Know the Etymology: 47
Place Name of the Day: Tuesday, 30 May 2017

Pālaiyaṭit-tōṇā, Palu-gas-vẹva

பாலையடித்தோணா, பலுக₃ஸ்வெ[æ]வ
Pālaiyaṭit-tōṇā, Palu-gas-vẹva

Pālai+aṭi+tōṇā
Palu+gas+vẹva

The backwater-surrounded ground in the locality of a Pālai tree

The tank in the locality of Palu trees

Tōṇā	a ground surrounded by sea inlet (Eezham Tamil, Batticaloa dialect); Tōṇā-mukam: a settlement or residential place surrounded by sea inlet (Tamil, Piṅkalam Lexicon, 4: 144; Cūṭāmaṇi Lexicon, 5: 38); 1. Tuṇi: (verb) to cut off, to be severed, be removed; (noun) piece (Tamil, DED 3305); Tuṇiyal: a piece, detached piece (Tamil, Puṟanāṉūṟu, 61: 4, DED 3305); Tuṇṭi: (verb) be cut off, detached (Tamil, DED 3310); (noun) a detached piece of highland (Tamil, DED 3310); see column 76; 2. Tōṇi: canoe used in shallow waters, boat, ship (Tamil, Caṅkam diction, Puṟanāṉūṟu, 343: 5-6; 299: 3; Akanāṉūṟu, 50: 1); Tōṇṭu: (verb) to dig, hollow, excavate, scoop out (Tamil, DED 3549); Drōṇa: wooden trough (Sanskrit, Rig Vedic, CDIAL 6641); Dōṇikā: wooden trough, roughly shaped canoe (Pali, CDIAL 6641); Dōṇī: big pond (Prakrit, CDIAL 6644); in Dōṇi meaning a boat, non-IA etymology is noted (CDIAL 6641)
Pālai	a timber tree of sweet milky fruits found mostly in the dry zone jungles of the island, Mimusops hexandra/ Mimusops indica/ Manilkara hexandra of the Sapotaceæ family (Eezham Tamil); silvery-leaved ape-flower, Mimusops kauki and seven-leaved milk plant, Alstonia scholaris (Tamil, DED 4100); Pālai also means many trees including Ulakkaip-pālai: the same as Pālai in Eezham Tamil, Mimusops hexandra (Tamil, MTL); Pāla: the same as Pālai in Eezham Tamil and Ulakkaip-pālai in Tamil Nadu, Mimusops hexandra (Telugu, DED 4100); many trees, including Mimusops kauki (Malayalam, DED 4100); Pāle: Mimusops kauki, Alstonia scholaris (Kannada, DED 4100); Hāle: Mimusops kauki (Kannada, DED 4100); Paḷu: the same as Pālai in Eezham Tamil, Mimusops hexandra, Mimusops indica (Sinhala, Clough); Pāl: milk, milky juice of plants, fruits etc. (Tamil, DED 4096); milk, vegetable milk (Malayalam, DED 4096); milk, white juice of some plants, juice of sugar cane or coconut (Kannada, DED 4096); milk (several other Dravidian languages, DED 4096); Pal: milk (Kolami, DED 4096); Pali: milk (Kodagu, DED 4096); Pālu: milk (Telugu, Kuwi, DED 4096); Pāḻẖ: milk, milky juice or sap of plants (Brahui of Pakistan, DED 4096); Kṣīrini: Mimusops kauki (Sanskrit, 3703); Kṣīra: milk (Sanskrit, CDIAL 3696); note the milk connections in the nomenclature of the tree, both in Indo-Aryan and in Dravidian
Paḷu	also Palu: a timber tree of sweet milky fruits found mostly in the dry zone forests of the island, Mimusops hexandra or Mimusops indica of the Sapotaceæ family (Sinhala, Clough; both the spellings Paḷu and Palu are noticed in place names); Pālai: Mimusops hexandra/ Mimusops indica/ Manilkara hexandra of the Sapotaceæ family (Eezham Tamil); Mimusops kauki and many other trees (Tamil, DED 4100); Pālai also means Ulakkaip-pālai: Mimusops hexandra (Tamil, MTL); Pāla: Mimusops hexandra (Telugu, DED 4100); Mimusops kauki and many other trees (Malayalam DED 4100); Pāle, Hāle: Mimusops kauki (Kannada, DED 4100); see box on Pālai in Tamil for etymology
Aṭi	locative affix related to the meanings, foot, base etc. (Tamil, DED 72)
Gas	(plural), Gasa: (singular), also Gaha: tree in general (Sinhala, Clough); Gakṣa: tree (Sanskrit, CDIAL 3949)
Vẹva	lake, pond, large tank, reservoir, (Sinhala, Clough). See column 34

The toponymic term Tōṇā is peculiar to Batticaloa dialect of Eezham Tamil. According to local understanding, it means a ground surrounded by lagoon, sea-inlet etc. The geographical context of Tōṇā-related place names confirms the meaning.

