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abhabbo
abhabba
masc nom sg of abhabba (ptp)
- unable (to); impossible (to); incapable (of); unlikely (to); lit. not to be
- ineffective; inoperative; incapable of producing a result; lit. not to be
- incompetent; incapable; lit. not to be
Built from
- a — prefix · not, without
Negation. Cognate with English un-, Greek a(n)- (atheist). Plain denial of the capacity to be.
- bhab — root · to be, become
From √bhū: the core verb of existence and transformation. Cognate with English 'be', Latin 'futurus'. The -a- in abhabba shows the present participle stem.
- ba — stem · potential agent
The ablaut and stem formation (bhab-ba) marks a potential agent or capacity to be. The -ba ending is characteristic of participial formation in Pali.
- o — ending · masculine nominative singular
Marks the masculine nominative singular form, agreeing with a masculine noun as subject or predicate nominative. The final -o is the standard Pali masculine nom. sg. ending.
Etymology. a- (not, without) + bhavati (to be, become); literally 'not able to be'. The prefix a/an- is cognate with English 'un-' and Greek 'a(n)-' as in 'atheist'. The root bhavati belongs to the Indo-European *bheuh₂- 'to become, grow' (cognate with English 'be' and Latin 'futurus'). The negative a- strips away potentiality, marking what cannot arise or occur.