अथ
Pali
Alternative forms
Alternative forms
- atha (Latin script)
- 𑀅𑀣 (Brahmi script)
- অথ (Bengali script)
- අථ (Sinhalese script)
- အထ or ဢထ (Burmese script)
- อถ or อะถะ (Thai script)
- ᩋᨳ (Tai Tham script)
- ອຖ or ອະຖະ (Lao script)
- អថ (Khmer script)
- 𑄃𑄗 (Chakma script)
Particle
अथ (atha)
- Devanagari script form of atha (“moreover”)
- c. 500 AD, Kaccāyana, Pālivyākaraṇaṃ [Pali Grammar] (in Pali), page 250; republished as Satish Chandra Acharyya Vidyabhusana, editor, Kaccayana's Pali Grammar (edited in Devanagari character and translated into English), Calcutta, Bengal: Mahabodhi Society, 1901:
- अथ सब्बासं विभत्तीनं यानि यानि पुब्बानि छ पदानि तानि तानि परस्सपदसञ्ञानि होन्ति।
- Atha sabbāsaṃ vibhattīnaṃ yāni yāni pubbāni cha padāni, tāni tāni parassapadasaññāni honti.
- Then whatever are the first six endings of all the endings, they are called the active endings.
-
Sanskrit
Alternative forms
- (Vedic) अथा (athā)
- अथो (atho)
Etymology
From Proto-Indo-Iranian *átHa (“but, come!, in that case, then”), from Proto-Indo-European *áth₂o/*áth₂u (“but in addition”), a compound of the particles *át (“but”) + *h₂o (“beside”), cognate with Avestan 𐬀𐬚𐬀 (aθa), 𐬀𐬚𐬁 (aθā), Hittite addu (“but, furthermore”), Latin at (“but”), and maybe Celtiberian ata (“but, furthermore”).[1]
Pronunciation
- (Vedic) IPA(key): /ɐ́.tʰɐ/
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈɐ.t̪ʰɐ/
Particle
अथ • (átha)
- a particle used at the beginning of a passage
- then; afterwards; in that case
- c. 400 CE, Kālidāsa, Abhijñānaśākuntalam Act 7:
- न चेन् मुनिकुमारो ऽयम् अथ को ऽस्य व्यपदेशः ।
- na cen munikumāro ʼyam atha ko ʼsya vyapadeśaḥ .
- If this one is not a son of the muni (sage), then what family is his?
- न चेन् मुनिकुमारो ऽयम् अथ को ऽस्य व्यपदेशः ।
- if; supposing
- while; but; on the other hand
- अथ चेत् ― atha cet ― but if
- likewise
Usage notes
- As the initial particle starting a passage, it conveys a sense of auspiciousness. This is often translated as now, here, etc.
- It can be used as a correlative of यदि (yadi) or चेत् (cet) (both meaning "if"), corresponding to the "then" in an "if […] then" construct.
- It can used with वा (vā, “or”); अथवा […] अथवा means "either […] or".
- Other diverse usages can be found in the further reading listed below.
References
- Dunkel, George E. (2014), “Lexikon [Lexicon]”, in Lexikon der indogermanischen Partikeln und Pronominalstämme [Lexicon of Indo-European Particles and Pronominal Stems] (Indogermanische Bibliothek. 2. Reihe: Wörterbücher) (in German), volume 2, Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter GmbH Heidelberg, →ISBN, page 88
Further reading
- Apte, Vaman Shivram (1890), “अथ”, in The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary, Poona: Prasad Prakashan
- Monier Williams (1899), “अथ”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, OCLC 458052227, page 17/3.
- Otto Böhtlingk; Richard Schmidt (1879-1928), “अथ”, in Walter Slaje, Jürgen Hanneder, Paul Molitor, Jörg Ritter, editors, Nachtragswörterbuch des Sanskrit [Dictionary of Sanskrit with supplements] (in German), Halle-Wittenberg: Martin-Luther-Universität, published 2016