Pāḷi Grammars
ES

Kaccāyana-Byākaraṇaṃ · chapter 2 of 8

§90

Pañcādīnam attaṃ

The state of ‘a’ of “pañca” and others.

Text and translation

Read in the chapter →

90. 252. Pañcādīnam attaṃ (247)

[Pañca-ādīnaṃ + attaṃ = 2 words]

Pañcādīnaṃ saṅkhyānaṃ anto attam āpajjate su naṃ hi icc etesu.

Pañcasu, pañcannaṃ, pañcahi; chasu, channaṃ, chahi; sattasu, sattannaṃ, sattahi; aṭṭhasu, aṭṭhannaṃ, aṭṭhahi; navasu, navannaṃ, navahi; dasasu, dasannaṃ, dasahi.

Pañcādīnamī ti kimatthaṃ? Dvīsu, dvinnaṃ, dvīhi.

Attam iti bhāvaniddeso ubhayassāgamanatthaṃ, anto ukāro attam āpajjate. Catassannaṃ itthīnaṃ. Tissannaṃ vedanānaṃ.

The state of ‘a’ of “pañca” and others.
When ‘su’, ‘naṃ’ and ‘hi’ follow, the end vowel of the numerals “pañca” and others remains ‘a’.
Example
  1. Pañcasu = pañca + su (‘a’ remains ‘a’ (§90)).

What is the purpose of saying “of ‘pañca’ and others”? [This sutta does not apply when there is no “pañca” and others, such as in] dvīsu, dvinnaṃ, dvīhi.

“Attaṃ”, which is an expression that indicates a state (bhāvaniddesa), has the purpose of inserting ‘ssa’ and changing the end ‘u’ into ‘a’.

Example
  1. Catassannaṃ = catu + naṃ (‘ssa’ is inserted; ‘u’ becomes ‘a’ (§90)).
  2. Tissannaṃ = ti + naṃ (‘ssa’ is inserted (§90); ‘n’ is doubled (§28)).

Without the footnotes: they are on the chapter card.

Drafts

Ask about §90

Questions are asked from the analysis following Visuddhāyuṃ (draft): the answer uses this sutta's row and the project's sources. It is for enrolled students and requires signing in.

Ask about §90 →

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.