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yampi

ya

pronoun + particle (sandhi form yampi = yaṃ + api)

1. ya (pron): whoever; whatever; whichever
2. ya (letter): (gram) letter y; 34th letter of the alphabet; palatal semi-vowel
3. ya (cs): (gram) ya; suffix used to form impersonal and passive verbs
4. ya (cs): (gram) ya; conjugational sign of group 3 divādigaṇa verbs
5. yampi (sandhi): whatever indeed
6. yaṃ (pron): which; whoever; whatever; that which
7. yaṃ (pron): whoever; whatever; that which
8. yaṃ (ind): because; because of; since; when

Built from

• yaṃ — root · which, whatever
  Relative pronoun, accusative singular neuter. Cognate with Sanskrit ya-, Greek ho (originally *yo-), Latin qu- (quis), English wh- (who, what). The old Indo-European interrogative-relative pronoun.
• api — prefix · even, indeed, also
  Emphatic particle postposed. Marks concessive or emphatic sense. Related to Sanskrit api and possibly to the root *h₂ep- 'reach, seize', though in Pali it is a fixed particle, not a productive prefix.

Analysis. yaṃ (relative pronoun, accusative singular neuter) + api (emphatic particle 'indeed, even'). The combination yampi emphasizes the indefinite or concessive sense: 'whatever it may be', 'even whatever'.

Etymology. ya- is the Indo-European relative pronoun stem, cognate with Sanskrit ya-, Greek ho (via *yo-), Latin qu- (as in quis 'who'), and English wh- (who, what). The particle api 'even, also' is cognate with Sanskrit api and likely related to Indo-European *h₂ep- 'to seize, to reach' (English able, Latin apex), but in Pali it functions as an emphatic postpositive.

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

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