Declined indeclinables ... ?

Explore the ancient language of the Tipitaka and Theravāda commentaries
Post Reply
Dhammasissa
Posts: 45
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2016 12:46 am
Location: Henderson (Las Vegas), NV, USA
Contact:

Declined indeclinables ... ?

Post by Dhammasissa »

I think I've figured out the answer, but I'm not at all certian, and any insights would be appreciated =) There are at least some words that are described as indeclinables, but then turn out to be a declined form, e.g., purato, or sabbato. Are these called indeclinable since they are already declined and thus can't be further declined? Or what am I missing/misunderstanding?
Reductor
Posts: 1382
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2009 6:52 am
Location: Alberta, Canada

Re: Declined indeclinables ... ?

Post by Reductor »

There we see Sylvester discuss an indeclinable and a pronoun. Clearly a word that is here declinable can be indeclinable somewhere else, perhaps when it has become a proper noun of sorts, or maybe because it has been used for a certain function a thousand times already.

http://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... 83#p391900

EDIT: here's the quote from the above lined post.
Before I move on, may I repeat a request I often make, ie please refer to "the All" as sabbaṃ, and not as sabba. Sabbaṃ is an indeclinable and is properly a name, unlike sabba which is a mere pronoun.
Post Reply