Know the Etymology: 5
Place Name of the Day: Sunday, 13 November 2016

Olu-vil, Olli-maṭuval, Alli-ōṭai, Tāmarai-villu, Taṁbara-vila

ஒலு-வில், ஒல்லி-மடுவல், அல்லி-ஓடை, தாமரை-வில்லு, தாம்ப₃ர-வில
Olu-vil, Olli-maṭuval, Alli-ōṭai, Tāmarai-villu, Taṁbara-vila

Olu+vil
Olli+maṭu+al
Alli+ōṭai
Tāmarai+villu
Taṁbara+vila

The natural pond of water lilies

The deep pond of water lilies

The pond of water lilies

The natural pond of lotuses

The natural pond of red lotuses

Olu	also Olli: a small-sized species of water lily (Eezham Tamil); Olu: also Holu, Hoḷu, Hōlu: a kind of water lily, "Śāluka, Olu nam jalapuṣpa viśēṣaya" (Sinhala, Sorata); Ōlu: species of water lily, Nymphæa lotus, Limnanthemum indicum, (Sinhala, Clough); Oli: water lily having the synonyms, Alli, Āmpal, Neytal, Kumutam (Tamil, Piṅkalam Lexicon, 10: 363; 9: 375); Alli: water lily (Tamil, DED 256); Alar: (verb) to blossom (Tamil, DED 247); 1. Alli > Olli > Oli > Olu; 2. Oli: (verb) to shoot forth (Tamil, DED 997)
Olli	see box on Olu
Alli	water lily, Nymphæa lotus (Tamil, DED 256); water lily smaller than lotus, of which there are the white and pink kinds, Veḷ-alli and Cev-alli (Tamil, Piṅkalam, 9: 373; 9: 371); = Āmpal, Neytal, Kumutam: (Tamil, Piṅkalam, 9: 375); = Oli: (Tamil, Piṅkalam, 10: 363); Alar: (verb) to blossom; (noun) flower (Tamil, DED 247);
Maṭuval	Maṭu+al; Maṭu: pond, pool, deep place in a river or channel (Tamil, DED 4658); Al: a noun affix (Tamil, Ilakkaṇaccurukkam, Nāvalar)
Tāmarai	lotus, both the white and pink ones; Nelumbium speciosum (Tamil, Kuṟuntokai, 127: 1; DED 3163); cognates found in 9 Dravidian languages (DED 3163); Tāmarasa: red lotus (Sanskrit, cited cognates are only from Prakrit and Sinhala, CDIAL 5774); copper (Sanskrit, only lexicons, Tāmra for copper cited as root, CDIAL 5774); Taṁbara, Tamara: red lotus, "Rat-piyuma" (Sinhala, Sorata); Tamberi: lotus (Kuwi, DED 3163)
Taṁbara	see box on Tāmarai

Olu in Eezham Tamil and in Sinhala means a kind of water lily that is smaller in size than lotus. It is botanically identified as Nymphæa lotus or Limnanthemum indicum (Clough), for which Alli is the term in standard Tamil/ Dravidian (DED 256). But a term Oli is also noted as a synonym of Alli in old Tamil lexicons (Piṅkalam 10: 363; 9: 375). An in-between term Olli for Olu could be seen in Eezham Tamil place names, explaining the etymology: Alli > Olli > Oli > Olu (A/ O change). Alli is related to the Tamil/ Dravidian verb, Alar, meaning to blossom (DED 247). Another verb Oli in Tamil/ Dravidian also means to shoot forth (DED 997).

Alli/ Olu had the synonym Neytal in Caṅkam Tamil, meaning the flower as well as marking littoral landscape. The flower is of common sight in the pools of the littoral tract and adjacent paddy fields.

Eezham Tamil pond names/ place names related to Olu/ Olli could be noticed from Kayts in the north to Amparai in the south. Parallel usage of Alli could also be seen in the place names.

