The Pali Text Society's Pali-English dictionary - Tuninst.net

A-' the prep, a shorteoed before double cons., as akkosatl
(a + krus), akkhaU (a + khya), abbahati (a + bfh).
— Best to be classed here is the a- we call expletive. It
represents a reduction of a- (mostly before liquids and
nasals and with single consonant instead of double). Thus
anantaka (for a-nantaka = nantaka) Vv.8o^; amajjapa
(for a-majjapa = majjapa) J vi.328; amapaya (for amapaya
^ mapaya) J vi.518; apassato (= passantassa)
J VL552.
A-' (an- before vowels) [Vedic a-, an-; Idg. 'n, gradation
form to 'ne (see na^); Gr. i, «i>-; Lat. *en-, in-; Goth.,
Ohg. & Ags. un-; Oir. an-, in-] neg. part, prefixed to (i)
nouns and adjectives; (2) verbal forms, used like (1),
whether part.^ g"'-i i'''^- or '"/; (3) finite verbal forms.
In comp°. with words having originally two initial cons,
the latter reappear in their assimilated form (e. g. appaticchavin).
In meaning it equals na-, nir- and vl-. Often
we find it opp. to sa-. Verbal negatives which occur in
specific verb, function will be enumd. separately, while
examples of neg. form, of (l) & (2) are given under their
positive form unless the neg. involves a distinctly new
concept, or if its form is likely to lead to confusion or
misunderstanding. — Concerning the combining & contrasting
(orig. neg.) -a- (a) in redupl. formations like bhav-
S-bbava see a^.
A-' [Vedic a-; Idg. *e (loc. of pron. stem, cp. ayaq
orig. a deictic adv. with specific reference to the past, cp.
Sk sma); Gr.