A study of the place-names in the
North and East of Sri Lanka
http://dh-web.org/place.names/
Presented by
Chandre Dharmawardana
Motivation
• 1975, Mahavaeli project. Why were most
village names in Tamil ?
• Why is most of “Malvathu oya” now called
“Aruvi aru” ?
• The subject has become a political
minefield, for the North & East.
• However, What did history, Archeology,
and Etymology say?
• We started a study at Vidyodaya in '75.
Initial study group at Vidyodaya
• Asked around in the campus to form a study
group.
• Prof. Hewage and Ven. Prof. Gnanavasa were
interested.
• Even though it languished, I remained intrigued
and interested. Toponyms can be studied one
by one, and in a way which does not greatly
disturb one’s own professional work.
Review of older studies
• Horseburgh(1916), Paul E Peries
• Casei chetty (1834), Gnanaprakasar, Velupillai,
Lewis, Rasanyagam (1926), Paranavitana,
Ferguson’s Directory etc.
• C. W. Nicholas (1963) JRAS issue
Godakumbure, K. Indrapala (1965 Ph D.
thesis)
• Kalansooriya, E. Medhananda (1990s)
• Tendency to quote each other and leave it there.
• Systematic approach needed
• No master list of place names and no
Methodology- Simply consult where possible!
• Anecdotal evidence – may be totally mythical, but it is part of
the empirical data”. Monks and village sources useful
• .Danger of folk-lore toponymics
• Etymology – availability of online dictionaries very useful.
a)The Madras Tamil Lexicon, b)The digital Cologne Sanskrit
Lexicon, c) Malalasekera Pali-Proper names and online
Pali Dicitionaries
d)Sinhala Etymology & Gammar: Gunasekera -1891, Geiger
e)Tamil Etymological dict.: Barrow and Emeneau (Cambridge
1965)
• Sinhala, Tamil, Malayalam, Sanskrit Names of Plants –
ethnobotany
http://dh-web.org/place.names/bots2sinhala.html
• Kadaimpoth, Archives etc
Problems with existing sinhala /and Tamil
etymological studies
• Strong tendency to claim that a Sinhala word came from
Tamil even when the root word is clearly Sanskrit – Pali.
This is true of Gunasekera (1891), Mudliar W. F.
Goonawardena, K. Indrapala etc.
• Borrows and Emmenau (Cambridge 1965) also ignore
Sanskrit root words (e.g., found in the Rig Veda) and
have attempted to give priority to Tamil words (Chankam
period)!!
• On-line information from the Wikipedia is completely
corrupted due to politically motivated entries planed by
“Taprobane” and other militants
• Tamil Nationalist Historians, TamilNet
Toponymics is ideal for web-based
collaboration
• highly inter-disciplinary
• We have set up a list of existing place
names in the North and East
• Added into each place name what we
could find in existing literature (Old maps,
writings of colonial authors, the Pali
chronicles etc., and anecdotal material)
• Links to maps, events, and first efforts to
elucidate root names.
• E-mail forums
Maps with old names
• Muttur → Modara
(muvadora,
mooduthora)
• Trincomalee →
Gokanna
• Kalkuda →
Galthudaava
• Arugambay →
• Arunagama etc
• Kalmunei
→Galmunna
Pali & Sinhala place-names
• Pali names in the Chronicles paralled sinhala
names, but sometimes modified to fit in with the
meter of Pali verse., or direct translations.
• C. W. Nicholas quotes:
• Donivagga for Denavaka
• Hirannamalaya or Suvannamalaya for
Ranmalakanda
• -thali -goda, -sobbha, -rukkha , etc for
sinhala endings -goda, -vaththa, -raka.. etc
• Jambukolalena for Dambululena
Tamilization
Meepaathota → Iℓuppaikadavai
•
•
•
•
•
It is the port of the Magha invasion. 13th CE.
Madhupatheetha of the Mahavamsa, and Meepathota in
sinhlala, tally with the Mee tree, Bassia Longifolia,
which is “Irruppai”, or Illuppai in Malayalam and inTamil.
The port existed before the Maghas who simply
translated the name Meepathota into Malayalam.
Shows the need for a compendium of Sinhala, Tamil,
Malayalam, Sanskrit etc. botanical names. We have
done this. You search for Illupai in
http://dh-web.org/place.names/bot2sinhlala.html
ethnobotany
Modern Tamilization via inappropriate
transliteration
•
Here the sinhala name
should be Omanda. But
the Tamil form is
transliterated into
Sinhala
(inappropriate)
•
In Colombo buses the
name Hettiyawatta is
written as such in
English and sinhala, but
Hettiyavattei in Tamil
(appropriate)
•
Ganemullai, Dehivalai,
Malaya and Malai (Example 1)
• Karthigesu Indrapala (2006, Evolution of an Ethnic
Identity, footnote 359) Claims that the stub “ -malé “ in
Kothmale, or the “territorial name Malaya, applied to the
central highlands of Sri Lanka from the time of the
earliest writings, is of non-Indo-Aryan origin”, because
there is a Chankam Tamil form “Malai ”.
• Why ignore older usages like “mleccha” in Sanskrit,
and “Milakkha” in Pali for “hillman” etc.? Sinhala
“Malayarata” and Tamil “Malai” , and Pali “Malaya”
could have come from the Sanskrit.
• This is an example of not probing deep enough.
“Chankam Tamil” is much younger than Sanskrit.
