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panassa

panassati

imp 2nd sg of panassati (verb); reflx aor 1st sg of panassi (verb)

1. panassa (sandhi): and for him; and his
2. panassati (pr): is lost; is destroyed; perishes; is ruined
3. panassi (aor): was lost; disappeared; went to ruin

Built from

• pan — prefix · forth, out
  pa- 'forward' intensifies the root's meaning of perishing or falling away. Cognate with Greek pro-, Latin pro-.
• assa — ending · 3rd sg genitive
  The pronoun so 'he', genitive assa 'his, of him'. In the sandhi reading pana + assa, this is the possessive pronoun; in the verb, -assa is a nominal ending marking oblique case.

Analysis. pana + assa: 'and for him' (sandhi contraction of pana 'and, moreover' + assa 'his', genitive of so). The verb panassati itself shows no productive compound analysis; the surface form panassa conflates two readings: imperative mood and sandhi junction.

Etymology. panassati: root uncertain; possibly related to √nas 'perish, be lost' (Sanskrit naśyati), with pan- as an intensifying or inchoative prefix (pa- 'forth'). The root √nas appears in English 'nose' (to nose out, go forward by scent) and Sanskrit naśa-; the verb's sense 'goes to ruin' echoes √pad 'fall' (pa + √pad becoming pädati 'falls away'). The form may also reflect contamination with pana 'then, moreover' in discourse contexts.

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

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