sg imperative: 'speak!') + iti (enclitic particle, 'thus, so'), a formulaic pair often introducing reported speech: 'he/she spoke thus'; also used to frame a saying or maxim.
Etymology. vadeti from √vad 'speak, say' (cognate with Latin vādēs 'surety, guarantor' from root meaning 'pledge one's word', and English wade through speech figuratively; Sanskrit vad-); iti is an ancient particle marking the boundary of quoted or framed utterance, with cognates in Sanskrit iti and Greek ἵτι hiti 'thus' (obscure origin, possibly deictic).