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katamesu

katama

masc loc pl of katama (interr); nt loc pl of katama (interr)

1. what?; which (of the many)?

Built from

• ka- — root · who, what
  Interrogative root. Cognate with English 'who' (from PIE *kwo-), Latin 'qui', Sanskrit 'ka-'. The concrete sense is pointing or singling out.
• -tama — ending · superlative, extreme
  Superlative suffix, originally marking the uttermost or most distinctive of a set. Here it extends the interrogative to 'which one (specifically)' among multiple referents, giving force to the question.

Etymology. From *ka- (interrogative root, 'who/what'), with -tama superlative suffix. The -tama ending originally expressed extremity or singularity; here it marks the indefinite extension 'which one of a set', strengthening the interrogative force. Cognate with Sanskrit katama; the root *ka- appears in English *who* (from *kwo-) and Latin *qui*.

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

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