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viññātamattaṁ

viññātamatta

accusative singular neuter of viññātamatta (adjective/substantive). Surface form: viññātamattaṁ

1. mere knowing
2. knowledge alone
3. the bare fact of cognition

Built from

• vi — prefix · apart, clarity
  Intensive clarity or division into distinct parts. Here it marks the sharp, clear character of conscious knowing as separate from sensation and conceptualization.
• ññā — root · know
  Cognate with Latin nōscere 'to become acquainted with' and English know. The doubled retroflex ṇ reflects the root's intensity.
• ta — ending · past participle
  Marks viññāta as a perfective passive state: 'known, become conscious of'.
• matta — stem · only, mere
  From √mā 'to measure'; limits or restricts the scope. In compounds it means 'only' or 'nothing but', narrowing the application to that one thing alone.
• aṁ — ending · accusative singular neuter
  Object case, singular neuter; here used substantively to denote 'mere knowledge' as an abstract concept or state.

Analysis. viññāta (past participle of viññānati, 'known') + matta ('merely, only'). Literally 'known-only' or 'knowing-only': the limiting of experience to the bare cognitive act, stripped of conceptual elaboration or craving.

Etymology. From vi- (apart, clarity) + √ñā (to know, cognate with Latin nōscere, English know): viññāna 'consciousness' as clear, distinct knowing. The suffix -matta (from mā 'measure') means 'only, merely', like English '-mere'. Together the phrase expresses a doctrinal abstraction: cognition in isolation from its object and the knower's craving.

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

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