Lesson 25

Special Noun Declensions – pitu, mātu, and satthu

In this lesson, we explore how some irregular nouns behave in Pali – especially those ending in -tu and those referring to family members or agents (doers).

---

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family nouns: pitu and mātu

• pitu (father – masculine)

• mātu (mother – feminine)

These are irregular stems, often seen in older Indo-Aryan languages.

• Other nouns like bhātu (brother – m.) follow the pattern of pitu.

• Similarly, dhītu or duhitu (daughter – f.) follow the pattern of mātu.

These are examples of consonant-stem nouns in Pali that require special attention when declining across cases.

---

🧑‍🏫 Teacher noun: satthu (m.) – “teacher”

This is another consonant-stem noun. Let’s look at its declension through examples:

Singular forms:

• Nominative: satthā – “the teacher”

• Accusative: satthāraṃ – “the teacher (object)”

• Instrumental: satthārā – “by the teacher”

• Dative/Genitive: satthu, satthuno, or satthussa – “to/for/of the teacher”

• Ablative: satthārā – “from the teacher”

• Locative: satthari – “in/on the teacher”

• Vocative: satthā – “O teacher!”

Plural forms:

• Nominative: satthāro – “teachers”

• Accusative: satthāro – “teachers (object)”

• Instrumental: satthūhi, satthūbhi, or satthārehi – “by the teachers”

• Dative/Genitive: satthūnaṃ, satthārānaṃ – “to/for/of the teachers”

• Ablative: satthūhi, satthārehi – “from the teachers”

• Locative: satthūsu, satthāresu – “in/on the teachers”

• Vocative: satthāro – “O teachers!”