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tasmā

ta

masc abl sg of ta (pron); nt abl sg of ta (pron); masc abl sg of ta (letter)

1. ta (pron): that
2. ta (letter): (gram) letter t; 24th letter of the alphabet; dental sibilant
3. tasmā (pron): from that
4. tasmā (ind): therefore; that is why; lit. from that

Built from

• tas — stem · that
  Nominative or accusative stem of the demonstrative ta-. The stem shifts to reflect case and gender before the ablative suffix is appended.
• -smā — ending · ablative
  Ablative ending marking 'from that place/cause'. Derives from PIE *-s̀mód; in Pali, -smā regularly marks ablative, as in tasmā 'from that', hence 'therefore'.

Analysis. tas + mā, where mā is an enclitic ablative marker (compare instrumental -ena, locative -smiṁ); the ablative ending -smā derives from the old instrumental-ablative *-s̀mād in Indo-European.

Etymology. ta is the demonstrative root (Sanskrit tá-, Latin is-te, English that); -smā is the ablative suffix descended from Proto-Indo-European *-s̀mód (whence Latin -s̀mē in Old Latin forms); the particle tasmā combines the pronoun with this locative-ablative sense to mean 'from that (cause)'—hence 'therefore'. Cognates: English that, German das; Latin istud (that); Sanskrit tás (nominative singular masculine of ta-).

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

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