[INDOLOGY] Etymology of vetana 'wages'

[Nityanand Misra]

On 6 August 2016 at 23:56, Donald R Davis <drdj at austin.utexas.edu> wrote:

> Dear Colleagues,
>
> M.A. Mehendale, “Some Remarks of the Language of the Original Buddhist
> Canon,” Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute, Vol. 17, No. 3
> (December 1955) suggests that the etymology of Skt. *vetana* ‘wages’ is "
> *vedana* ‘wealth, possessions’ from /*vid* ‘to find, to obtain, to give,
> etc.’ which is known since the Rgveda” (p167).
>
> Would those of you with IE expertise kindly confirm this etymology, point
> me elsewhere, or share your thoughts on alternative etymologies?  I have
> not yet been able to check Mayrhofer.
>
>
>
Sounds dubious, for how the *d* of *vid* would change to *t *when followed
by a vowel is beyond me. Here is the authentic traditional etymology:



vī gativyāptiprajanakāntyasanakhādaneṣu (DP 1048) → vīpatibhyāṃ tanan (US
3.150) → vī + tanan → halantyam (A 1.3.3), tasya lopaḥ (A 1.3.9) → vī +
tana → sārvadhātukārdhadhātukayoḥ (A 7.3.84) → ve tana → vetana.


The Uṇādisūtra *vīpatibhyāṃ tanan* (US 3.150) ordains the suffix *tanan*
(of which only *tana* remains) from the root *vī
gativyāptiprajanakāntyasanakhādaneṣu*’ which is used in the meanings of
*gati* (movement), *vyāpti* (pervading), *prajana* (conception), *kānti*
(desire), *asana* (throwing), and *khādana* (eating). The rule
sārvadhātukārdhadhātukayoḥ (A 7.3.84) results in the ‘vī’ → ve
transformation to get ‘vetana’.


The word occurs in Amarakoṣa 2.10.38, and the various commentaries on it
may be consulted. Both the *Udghāṭana* and *Vyākhyāsudhā* commentaries cite
US 3.150 and explain the word as *vīyate anena iti vetanam*. The form
*vīyate* is the passive (*yaki*, or *karmaṇi*) form of the root *vī* whose
active (*karttari*) form is *veti*. The meaning of *vīyate anena iti
vetanam*, consequently, is ‘that with which [something] is obtained is
vetana’. Roots with the meaning ‘to go’ also have the meaning ‘to obtain’
as per the maxim *ye gatyarthāste prāptyarthāḥ*.


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