Sri Lankan place name etymology
Sri Lankan place name etymology is characterized by the linguistic and ethnic diversity of the island of
Morphological structure of place names
The
Sinhalese
Place names of Sinhala origin, have a typical X+Y structure, where Y is a geographical feature such as mountain, river or village and X is a qualifier, like an animal or plant often found at that place, or otherwise associated with it. Examples for this are
- singha+pitiya "lion place"
- weli+gama "sand village"
- monara+gala "peacock rock".
Commonly used trees in village names are pol (coconut) and Kitul (palm), among others.
The X part can be complex as in
- kiri bath goda = milk rice village
The X part can also refer to social concepts like caste. Examples for this are waduwa (carpenter), batta (lower caste settlement), ambataya (barber), aruwa (potter), goviya (farmer), bamuna (Brahmin) and Villiya (Rodiya).[1]
Besides the Y parts already mentioned, other commonly used land usage forms are Kumbura (paddy fields), Deniya, watte (garden), pola, gama (village), and Hena (cultivated lands). Grasslands were termed as talava and tree groves were termed golla. Village tanks were called pokuna or katuwa. Irrigation tanks were called wewa.
Tamil
Place names of Tamil origin, like Sinhala origin, also have a typical X+Y structure.[4] The place names are simple and descriptive; they reflect criteria normal to early societies and are related to the concepts and outlooks of people of those times. The majority of the place names can be listed under caste and occupational, landforms, land classifications, coastal features, irrigation works, fields and farms, trees, animals, names of deities, personal names, old, new, big, small, good, settlement and village.[4]
The X-part in Tamil place names is often one of the following: The commonly used trees are Vembu, Panai (palm) and Illupai. Commonly used animals and birds are Anai (elephant), Puli (tiger), and Kuranku (monkey). Other notable classifications are deities such as
As for the Y-part, the commonly used landforms Mulai or Mulla (corner), Malai or Male (mountain), Aru (creek), Kuda (bay) Manal (sandy place), Kuli (depression), Tivu (island), Pallam (depression) and Ur or uruwa (village).[5] Land classification are Tottam (garden), Kudal (bay), Puval, Kadu (forest), Munai or Mune (front), Karai (coast) and Turai or Ture (port). Irrigation and agriculture classifications are Kulam or Kulama (tank), reflecting the most common village name endings in Anuradhapura and Puttalam districts,[5] Kinaru (well), Kani (allotment), Vayal (paddy field), Vaikkal (canal) and Eri (tank).
Portuguese
The Portuguese, who came to the island in 1505 and left in 1658, often gave names of Saints to whom the churches in the vicinity were dedicated. San Sebastian Hill and St. Joseph's Road are examples of these and Milagiriya had the church of Our Lady of Miracles (milagre in Portuguese).[citation needed]
A name like "Grand Pass", a northern suburb of Colombo, is the English rendering of "Grande Passo", the name of a ferry established by the Portuguese, to cross the Kelani River.
The Portuguese language furthermore was an important step stone for the English terms used today, the British would often use Portuguese names and adapt them, rather than taking the original form. An example for this is
Dutch
The
Among the other place-names in Colombo which are of Dutch origin may be included Bloemendahl (Vale of Flowers) and Wolvendahl (Vale of Wolves). The latter was known as 'Guadelupe' by the Portuguese, which the Dutch took to mean 'Agua de lupe' which they translated accordingly. It is still known as 'aadelippu' in Sinhala and Tamil.
The Beira lake in Colombo probably takes its name from De Beer who is believed to have been an engineer in charge of the Dutch water defenses. A granite plaque inscribed with the words 'De Beer 1700' recovered from an old Dutch sluice which controlled the flow of water from the lake has altered the hitherto accepted view that the lake takes its name from the Portuguese beira meaning 'bank or edge (of a lake)'.