The word in this meaning is not seen in the other dialects of Eezham Tamil or in Sinhala. But an explanation tallying with the Batticaloa usage comes from the old Tamil lexicons, Piṅkalam and Cūṭāmaṇi.

Tōṇā-mukam, according to the lexicons, means a settlement surrounded by backwaters (Cūḻ-kaḻi-irukkai). Cūṭāmaṇi is more specific in saying that it is a detached ground (Toṭṭa-tōṇā-mukam).

The etymology seems to be related to the Tamil/ Dravidian verb, Tuṇi, meaning to cut off, to be severed etc., and to its noun-form Tuṇi, meaning a piece (DED 3305). Tuṇṭi in Tamil and Tuṭuva in Sinhala, meaning a promontory or detached piece of land are of related etymology (DED 3310, see column 76).

In another possibility, Tōṇa may have come from comparison of landscape with Tōṇi (boat). See box on Tōṇa on the etymology of Tōṇi.

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Tōṇā-mukam meaning a settlement surrounded by backwaters or sea inlet:

"தோணா முகமே சூழ் கழி இருக்கை" (பிங்கலம், 4: 144)

"Tōṇā mukamē cūḻ kaḻi irukkai" (Piṅkalam, 4: 144)

Tōṇā-mukam means a settlement surrounded by sea inlet. [Cūḻ: surrounding; Kaḻi: backwater, shallow sea waters, salt-river, marsh; Irukkai: seat, residence]


"தொட்ட தோணா முகம் தான் சூழ் கழி இருக்கை என்ப" (சூடாமணி, 5: 38)

"Toṭṭa tōṇā mukam tāṉ cūḻ kaḻi irukkai eṉpa" (Cūṭāmaṇi, 5: 38)

It should be said that the detached Tōṇā-mukam is a settlement surrounded by sea inlet. [Toṭṭa: severed, detached; Kalittokai, 32: 1]

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In meaning a tree in place names, Pālai in Eezham Tamil and Palu/ Paḷu in Sinhala, stand for a timber tree botanically identified by the synonyms, Mimusops hexandra, Mimusops indica and Manilkara hexandra.

The tree, commonly found in the dry-zone forests of the island, is known for its sweet milky fruit that turns bright yellow when ripe.

Pālai in Tamil Nadu usage means a variety of trees, including Mimusops hexandra (MTL), which is often differentiated by a prefix and called Ulakkaip-pālai, as the wood is preferred for making pestle (Ulakkai) used in rice mortar.

Pālai in Tamil Nadu generally means Mimusops kauki, a closely related species of Mimusops hexandra, and another species Alstonia scholaris that is called Ēḻilaip-pālai (seven-leaved Pālai, DED 4100). The other Pālai species seen in Tamil are, Veṭ-pālai (Veṇ+pālai, white-stemmed Pālai, Wrightia tinctoria, MTL), Karum-pālai (the dark-stemmed Pālai, Mimusops roxburghiana, MTL), Irum-pālai (Wrightia tinctoria, MTL App.), Kuṭacap-pālai (MTL), Koṭip-pālai (MTL) and Kaṟip-pālai (wild olive, MTL).

In the ancient Tamil literary tradition of five-fold classification of landscape (Tolkāppiyam, 948; Cilappatikāram, 11: 64-66), the names of the tracts of land come from signature plants seen in them. Thus, the arid tract of land was called Pālai, coming from a species of Pālai. [The Pālai tree described in the Caṅkam classic Naṟṟiṇai 107: 3, seems to be Veṭ-pālai, but Mimusops hexandra and Mimusops kauki are also arid tract trees].

Pāla in Telugu means Mimusops hexandra, the same as Pālai in Eezham Tamil and Palu/ Paḷu in Sinhala. Pāla in Malayalam and Pāle/ Hāle in Kannada mean the closely related species, Mimusops kauki. The terms in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam are listed as Dravidian (DED 4100). Palu/ Paḷu in Sinhala shares the same etymology.