Pattana and Pattinam (Example 2)
• We quote Indrapala: “The suffix –pattana” in the names of two
ports in the Northern parts of the Island, Jambukola-pattana and
Gonagaamaka-pattana is also worth considering. The suffix occurs
in some ancient port names in south India, Kaavirappattanam,
Naagapattanam, Mayurarupa-pattanam, and “pattanam” is a word
found in the Sangam with the meaning “coastal town, coastal
region…ports in the southern part of Sri Lanka do not have this
suffix”.
• But then we have “-patuna”, “-pathana, -paana, -pana” etc. in
Sinhala place names in the south.
• It occurs in Sanskrit and Pali long before Sangam Tamil, for a
settlement irrespective of being on the coast or not.
• Dammapattana is the name given to Sraavasthi, Other examples
are: Devapattana, Naaripattana etc. Romakapattana is a Skrt name
for Rome.
• Another case of looking for a Tamil root ignoring the
older Sanskrit.
Yaala - Linguistically tricky example
• The place name was originally applied to a small
area (now inside the Yala Sanctuary)
• Sanskrit and also Pali “Sakala”, means cart, and
becomes “Hayala” and then Yahala” in old
sinhala.
(Syllable inversion process confirmed with P.
Meegaskumbura – Peradeniya)
• Eventually, “Yahala”, or “Yaala”, defines an area
which needs a cart load of seed paddy for
cultivation!
Etymology Systematic approach:
start-stubs & end-stubs
• Examine end stubs –aru, -ara, -chenai, -chollai,
-malé, -malai, -motte, -mulla, -pana, -pattanai,
-pattu, -kadai, -kadavai,-karai, -kerni,
-karavai, -kamam, -gamam, -kattu, -kottai,
-kandal, motté, -mullai, -(p)ur, -pore, -puram,
-thurai, -valai, -vaikkal, -veli, vil, etc
• Examine the stating stub, Aadi-, Anthan-,
Akkara-, Irana-, Irat- , Mundan-, Mulliya-,
Naaka-, Nedun-, Palai-,Periya-, Puli-, Puthu-,
Veli-, Vellan-, Veppan-, etc
Example: analyze the ending “-motté”
• Occurs in: Adaikkalmoddai, Pulmoddai,
Asthimoddai, Kanchuramoddai, Koraimoddai,
Marukkaraimoddai, Nochchimoddai,
Pattapamoddei, Palaimoddai, Thuvarimoddai,
Villatimoddai, etc.
• What is the orgin of “moddai” or “moté”?
• Sanskrit Manda ↔ Mada ↔ Made ↔ Motté ↔
Moddai is hence the most likely source.
• Note:Tamil words for “mud” are Alaru, ala,
alakkar, ceru etc.,
Many original Tamil names exist.
• Thondamanaru is in fact a place
name in the north named after a
Chola minister who came to export
salt from Vaelikaamam (Vaeligama
or Jaffna peninsula)
• Places named after Chola queens
etc., are found.
Naïve or folk etymology
•
•
•
•
•
•
Quite common, false & sometimes funny
Colombo naively from “Kola–amba”.
Kolon-ahamba
Negambo naively from “Nikan biruva”. Meegamuo
Vaddukkoddei naively from “vadugoda.” Batakotte
Arugambay naively from “six-village bay”. Arunangama
Kurankupanchan naively from “Monkey-jumping point”. In
Skrt, Kurunka could mean other beasts as well, and panchan is
derived from the Skrt “pakkana” or “pattan” for village. In
Coimbatore even today we have a village called “kurungkuttin”,
a “low-caste” village occupied by people who eat cows,
monkeys etc. Sinhala village name is “Van Eella” THIS WAS AN
LTTE BASE NOTED BY KADIRGAMAR.
Not-so-Naïve Tamil-Brahmi claims
• The interpretation of a place-name hinges on the
original languages prevalent in a given location.
• Swaminathaiyaar interpreted cave inscriptions in
Tamil nadu as Prakrit. This is the main-stream view.
• Subraaniya-Aiyar in the 1930s began to make claims
for a “Tamil Prakrit”, a minor variant of Prakrit ,
blown up by Tamil-Nadu Nationalism.
• Claims of “Tamil Brahmi”potsherds in SL. The
Dravidian scholar Iravatham Mahadeva began the
spin. Pushparatnam (Jaffna University), and P.
Ragupathy have expanded the spin.
• The Tissamaharama example is enough to
appreciate the flimsiness of these claims.
Tissa potshred
• Letters are said to be left to
right a Y---; Two quiggles, and
inverted Y like, a mulit-lined
crowfoot,
• and inverted A, & an S-like.
form
• Three symbols selected, (4
and 5 ignored), and read from
RIGHT TO LEFT as “ti - ra li”,
• Last two are read LEFT to
RIGHT, to claim the Tamil “mu
- ri”
• A whole story is built up from
these flimsy data which can
be interpreted in many ways.
Brahmi character sets
• Brahmi chacaters
• li-ra-ti-X?-Y?-mu-ri / is
claimed to be the
symbols and read
from left to right.
• One cannot arbitrarily
drop symbols, and
arbitrarily choose to
red from Lto R, or R to
L.
• X? looks like si, or to
etc
• Y? could be a variant
of oo, or soo
• ba, pa, ta, ra etc are
Conclusion
• It seems possible to make some headway in getting at
the “root” names, with the help of history, etymology,
inscriptions, old maps etc.
• Must NOT assume that ALL place names in the North
and East are either purely Indo-Sanskrit or purely
Dravidian. But most place names seem to be tamilzed
Sinhala words with Sanskrit-Pali roots.
• We have prepared maps with these derived root names.
• We do NOT attempt to replace Tamil place-names.
• Use the corresponding name in each language.
• USE HISTORY TO UNIFY PEOPLE, and not DIVIDE.