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yeme

sandhi contraction (ye + ime)

1. whichever things; whichever; whoever of those

Built from

• ye — root · which, who
  Relative pronoun from PIE *yo-. Cognates: English who, Latin qui, Greek hos. Points back to an antecedent.
• ime — root · these
  Demonstrative pronoun from PIE *i- (this). Cognates: Latin is, English it. The initial vowel is elided in sandhi before ye.

Analysis. ye (relative pronoun, nominative plural neuter) + ime (demonstrative pronoun, nominative plural neuter, 'these'), contracted by elision of initial i in ime: 'which of these things', used to introduce relative clauses with indefinite antecedent.

Etymology. ye derives from PIE *yo- (who, which; cognates English who, Latin qui, Greek hos); ime is from PIE *i- (this, here; cognates Latin is, English it). The contraction is a sandhi phenomenon common in Pali where hiatus is avoided by dropping a short vowel.

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

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