* * *

Alli and Oli meaning water lily:

"நெய்தலும்…ஒலியும்…குமுதம்" (பிங்கலம், 10: 363)

"Neytalum…oliyum…kumutam" (Piṅkalam, 10: 363)

Neytal and Oli means Kumutam [water lily]


"ஆம்பலும் நெய்தலும் அல்லியும் குமுதம்" (பிங்கலம், 9: 375: 4: 244)

"Āmpalum neytalum alliyum kumutam" (Piṅkalam, 9: 375; 4: 244)

Āmpal, Neytal and Alli mean Kumutam [Alli and Oli are thus equated through Neital and Kumutam in the two stanzas above]

* * *

Tāmarai, listed as Tamil/ Dravidian (DED 3163), means lotus of both the white and red kinds and cognates are found in 9 Dravidian languages.

Tamara/ Taṁbara in Sinhala, and Tāmarasa in Sanskrit, mean only the red lotus. CDIAL relates the etymology to Tāmra meaning copper (CDIAL 5774). Tāmarasa is not a very early usage in Sanskrit and cognates are noted only in Prakrit and Sinhala.

Tāmarai related pond names/ place names are widely seen in Eezham Tamil, while the use of Taṁbara/ Tamara in Sinhala is noticed in areas where place names are recently Sinhalicised. For the word form Taṁbara, the closest cognate is Tamberi meaning lotus in Kuwi/ Dravidian (DED 3163).

See other columns for the etymology of Vil/ Vila/ Villu meaning a natural pond; Ōṭai meaning a pond and for Maṭu meaning a deep pond or tank.

* * *

Olu-vil is a place in Addalaichcheanai division of Amparai district. There is another Olu-vil in Karampan in the Kayts island of Jaffna district (One Inch Sheet).

Olli-maṭuval is in Poratheevuppattu division of Batticaloa district.

Alli-ōṭai is in Eravur-pattu division of Batticaloa district.

Tāmarai-villu is a place in Kinniya division of Trincomalee district. There are other places with the same name near Kathiraveli in Trincomalee district and Kompanachchi in Trincomalee district (One Inch Sheets).

Taṁbara-vila is a place in Wennapuwa division of Puttalam district

* * *

Some related place names:

Olu:

Olu-maṭu: Oddusuddan, Mullaiththeevu; Vavuniya North, Vavuniya; Mankulam, Mullaiththeevu (HAM temple list)

Oluvaṉ-pilavu: Puthukkudiyiruppu, Mullaiththeevu

Olluṭai: Olli-ōṭai or Olu-ōṭai: Pattāvattai, Ilavalai, Valikamam North, Jaffna (a Vairavar temple is found here; info: Rajaratnam)

Vakai-kaṭṭiṉa- oluk-kuḷam: Venkalachcheddikulam, Vavuniya (One Inch Sheet)

Olu-vẹva: Dunupotagama, Nochchiyagama, Anuradhapura (One Inch Sheet)

* * *

Olli:

Olli-maṭu: Nanaddan, Mannar (One Inch Sheet)

Ollik-kuḷam: Manmunaippattu, Batticaloa

Olli-vaṭṭa-tāḻvu: Manthai West, Mannar

* * *

Alli:

Allip-paḻai: Pachchilaippalli, Kilinochchi

Allik-kaṇṭal: Mannar Town, Mannar

Alli-mūlai: Ninthavur, Amparai

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Tāmarai:

Tāmaraik-kuḷam: Manthai West, Mannar; Puthukkudiyiruppu, Mullaiththeevu; Karaithuraippattu, Mullaiththeevu; Pothuvil, Amparai; Delft Centre, Delft

Tāmaraik-kēṇi: Karaithuraippattu, Mullaiththeevu; Manmunai North, Batticaloa; Eravurppattu, Batticaloa;

Tāmarai-maṭu: Poratheevuppattu, Batticaloa

* * *

Tāmara:

Tāmara-kuḷam: Kalladi, Puttalam; Etalai, Kalpitti




Revised: Sunday, 13 November 2016, 15:24

First published: Sunday, 17 June 2007, 01:00