Know the Etymology: 73
Place Name of the Day: Saturday, 05 August 2017

Pottu-vil, Potu-vila, Potu-koḷa-deniya, Potuvā-gonna

பொத்துவில், பொ[த்]துவில, பொ[த்]துகொளதெனிய, பொ[த்]துவாகொன்ன
Pottu-vil, Potu-vila, Potu-koḷa-deniya, Potuvā-gonna

Pottu+vil
Potu+vila
Potu+koḷa+deniya
Potu+ā+gonna

The pond or marsh of the open glade; or the pond or marsh of Pottu/ Potu reed

The pond or marsh of the open glade; or the pond or marsh of Pottu/ Potu reed

The marshy valley of Pottu/ Potu reed

The open glade jungle; or the Potu-reed jungle

Potu1	open glade, grassland plain that may also be found overgrown with low shrubs; "Talāva, Piṭuva" (Sinhala Sorata); Talāva is explained as 1. open glade or meadow, tableland; 2. open country without jungle in the mountainous districts, sometimes called Patana (Sinhala, Clough); Patana: high-ground plain found with grass and low shrubs; "Taṇa ādi kuṭā pẹlệṭi vẹvunu tẹnitalāva" (Sinhala, Sorata); small hill covered with grass, and in some cases, over grown with low shrubs: this word is commonly applied to open country without jungle in the mountainous districts; but the more correct word for this is Talāva, open glade (Sinhala, Clough); Potāna: grassland, "Taṇabima" (Sinhala, Sorata cites Godrington's Glossary; Potu+āna; Potu+tāna); Etymology: Pottu/ Potu seems to be related to covering of a ground by grass, low shrub etc.; Pot: bush (Kota, DED 4509); Potai: bush (Tamil, DED 4509); Pottu: (verb) to cover; (noun) covering (Tamil, DED 4509); Putal, Putar: bush, low jungle, grass (Tamil, DED 4509); Putai: (verb) to cover, to be covered, concealed; (noun) concealment, thick part of a jungle (Tamil, DED 4509); Potumpu: shrubby jungle, grove (Tamil, DED 4509); Potumpar: thick grove, park (Tamil, DED 4509); Poti: (verb) to conceal, cover up; (noun) cover, bark or trees etc. (Tamil, DED 4509, Puṟanāṉūṟu, 253-254); Ponta: thicket overgrown with grass (Malayalam, DED 4509); Pode: bush (Kannada, DED 4509); Hotte: a bush (Kannada, Sholiga dialect, DED 4509); Podelû: bush, shrub (Tulu, DED 4509); Poda, Podaru: bush, thicket, shrub (Telugu, DED 4509); Potke: bush (Gondi, DED 4509); Patra: bushes, thicket (Kurux, DED 4509); cognates in 11 Dravidian languages; Potu: covering, bark or rind or trees, skin cover, scale cover of fish, dress etc.; "Siviya, Suṁbuḷa, Kora-potu" (Sinhala, Sorata) Potta: (singular of Potu) bark of a tree, husk of fruit, shell of testaceous animals (Sinhala, Clough)
Potu2	in some place names seems to be meaning the Potu reed; shortened from of Potu-koḷa/ Potu-pan; see box on Potu-koḷa
Potukoḷa	Potu+koḷa, also Potu-pan: species of rush, used in making coarse mats, Scleria oryzoides (Sinhala, Clough); "Pan jātiyak" (Sinhala, Sorata); Potu-taṇa: a kind of grass, "Tṛṇa viśēṣayak" (Sinhala, Sorata); the reed gets Potu prefix because of dense growth covering a ground or because it is found in Potu landscape (see box on Potu 1); Koḷa: leaf, "Patraya" (Sinhala, Sorata); paddy plant, "Goyamgasa" (Sinhala, Sorata); Koḷa, literally meaning leaf, is often added as suffix to plant names and in such instances it simply means those plants; Kuḻai: tender leaf, sprout, shoot; (verb) to cause to sprout or shoot forth (Tamil, DED 2149); cognates found in 17 Dravidian languages. On the meaning and etymology of Pan, see column 59
Pottu	equal to Potu 1 and Potu 2 (Eezham Tamil place names). See Potu 1 for etymology
Gonna	a kind of thicket, jungle or forest eco system (Sinhala, see column 278)
Deṇiya	marshy ground in a valley (Sinhala, see column 277)
Vil	also Vila: pond, lake, marsh, (Eezham Tamil, Sinhala, see column 10)

The toponymic components Potu in Sinhala and Pottu in Eezham Tamil mean an open glade or grassland that may be found with low shrubs.

Potāna and Pottāṉai, coming mostly as suffixes in Sinhala and Eezham Tamil place names, are variations of Potu/ Pottu, added with the locational suffix Tāna/ Tāṉai.

Patana in Sinhala and Pattaṉai in Eezham Tamil are also related toponymic terms. Talāva is related in meaning but comes from different etyma.

