All individual terms listed as jāti-s (sophisticated ripostes) in Nyāyasūtra V a 1 have the peculiar uniform ending -sama. The interpretation of this ending here reveals a greater nuance of meaning than the hitherto customary understanding of it. It will be demonstrated that the observable semantic difference is due to a historical shift of signification as a result of an enlarging and systematizing of the thematic group of jāti-s. In this paper, I examine relevant text material, including two very important (...) manuscripts of the Nyāyabhṣya to show this semantic difference. The understanding gained by this analysis will help to trace the historical development of the complex of jāti-s within the larger context of the ancient Indian tradition of debate. (shrink)