# धातु
## Hindi
### Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit धातु m (dhātu), with the gender having changed in recent times.

### Pronunciation

* (Delhi) IPA: /d̪ʱɑː.t̪uː/, [d̪ʱäː.t̪uː]

### Noun

धातु • (dhātu) f or m
* metal, metallic element
* This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes then please add them! Particularly: “Especially showing the change in gender.”

#### Declension
### References

* McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) “धातु”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press
* “धातु”, in Collins Gem Hindi-English Dictionary, Collins, 2011, →ISBN
* Platts, John T. (1884) “धातु”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.

## Pali
### Alternative forms

* dhātu (Latin script)
* 𑀥𑀸𑀢𑀼 (Brahmi script)
* ধাতু (Bengali script)
* ධාතු (Sinhalese script)
* ဓာတု or ꩪႃတု (Burmese script)
* ธาตุ (Thai script)
* ᨵᩤᨲᩩ (Tai Tham script)
* ຘາຕຸ (Lao script)
* ធាតុ (Khmer script)
* 𑄙𑄂𑄖𑄪 (Chakma script)

### Etymology 1
#### Noun

धातु f
* Devanagari script form of dhātu (“element”)

##### Declension
### Etymology 2
#### Noun

धातु m
* Devanagari script form of dhātu (“root of a word”)
** c. 500 AD, Kaccāyana, Pālivyākaraṇaṃ‎, page 283; republished as Satish Chandra Acharyya Vidyabhusana, editor, Kaccayana's Pali Grammar (edited in Devanagari character and translated into English), Calcutta, Bengal: Mahabodhi Society, 1901:दिस इच्चेतस्स धातुस्स पस्स दिस्स दक्ख इच्चेते आदेसा होन्ति वा।Disa iccetassa dhātussa passa dissa dakkha iccete ādesā honti vā.'Dis': this root may become 'pass', 'diss' or 'dakkh'.

##### Declension
## Sanskrit
### Alternative scripts

* ধাতু (Assamese script)
* ᬥᬵᬢᬸ (Balinese script)
* ধাতু (Bengali script)
* 𑰠𑰯𑰝𑰲 (Bhaiksuki script)
* 𑀥𑀸𑀢𑀼 (Brahmi script)
* ဓာတု (Burmese script)
* ધાતુ (Gujarati script)
* ਧਾਤੁ (Gurmukhi script)
* 𑌧𑌾𑌤𑍁 (Grantha script)
* ꦣꦴꦠꦸ (Javanese script)
* 𑂡𑂰𑂞𑂳 (Kaithi script)
* ಧಾತು (Kannada script)
* ធាតុ (Khmer script)
* ຘາຕຸ (Lao script)
* ധാതു (Malayalam script)
* ᢡᠠ᠎᠊ᠠᢠᡠ (Manchu script)
* 𑘠𑘰𑘝𑘳 (Modi script)
* ᢑᠾᠠᢗᢐᠤ (Mongolian script)
* 𑧀𑧑𑦽𑧔 (Nandinagari script)
* 𑐢𑐵𑐟𑐸 (Newa script)
* ଧାତୁ (Odia script)
* ꢤꢵꢡꢸ (Saurashtra script)
* 𑆣𑆳𑆠𑆶 (Sharada script)
* 𑖠𑖯𑖝𑖲 (Siddham script)
* ධාතු (Sinhalese script)
* 𑩮𑩛𑩫𑩒 (Soyombo script)
* 𑚜𑚭𑚙𑚰 (Takri script)
* த⁴ாது (Tamil script)
* ధాతు (Telugu script)
* ธาตุ (Thai script)
* དྷཱ་ཏུ (Tibetan script)
* 𑒡𑒰𑒞𑒳 (Tirhuta script)
* 𑨜𑨊𑨙𑨃 (Zanabazar Square script)

### Etymology

Maybe inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁-tu-, in that case cognate with Avestan 𐬬𐬍𐬜𐬁𐬙𐬎 (vīδātu, “justification, providence”), Lithuanian dė́tų (“putting, placing”, w:supine) (dated), Old Church Slavonic дѣтъ (dětŭ, “putting, placing”, supine). Can be deconstructed as धा (dhā, “to put, place”) +‎ -तु (-tu) (see दधाति (dádhāti)). The Sanskrit meaning may be explained as having developed from a resultative, ie “*the outcome of putting down”.

### Pronunciation

* (Vedic) IPA: /dʱɑ́ː.tu/
* (Classical Sanskrit) IPA: /ˈd̪ʱɑː.t̪u/

### Noun

धातु • (dhā́tu) stem, m
* layer, stratum
* constituent part, ingredient
* element, primitive matter
* a constituent element or essential ingredient of the body
* primary element of the earth; i.e. metal, mineral, ore (especially a red mineral)
* (grammar) verbal root
** c. 400 BCE, Mahābhārata

#### Derived terms

* आकाशधातु (ākāśadhā́tu)
* धात्वर्थ (dhātvártha, “having the sense of a root, a verb”)

#### Descendants

* Marathi: धातू (dhātū)
* Punjabi: dhāt
** Gurmukhi script: ਧਾਤ
** Shahmukhi script: دھات
* Pali: dhātu f
** → Burmese: ဓာတ် (dhat)
*** → Shan: ထၢတ်ႈ (thāat)
** → Khmer: ធាតុ (thiət)
** → Thai: ธาตุ (tâat)
* → Punjabi: ਧਾਤੂ (dhātū)
* → Old Javanese: dhātu
** → Balinese: ᬥᬵᬢᬸ (datu)
* → Pali: dhātu m (“root of a word”)
** → Thai: ธาตุ (tâat)
* → Telugu: ధాతువు (dhātuvu)

#### References

* ↑ Wodtko, Dagmar S., Irslinger, Britta, Schneider, Carolin (2008) Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon (in German), Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, page 101f.
* ↑ Mayrhofer, Manfred (1992) Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen‎ (in German), volume 1, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, page 784
* ↑ Wackernagel, Jakob, Albert Debrunner (1896-1964) w:Altindische Grammatik (Indogermanische Bibliothek. 2. Reihe: Wörterbücher)‎ (in German), Vol. II.2: Die Nominalsuffixe, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, published 1954, §488, pages 663-65

#### Further reading

* Otto Böhtlingk, Richard Schmidt (1879-1928) “धातु”, in Walter Slaje, Jürgen Hanneder, Paul Molitor, Jörg Ritter, editors, Nachtragswörterbuch des Sanskrit (in German), Halle-Wittenberg: Martin-Luther-Universität, published 2016
* Monier Williams (1899) “धातु”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 513.