The Pālai species of trees get the name from their milky fruit or sap, as Pāl in Tamil and cognates in Dravidian mean milk or milky juice of plants, fruits etc. (DED 4096). Such a nomenclature for the species could be seen in Indo-Aryan too, as Mimusops kauki is called Kṣīrini in Sanskrit, coming from Kṣīra meaning milk (CDIAL 3703, 3696).

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Pālai meaning a tree, tract of land and music of that land:

"பாலை ஓர் மரம் நிலம் அந் நிலத்தினிற் பாடலும் பேர்" (சூடாமணி, 11: 213)

"Pālai ōr maram nilam an nilattiṉiṟ pāṭalum pēr" (Cūṭāmaṇi, 11: 213)

Pālai is the name of a tree, a tract of land and the music of that tract of land [see text on five-fold classification of landscape in classical Tamil literary tradition]

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Pālaiyaṭit-tōṇā is a place in Koralaippattu division of Batticaloa district.

Palu-gas-vẹva is the name of a place, which is also a divisional headquarters in Anuradhapura district. The toponym comes in other places too, in Maho division of Kurunegala district; Panduwasnuwara West division, Kurunegala district; Mahawilachchiya division, Anuradhapura district; Thalawa division of Anuradhapura district and in Ipalogama division of Anuradhapura district.

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Some related place names:

Tōṇā:

Kīrit-tōṇā: Tāḻaṅkuṭā, Batticaloa (Batticaloa OIS). Kīri: 1. A coastal shrub, Pemphis acidula (Tamil, MTL); 2. Acacia catechu (Sinhala, Clough). See column 19

Tōṇā: north of Kirāṉ-kuḷam, Batticaloa OIS

Vakan-tōṇā: Paṇṭit-tīvu, Kathiraveli OIS

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Pālai:

Pālai-tīvu: Poonakari, Kilinochchi

Pālaik-kuḻi: Manthai West, Mannar. Kuḷi: pond

Pālaiyaṭip-putukkuḷam: Pālai+aṭi+putu+kuḷam: Manthai West, Mannar

Pālaiyūṟṟu: Pālai+ūṟṟu: Trincomalee Town and Gravets, Trincomalee. Ūṟṟu: spring

Iraṇaip-pālai: Putukkudiyiruppu, Mullaiththeevu. Iraṇai: twin, couple, pair, (Tamil, DED 474)

Iru-pālai: Valikamam East, Jaffna. 1. Iru: (adjective) two (Tamil, DED 474); 2. Irum-pālai: Veṭ-pālai: Wrightia tinctoria (Tamil, MTL Supplement)

Pālaik-kāṭu: near Vavuṇatīvu, Batticaloa OIS

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Palu/ Paḷu:

Paḷu-gaha-vela: Divulapitiya, Gampaha

Palu-golla: Minipe, Kandy; Galgamuwa, Kurunegala. Golla: grove, forest

Palu-piṭiya: Wilgamuwa, Matale

Palu-gaha-goḍẹlla: Ambalantota, Hambantota

Paḷu-kandệva: Galgamuwa, Kurunegala

Paḷu-golla: Kotavehera, Kurunegala. See Palu-golla

Palu-gamuva: Udubaddawa, Kurunegala

Palu-gassē-gama: Karuwalagaswewa, Puttalam

Palu-gollā-gama: Galenbindunuwewa, Anuradhapura

Palu-vaddana: Hingurakgoda, Polonnaruwa. Vaddana: = "Vardhanaya" (Sinhala, Sorata); growing, thriving

Paḷu-gas-damana: Thamankaduwa, Polonnaruwa. Damana: grassland often fired and cleared for cultivation

Palu-gaha-vela: Weligepola, Ratnapura

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Notes:

Pālai, Palu/ Paḷu:

Mimusops hexandra, Mimusops indica or Manilkara hexandra is endemic to the Dry Zone of the island. The majestic, lush green, timber-tree of red wood, could withstand prolonged draught. Even in arid tracts the tree could be found with stunted growth. 

The tree, flowering between January and March, fruits in abundance in the months of May, June and July. The small, yellow, elongated fruit, less than an inch in length, is milky, sticky and very sweet. Sloth bears often climb the tree to get the fruits. The fruits are eaten raw, preserved in honey or are preserved in dried form, as Pālaip-paḻa-vaṟṟal.

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Revised: Tuesday, 30 May 2017, 18:30
Revised: Saturday, 12 December 2015, 22:27

First published: Friday, 03 August 2007, 01:00