Pota and Potta coming in Sinhala place names, as in Raṁbuk-pota, Kirigal-potta etc., are possibly related to Potu/ Pottu in etymology, but their meanings are different in toponymic usage.

The related terms are discussed under separate columns.

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Potu/ Pottu meaning an open glade of grass and low shrubs seems to be related to the carpet covering or dense covering of ground, coming from such vegetation.

Cognates of Potu/ Pottu in 8 Dravidian languages mean grass, bush, shrub, thicket, low jungle etc. Pot in Kota/ Dravidian is the closest cognate. Potai, Putal, Putar and Putumpu are the cognates in Tamil. The verbs, Pottu, Putai and Poti, in the meaning to cover or conceal are found in Tamil. Sinhala also has a related noun Potu/ Potta, meaning outer covering (see box).

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Putal meaning a thicket of reed:

"புதல் மிசை நுடங்கும் வேழ வெண் பூ" (ஐங்குறுநூறு, 2: 17)

"Putal micai nuṭaṅkum vēḻa veṇ pū" (Aiṅkuṟunūṟu, 2: 17)

The white flower-cobs of the Vēḻam (Kaus) reed that wave above the reed-thicket


Putavam, Putavu meaning reed-grass growing by the side of water-bodies:

"பொய்கைக் கொழுங் காற் புதவம்" (பட்டினப்பாலை, 242-243)

"Poykaik koḻuṅ kāṟ putavam" (Paṭṭiṉappālai, 242-243)

The stout-stemmed Putavam reed of the pond


"புனல் பொரு புதவு" (மலைபடுகடாம், 449-450)

"Puṉal poru putavu" (Malaipaṭukaṭām, 449-450)

The Putavu reed facing water

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Potu-koḷa/ Potu-pan means the reed Scleria oryzoides, used in making mats. The name seems to have come from its dense, ground-covering growth, or from its glen habitat (see boxes on Potu and Potukoḷa)

Koḷa in Sinhala commonly means leaf. It also means the paddy plant of the grass family. The term is sometimes found added as suffix to plant names. In such instances it simply means those plants.

Koḷa corresponds to Kuḻai in Tamil/ Dravidian, meaning leaf, sprout, foliage etc. as noun, and meaning to cause to sprout or shoot forth as verb.

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Kuḻai as verb meaning plants to cause to shoot forth or to come with foliage:

"குன்றம் குழைப்ப" (நற்றிணை, 5: 1)

"Kuṉṟam kuḻaippa" (Naṟṟiṇai, 5: 1)

For the hill (vegetation) to shoot forth with foliage


Kuḻai as noun meaning foliage:

கொய் குழை அரும்பிய குமரி ஞாழல் (நற்றிணை, 54: 9)

Koy kuḻai arumpiya kumari ñāḻal (Naṟṟiṇai, 54: 9)

The young Ñāḻal tree with sprouted foliage suitable to pluck

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Pottu-vil is a place and headquarters of a division of its own name (Pothuvil) in Amparai district.

Potu-vila comes as a place name in Beruwala division of Kalutara district; Polpithigama division of Kurunegala district; Ganewatta division of Kurunegala district and in Madampe division of Puttalam district.

Potu-koḷa-deniya is in Galigamuwa division of Kegalle district.

Potuvā-gonna is found in Ganewatta division of Kurunegala district.

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Some related place names:

Pottu:

Pottuk-kuḷam: Maṅkalaveḷi, (Puttalam OIS)

Pottu-villuva: Puttalam, Puttalam

Pottu-kulama: Battaluoya MS

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Potu:

Potu-arāva: Kaduwela, Colombo. Arāva: newly cleared cultivation field

Potu-piṭiya: Kalutara, Kalutara; Narammala, Kurunegala; Kalawana, Ratnapura. Piṭiya: high ground plain

Maha-potu-vila: Pitabeddara, Matara. Maha meaning great or larger differentiates the place from other Potuvila places

Potu-vẹva: Maho, Kurunegala; Wariyapola, Kurunegala; Kuliyapitiya East, Kurunegala. Vẹva: tank

Potu-bōva: Mawathagama, Kurunegala. Bōva: = Bāva: part

Potu-hẹra: Kuliyapitiya East, Kurunegala; Polgahawela, Kurunegala. Hẹra: related to Hēru: side, "Pẹtta" (Sorata)

Potu-vaṭavana: Dankotuwa, Puttalam. Vaṭavana: jungle circuit or unused land, see column 475

Potu-bandana: Medagama, Moneragala. Bandana: probably related to Badda: a leased land

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Potu in non-prefix position:

Gal-potu-goḍa: Dompe, Gampaha. Gal-potu: Gal-talāva (Sorata)

Gal-potu-kanda: Katuwana, Hambantota. Kanda: hill; see Gal-potu-goḍa

Vẹl-potu-vẹva: Kobeigane, Kurunegala. Vẹl: creeper

Kana-potu-hẹra: Panduwasnuwara East, Kurunegala.

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Revised: Saturday, 05 August 2017, 18:30

First published: Saturday, 27 October 2007, 23:19