khvāssa

sandhi contraction (kho + assa)

indeed for him
indeed his; truly its

Built from

kho — root · emphatic particle
Adds emphasis or focus, often marking a turn in discourse. Related to Sanskrit kha.
assa — ending · genitive/dative singular
Genitive 'of him/it' or dative 'to/for him/it', from the pronoun so. The vowel elides after kho in sandhi.

Analysis. kho (emphatic particle) + assa (genitive singular of so, 'that' or dative singular of the pronoun); the contraction shows loss of the initial vowel of assa after kho. The combination intensifies and specifies: 'for him indeed' or 'his truly'.

Etymology. kho is a Pali emphatic particle of uncertain origin but related to Sanskrit kha and other Indic emphatic markers; assa is the regular genitive/dative form of the pronoun so (Sanskrit tad-, related to English 'that' via Indo-European *to-). The contraction is phonetic sandhi, common in spoken Pali and its literary reflection.

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

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