LOGOI

The corpus record — Pali

ca

Ca

(indef. enclitic particle) Indefinite (after demonstr. pron. in the sense of kiṃ = what about? or how is it? cp. kiṃ) = ever, whoever what-ever, etc. [Sk. kaśca, Gr. ὁς τε , Lat: quisque Goth. hvazuh] so ca whoever (see below 3), tañ ca pan amhākaṃ ruccati tena c’ amhā attamanā MN.i.93 ; yañ ca kho…

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Distribution

Senses

(indef. enclitic particle)

  1. Indefinite (after demonstr. pron. in the sense of kiṃ = what about? or how is it? cp. kiṃ) = ever, whoever what-ever, etc. [Sk. kaśca, Gr. ὁς τε, Lat: quisque Goth. hvazuh] so ca whoever (see below 3), tañ ca pan amhākaṃ ruccati tena c’ amhā attamanā MN.i.93; yañ ca kho… ceteti yañ ca pakappeti… whatever he thinks, whatever he intends… SN.ii.65. As a rule the Pali form corresp. to Sk. kaśca is *kascid = koci & ci (cid) is the regular P. representative of the indefinite ca (cp. cana & api).
  2. Copulative or disjunctive according to the general context being positive or negative.
    1. copulative: and, then, now: tadā ca now then, and then (in historical exposition) Ja.iii.188 Most frequent in connecting two or three words, usually placed after the second, but also after the third: atthaṃ anatthañ ca Dhp.256; pubbâparāni ca Dhp.352 alaṃ etehi ambehi jambūhi panasehi ca Ja.ii.160
      In the same sense added to each link of the chain as ca-ca (cp. Sk. ca-ca, Gr. τε τε, Lat. que que; also mixed with constituents of similar pairs as api-ca, cp. τε και) tuyhañ ca tassā ca to you and her (orig. this or whatever to you, whatever to her) = to you as well as to her Ja.i.151. Often with the first member emphasized by eva: c’ eva, as well as: hasi c’ eva rodi ca he laughed as well as cried Ja.i.167; maṃsena c’ eva phalāphalena ca with flesh as well as with all kinds of fruit Ja.iii.127 subhaddako c’ eva supesalo ca Ja.iii.82; c’ eva apace padūse pi ca waste and even defile Thag-a.72 (Tha-ap.40).
    2. disjunctive: but (esp. after a negation): yo ca but who Thag.401; yadā ca but when (cp. tadā ca) Ja.iii.128 In conditional clauses (cp. 3) combined with sace = but if on the other hand: sace agāraṃ ajjhāvasati… sace ca pabbajati agārā Snp.1003. With neg, na ca = but not: mahatī vata te bondi, na ca paññā tadūpikā (but your wisdom is not in the same proportion) Ja.ii.160.
  3. Conditional: if [= Vedic ced, Lat. absque] DN.i.186DN.i.207; DN.ii.36, DN.ii.57 (jāti ca not va); MN.i.91; SN.iii.66 (rūpañ ca attā abhavissa); AN.i.58; AN.v.87; Ja.ii.110 (ciram pi kho khadeyya yavaṃ… ravamāno ca dūsayi: “he might have eaten a long time, if he had not come to harm by his cry,” or “but”); Ja.iv.487; Ja.v.185, Ja.v.216 (Sakko ca me varaṃ dajjā so ca labbhetha me varo: “if S. will give me a wish, that wish will be granted,” or: “whatever wish he will allow, that one will be fulfilled”); Ja.vi.206 Ja.vi.208
    na ca (at the beginning of an interrog. phrase) if not SN.i.190 (ahaṃ ca kho… pavāremi, na ca me Bhagavā kiñci garahati: if the Bh. will not blame me) For BSk. ca = ced see Avs.ii.189, n. o.

Vedic ca adv. to rel. pron. *qṷo, idg. *que = Gr. τε, Lat. que, Goth
h. Cp. ka ki, ku

Attestations

6 of 3,229 attestations shown.

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Pali text and translations from SuttaCentral (Bilara), dedicated to the public domain (CC0). PTS Pali–English Dictionary entries, public domain.