Kammadhāraya or Adjectival Compounds

Kammadhāraya or Adjectival Compounds¶

“blackbird”

(object / bearer)

Kaccāyana 324. dvipade tuly'ādhikaraṇe kammadhārayo.

Kammadhāraya compounds normally consist of two members in the same case which modify the meaning of each other. The resulting samāsa can be a noun, an adjective or an adverb.

There are 9 kinds of kammadhāraya compounds according to traditional grammarians.

visesana-pubba-pada¶

(description before word)

adjective + noun

mahanto puriso > mahāpuriso (great man)

mahanto balo > mahabbalo (great force)

thullaṃ + accayaṃ > thullaccayaṃ (heavy offence)

anekena + pariyāyena > anekapariyāyena (by various ways)

ariye + sacce > ariyasacce (in the noble truth)

visesana-para-pada¶

(description after word)

noun + adjective / noun

naro + uttamo > naruttamo (ultimate man)

sāriputto + thero > sāriputtatthero (Sāriputta the Elder)

dhammo + varo > dhammavaro (excellent teaching)

visesana-ubhaya-pada¶

(description both words)

adjective + adjectives

uppanna ca uppanna ca > uppannuppanna (whatever arisen; lit. arisen and arisen)

sukata ca dukkaṭa ca > sukatadukkaṭānaṃ (well done and badly done)

manāpa ca amanāpa ca > manāpāmanāpaṃ (pleasant and unpleasant)

they can be classified as dvanda type of compounds

sambhāvanā-pubba-pada¶

(origin before word)

noun + noun

in which the first member indicates the origin of the second term, or the relation in which the second term stands to the first.

iti ; evaṃ; saṅkhāto ; hutvā

attā (iti) diṭṭhi > attadiṭṭhi (“the self” (is) the view)

hetu (hutvā) paccayo > hetupaccayo (having been a cause there is a condition > causal relationship)

Some of the above examples can be classified as a tappurisa type of compounds

upamāna-uttara-pada¶

(comparison after the word)

noun “is like” noun

tathāgato viya sīho > tathāgatasīha (Realised One like a lion > lion-like Buddha)

buddho viya nāgo > buddhanāgo (Buddha Nāga-like)

ādicca (sun), sīha (lion), puṅgava (bull), usabha (bull), nāga (elephant, dragon) are frequently used (see APA for a lot of examples)

avadhāraṇa-pubba-pada¶

(emphasis before word)

sāvatthī eva nidāna > sāvatthinidāna (Sāvatthī just source)

rāga eva dosa > rāgadosa (lust just corruption > corrupted by lust)

Some of the above examples can be classified as a tappurisa type of compounds

ku-nipāta-pubba-pada¶

(ku particle before word)

ku + noun

ku + sobbha > kusobbha (small pool of water)

ku + magga > kummagga (bad road)

ku + nadī > kunnadī (small stream)

na-nipāta-pubba-pada¶

(na particle before word)

na + noun

na + ariyo > anariyo (ignoble)

na + kusala > akusala (unskilful)

na + anta > ananta (without limit)

na > na / an / a / ana

pa-ādi-pubba-pada¶

(pa etc before word)

prefix + noun

pa + vagga > pavagga (group of labial consonants)

su + gandho > sugandho (fragrant; lit. good smell)

dur + kata > dukkaṭa (wrong deed)

saha > sa + avajja > sāvajja (blameworthy; wrong; lit. with fault)

General rules for kammadhāraya samāsa¶

1. mahanta becomes mahā, or

mahanta becomes maha and the consonant is reduplicated

e.g. mahanta moggallāna > mahāmoggallāna (great Moggallāna)

e.g. mahanta bhaya > mahabbhaya (great fear)

2. santa “good, virtuous” becomes sat

e.g. santa + purisa > sappurisa (good man)

3. puma “male” becomes puṃ

e.g. puma + liṅga > pulliṅga (masculine gender)

4. when two members are feminine, the first can become masculine

e.g. brāhmaṇī + dārikā > brāhmaṇadārikā (Brahman girl)

5. na- becomes an- before a vowel and a- before a consonant

e.g. na + ariyo > anariyo (ignoble)

e.g. na + kusala > akusala (not skilful)