Much obliged for your explanation, ancientbuddhism.
I would be the last to disagree with your thoughts about
maññati of a self, since that features so prominently in DN 15, even if the terminology used there is slightly different (
attānaṃ paññapento paññapeti). This
attapaññatti, I suspect, should be synonymous with the
attamaññati that you allude to, or perhaps they are closely connected via the
papañca process in MN 18. MN 18 explains
papañca as a potential consequence of
paññatti into contact etc. MN 11 makes the express connection between
papañca and the views of existence/non-existence, which is what draws
maññati and
papañca close together as culprits in Clinging.
Alternatively,
attamaññati could be a particularly unskilfull type of
paññatti, since DN 15's analysis of
nāmarūpa as furnishing
paññāvacara (a sphere of wisdom) seems to be mediated by
adhivacanapatha (a pathway for designation),
niruttipatha (a pathway for language) and
paññattipatha (a pathway for description/manifestation). Awakening, it seems, cannot dispense with
paññatti, no matter how dangerously close it appears to be the precursor of
attamaññati.
But, while
nāmarūpa has a prominent role in the construction of self-view as a consequence of contact, I still find it hard to ignore the other aspect of
nāmarūpa described in DN 15. That seems to be a description of rebecoming and the formation of a new being. The reference to
mātukucchi (mother's womb) is a clear indicator of this. The idea that
nāmarūpa can
samuccissathā (take shape) in the womb, also does not appear to be a reference to the cognitive process or even
adhivacanasamphassa, but looks like a throwback to the Upanishadic idea of
nāmarūpa as name and appearance/embodiment.
Unless we accept that
nāmarūpa as a term actually has 2 distinct meanings, I think we may need to parse the compound in the the same way when describing either process, ie as a
dvanda. I'm currently experimenting with a
dvanda reading of
nāmarūpa that preserves the potential for
attamaññati, but it'll be a while before I'm am even half-sure.