Know the Etymology: 31
Place Name of the Day: Wednesday, 03 May 2017

Aṇaik-kaṭṭu, Ānēkaṭṭiya, Anicut

அணைக்கட்டு, ஆனேகட்டிய, அனிகட்
Aṇaik-kaṭṭu, Ānēkaṭṭiya, Anicut

Aṇai+kaṭṭu
Ānēkaṭṭiya
Anicut

The dam or barrage

Aṇaikkaṭṭu	a phrase of two terms, Aṇai+kaṭṭu: dam of a reservoir, dam or barrage across a river, embankment built on the side of a river, sea etc., dam for regulating the flow of an irrigating channel, embankment, dyke (Tamil, MTL, DED 122+1147 and usages); Aṇai: (noun) embankment, dam, ridge for retaining water in a field, bank of river or sea (Tamil, DED 122, Naṟṟiṇai, 340: 8, cognates in 7 Dravidian languages); (verb) to come near, put close, hold (Tamil, DED 120, cognates in 14 Dravidian languages); Aṭai: (verb) to shut, close, obstruct, lock, fasten (Tamil, DED 83, cognates in 18 Dravidian languages); Aṇṭai: field bund, ridge of a field (Tamil, DED 122); Kaṭṭu: dam, causeway, building, structure (Tamil, DED 1147); (verb) to tie, fasten, shut up, build (Tamil, DED 1147). See column 30.
Ānēkaṭṭiya	Sinhala form of Aṇaikkaṭṭu (Sinhala place names). See Aṇaikkaṭṭu
Anicut	dam or barrage (a toponymic term often found marked in English in the survey maps of the island, OIS, MS); used in the irrigation of the Madras Presidency for the dam constructed across a river to fill and regulate the supply of the channels drawn off from it. The word, which has of late years, became familiar all over India (Anglo-Indian, from Tamil, Aṇai-kaṭṭu, dam-building: Hobson Jobson, 1886); river-dam in South India built for irrigation purposes (English, from Tamil, Aṇai-kaṭṭu, The Concise Oxford Dictionary)

Aṇaikkaṭṭu, meaning a dam or barrage in Tamil, is a phrase of two words, Aṇai and Kaṭṭu, the former meaning a dam and the latter meaning a structure in the context of the phrase.

Aṇai meaning a dam or embankment corresponds to the verb form of the word, meaning to put close, hold etc., or corresponds to the verb, Aṭai, meaning to shut (Ṭ/ Ṇ interchange). For the etymology of various meaning of Kaṭṭu, including the meanings dam and structure, see column 30. All the discussed terms are of Dravidian etymology (see box).

Aṇaikkaṭṭu has gone into Anglo-Indian vocabulary as Anicut, in which form many places are found marked in the survey maps of the island, and Ānēkaṭṭiya is the Sinhala form of Aṇaikkaṭṭu, seen in some Sinhala place names in the island.

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Aṇai as embankment:

"பைங்காற் செறுவின் அணை" (நற்றிணை, 340: 8)

"Paiṅkāṟ ceṟuviṉ aṇai" (Naṟṟiṇai, 340: 8)

The embankment of the paddy field of green crops


Aṇai as dam:

"பராக்கரம பாண்டிய கல்லணை" (1131 CE, SII, xiv, 223)

"Parākkarama pāṇṭiya kallaṇai" (1131 CE, SII, xiv, 223)

The stone-dam built by Parākkkarama Pāṇṭiyaṉ

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Aṇaikkaṭṭu comes as a village name in Koralaippattu West division of Batticaloa district.

Ānēkaṭṭiya is found as a place name in Medawachchiya division of Anuradhapura district.

Anicut could be found marked in a number of places in the survey maps of the island.

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Some related place names:

Karai-Aṇaikkaṭṭuk-kirāmam: Kandavalai, Kilinochchi

Tēkkam-aṇaikkaṭṭu: Madu, Mannar (OIS)


Revised: Wednesday, 03 May 2017, 16:30

First published: Saturday, 14 July 2007, 01:00