The '
is from 'lijnbaan', meaning 'rope walk' or 'ropery'.The Dutch also christened the islands of Jaffna in remembrance of Dutch towns, such as
English
The
Outside of Colombo, English influence can be found in the tea planting region with the towns of
Gaelic
Malay
Ja-Ela, Javanese Canal
Algonquian
Probably the only American Indian place name in Sri Lanka is Rappahannock, in Uda Pussellawa. It comes from the Rappahannock River in Virginia, itself originating from an Algonquian word, lappihanne (also recorded as toppehannock), meaning "river of quick, rising water" or "where the tide ebbs and flows," the name used by the local native population, the Rappahannock tribe.
Vedda
The common word Gala for stones found in Sinhalese is considered to be a borrowing from indigenous
Arabic
Place names in Arabic also exist throughout scattered pockets in Sri Lanka where substantial populations of Sri Lankan Moors reside. According to the location Arabic place names are often mixed with Sinhala or Tamil morphological naming conventions. For example, the town of Katthankudy in Eastern Sri Lanka is thought to be named after an Arab settler named "Al Qahtan".
Origins of some well-known place names
Big towns
- Colombo: Derived from Kolamba an indigenous Vedda word for harbor or fort, borrowed by Sinhalese. However, the Portuguese were probably struck by its similarity to the name of Columbus, and renamed the city 'Colombo'.
- 'Kandy' is an abbreviation of 'Kanda Udarata', or 'hill country' which was the seat of the later Sinhala kings.
- Galle: Galle was known as Gimhathitha in ancient times. The term is believed to be derived from the classical Sinhalese term meaning "port near the river Gin".
- Trincomalee: Also known as Thirukonemalee in Tamil, is derived from the honorific prefix used while addressing adult males in Tamil, being the equivalent of the English "Mr" and from the words "Kone" meaning King and Malee meaning mountain in Tamil.
- Batticaloa meaning of: Land of the singing fish.
- Jaffna is the English rendering of Yazhpanam (யாழ்ப்பாணம்) in Tamil meaning "town of the harper"
Touristic places
- Polonnaruwa
- Anuradhapura (city of Anuradha)
- Sigiriya: derived from the structure — singha giri, the lion rock.
- Buddhistculture, that arahat monk "Mihindu" appeared on top of a high rock which is today known as Mihintale, and preached Buddhist teachings to then king of Sri Lanka, Devanampiyathissa.
- Negombo
- Hikkaduwa
- Unawatuna
- Ambalangoda
- Bentota
- Tangalle
- Nilaweli
- Nuwara Eliya means "city of light" in Sinhala
Geolinguistic distribution
As already stated above, European place names are found mainly in the big towns which used to be colonial centers. In the countryside, there is close to no European toponymy and the indigenous languages are dominant.
Given the very similar processes of place name formation in Sinhala and Tamil explicated above, it is not always easy to establish the original language of a place name, because
Taking a
Sinhalese place names are found throughout the island. As discussed by Sri Lankan historians such as Paul E Peiris,
Dutch and British records show that the language of the inhabitants of Vanni in the 17th and 18th centuries were Tamil, some of them considered Tamils to be 'strangers' (foreign) to the island. [7]
According to M. Chelvadurai(a Tamil) only Tamil words were used for natural and human-made features in the Vanni region with no trace of Sinhalese words,[8] while Vanni itself is a Sinhala word.[9] According to Professor K. Kularatnam, when analyzing the regional distribution of place names in Sri Lanka, one not only comes across Tamil names in areas which are Sinhala-speaking, and vice versa, but also composite or hybrid place names which are part Sinhalese and part Tamil in composition, as well as Sinhalese and Tamil place names juxtaposed within small areas.[4]
Most hybrid place names are found in the traditionally Sinhalese North Western and North Central provinces, as well as the traditionally Tamil Northern and Eastern provinces.
Anthropological and political relevance of place names in Sri Lanka
Place names are a source of controversy in Sri Lankan politics. According to Nissan & Stirrat, the
Both sides in the present political context back up their respective claims through the selective use of histories and through the selective and competitive use of archeological evidence. Factions on each side have been willing to destroy, or reinterpret, evidence which would support the other party. Differing maps are produced which purport to show the distribution of Sinhala and Tamil in Lanka during past centuries.[12]
They further note that in the currently Tamil-dominant Northern Province there are place names with Sinhalese etymologies, which is used by the Sinhala dominant government to claim the territory, whereas Tamils using Tamil place names in rationally Sinhala areas point to their antiquity in the island.[13][14] There is a movement in Sri Lanka that seeks to use original Sinhala names throughout the country.[15]
Historical development of the place name controversies
In the 1920s, two historical descriptions of Jaffna were published, Ancient Jaffna by C. Rasanayagam, and A Critical History of Jaffna by Swamy Gnanaprakasar.
