Ok well, since the discussion is continuing, here goes...
Rodha
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Source: A.P. Buddhadatta Mahathera, Concise Pali-English and English-Pali Dictionary [available as digital version from Metta Net, Sri Lanka]
Description:
rodha : [m.] obstruction; prevention.
Source: Pali-English Dictionary, TW Rhys Davids, William Stede,
Description:
Rodha1 [fr. rudh] obstruction, stopping, in cpd. para- pāṇa˚ stopping the life of somebody else; life -- slaughter, murder Sn 220; J ii.450. Cp. anu˚, ni˚, vi˚.
Source: Pali-English Dictionary, TW Rhys Davids, William Stede,
Description:
Rodha2 (nt.) [fr. rudh] bank, dam A iii.128 (where id. p. at A. i.154 reads gedha, cave; v. l. also gedha, cp. v. l. rodhi˚ for gedhi˚ at Nd2 585).
Ni/Nir
B. Meanings. 1. ni (with secondary derivations like nīca "low") is a verb -- pref. only, i. e. it characterises action with respect to its direction, which is that of (a) a downward motion (opp. abhi & ud); (b) often implying the aim (=down into, on to, cp. Lat. sub in subire, or pref. ad˚); or (c) the reverting of an upward motion=back (identical with b); e. g. (a) ni -- dhā (put down), ˚kkhip (throw d.), ˚guh (hide d.), ˚ci (heap up), ˚pad (fall d.), ˚sad (sit d.); (b) ni -- ratta (at -- tached to), ˚mant (speak to); ˚yuj (ap -- point), ˚ved (ad -- dress), ˚sev (be devoted to) etc.; (c) ni -- vatt (turn back). -- 2. nis (a) as verb -- pref. it denotes the directional "out" with further development to "away from, opposite, without," pointing out the finishing, completion or vanishing of an action & through the latter idea often assuming the meaning of the reverse, disappearance or contrary of an action="un" (Lat. dis -- ), e. g. nikkhamati (to go out from) opp. pavisati (to enter into), ˚ccharati (nis to car to go forth), ˚ddhamati (throw out), ˚pajjati (result from), ˚bbattati (vatt spring out from), nīharati (take out), nirodhati (break up, destroy). -- (b) as nounpref. it denotes "being without" or "not having"= E. -- less, e. g. niccola without clothes, ˚ttaṇha (without thirst), ˚ppurisa (without a man), ˚pphala (without fruit); niccala motion -- less, ˚kkaruṇa (heartless), ˚ddosa (fault˚), ˚maŋsa (flesh˚), ˚saŋsaya (doubt˚) nirattha (useless), ˚bbhaya (fear˚). -- Bdhgh evidently takes ni -- in meaning of nis only, when defining: ni -- saddo abhāvaŋ dīpeti Vism 495.
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So in context of the above quote:
yielding, as a dam or the banks of a river yield (ni, out) (rudha, riverbanks... receding banks?) as an obstruction yields (ni, without) (rodha, obstruction), as a person obstructing yields (ni, vanishing action) (rodha, obstruction), as a person backs down and yields from an attempt to ascend (ni, reverting of an upwards motion/vanishing of an action) (rudha, banks, denoting a confined path of action), yields possessions (ni, being without, not having) (rodha obstruction).
Also connotations of release and freedom (ni, out), leaving confinement (rudha, banks/dam), and fruition e.g. the cage yielded a flock of birds.
I'm not looking at definitions here so much as making very speculative guesses as to the possible resonance of the word
when used in certain contexts, as no translation effort will find an equivalent for all contexts. English words have all sorts of resonances which we are not always aware of, which makes the art of translation an art, not a science.
Translators from all sorts of languages to English have a tendency to use formal, technical sounding latinate vocabulary as general equivalents of words in other languages, since the more complex resonances of Anglo-Saxon derived words are ideosyncratic and, essentially, will make the text their own, which a careful scribe may wish to avoid in order to preserve technical correctness. However, as an exercise, reimagining a text may be worthwhile.