Pāḷi Grammars
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Kaccāyana-Byākaraṇaṃ · chapter 2 of 8

§59

Te itthikhyā po

Those that mean feminine [gender] [are named] ‘pa’.

Text and translation

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59. 182. Te itthikhyā po (206)

[Te + itthikhyā + po = 3 words]

Te ivaṇṇ’-uvaṇṇā yadā itthikhyā, tadā pasaññā honti.

Rattiyā, itthiyā, dhenuyā, vadhuyā.

Itthikhyā ti kimatthaṃ? Isinā, bhikkhunā.

Pa icc anena kvattho? Pato yā.

Those that mean feminine [gender] [are named] ‘pa’.
Those letters ‘i’, ‘ī’ and ‘u’, ‘ū’, when they mean feminine [gender], are named ‘pa’.
Examples: rattiyā (by night), itthiyā (by the woman), dhenuyā (by the cow), vadhuyā (by the daughter-in-law).
What is the purpose of saying “mean feminine [gender]”? [To prevent the operation of this rule in examples such as] “isinā” (by the sage), “bhikkhunā” (by the bhikkhu) – [these are not named ‘pa’ since they are masculine].
What is the use of the name ‘pa’? [For the use of the name ‘pa’ in suttas such as] “Pato yā” (§112). After ‘pa’, [‘nā’, etc., are substituted by] ‘ya’.

Without the footnotes: they are on the chapter card.

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Pāḷi text and English translation by Bhikkhu Nandisena; edition, apparatus and glossary by the Instituto de Estudios Buddhistas Hispano (IEBH). This material may be reproduced for personal use and distributed free of charge. Copyright © 2026 IEBH. Published under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21948010.