See also
Notes
- ^ a b Gnanaprakasar, A Critical History of Jaffna, p. 33
- ^ Gnanaprakasar, A Critical History of Jaffna, p. 34
- ^ Gnanaprakasar, A Critical History of Jaffna, p. 35
- ^ a b c Kularatnam, "Tamil Place Names in Ceylon outside the Northern and Eastern Provinces", p. 483
- ^ a b c Kularatnam, "Tamil Place Names in Ceylon outside the Northern and Eastern Provinces", p. 484–492
- ^ Fernaõ De Queyroz, The Temporal and Spiritual Conquest of Ceylon, translated by S.G. Perera, Government Printer of Ceylon, Colombo: 1930 Vol I at pp. 47-48. The translator, in his notes to De Queyroz's text, tentatively cites the Tamil phrases Yalppananin-paddanam and Talvana-paddanat-turai in connection with these names.
- ^ Robert Knox. "An Historical Relation Of the Island Ceylon". Retrieved 2011-11-03.
Besides the Dutch who possess, as I judge, about one fourth of the Island, there are Malabars, that are free Denizons and pay duty to the King for the Land they enjoy, as the Kings natural Subjects do; there are also Moors, who are like Strangers, and hold no Land, but live by carrying goods to the Sea-Ports, which now are in the Hollanders hands. The Sea-Ports are inhabited by a mixt people, Malabars and Moors, and some that are black, who profess themselves Roman Catholicks, and wear Crosses, and use Beads. Some of these are under the Hollander; and pay toll and tribute to them. But I am to speak only of the natural proper People of the Island, which they call Chingulays.
- ^ Chelvadurai, M. The Sri Lankan Tamils, p.88
- ^ "A comparative dictionary of Indo-Aryan languages. London: Oxford University Press".
- ^ a b c Kularatnam, "Tamil Place Names in Ceylon outside the Northern and Eastern Provinces", p. 493
- ^ Elizabeth Nissan and RL Stirrat "The generation of communal identities" in Spencer, Sri Lanka: History and the Roots of Conflict, p. 21
- ^ Spencer, Sri Lanka: History and the Roots of Conflict, p. 23
- ^ "Sri Lanka Summary". Jonathan Spencer. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
- ^ Perera, D. G. A. "Travesty of our place names". Retrieved 2008-03-06.
Sinhala language and its nomenclature was precise and meaningful. That was why even the English and Burgher lawyers are known to have preferred to have their land deeds drawn up in the Sinhala language.Therefore, giving attention to the preparation of an officially recognised list of all place names in the island, is of paramount importance. The Tamils can continue to pronounce the place names in their own way if they choose to do so, but the official spelling remains unchanged. Under British rule, the original Sinhala names of tea, rubber (and even coconut) estates were replaced by English ones, for the most part. But the Tamil estate workers who came from India coined their own names for each of these estates. The Ferguson's Directory listed all these estate names in English and Tamil, while most of the original Sinhala names were allowed to be forgotten.
- ^ Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (ceylon Branch), vol III, p174-224 (1961)
References
- Gnanaprakasar, Swamy (2003). A Critical History of Jaffna (Tamil edition from 1928). ISBN 81-206-1686-3.
- Kularatnam, K (1966-04-23). "Tamil Place Names in Ceylon outside the Northern and Eastern Provinces". Proceedings of the first International Conference Seminar of Tamil Studies, vol. 1. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: International Tamil Conference. pp. 483–493.
- Spencer, Jonathan (1990). Sri Lanka: History and the Roots of Conflict. ISBN 0-415-04461-8.
- Pfaffenberg, Brian (1994). The Sri Lankan Tamils. Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-8845-7.