Know the Etymology: 89
Place Name of the Day: Saturday, 05 November 2016

Aṭṭāḷaic-cēṉai, Aṭāla, Aṭuvē-vatta

அட்டாளைச்சேனை, அ[ட்]டால, அ[ட்]டுவே-வத்த
Aṭṭāḷaic-cēṉai, Aṭāla, Aṭuvē-vatta

Aṭṭāḷai+cēṉai
Aṭāla
Aṭuva+vatta

The jungle cultivation field having a watcher's platform-shelter

The wooden watchtower or observatory

The garden or grove having a watcher's platform-shelter

Aṭṭāḷai	also Aṭṭālai: raised and covered platform for watching a garden, a field, a sheepfold, or a village (Tamil, MTL citing Jaffna Dictionary); apartment on flat roof, watchtower on a fort (Tamil, MTL); 1. Aṭṭaḷu: an upstairs room (Tulu, DED 93); Aṭṭoḷige: loft supported on posts, temporary gallery (Tulu, DED 93); Aṭṭam: terraced roof, upper story (Tamil, DED 93); roof used as store-room, scaffold on four poles (Malayalam, DED 93); Aṭṭā: raised platform, scaffold, loft in a house (Kurux, DED 93); Aṭṭa: loft, upper loft (Kodagu, Kannada, Tulu, DED 93); Aṭṭava: attic (Telugu, DED 93); Aṭu: attic room (Parji, DED 93); cognates are found in Kota, Toda, Gondi and Pengo also (DED 93); Aṭṭe (singular), Aṣi (plural, as in Koḷu-Aṣi, Ṭ/ Ṣ change): a raised and covered platform made of screw-pine logs standing on stilt-posts (Dhivehi/ Maldivian); related to the verbs, Aṭukku: (verb) to pile up one on top of another; (noun) pile, tier (Tamil, DED 80); Aṭe: (verb) to spread as bedding, create (Maltese, DED 102); Aṭṭnā: (verb) to construct, make (Kurux, DED 102); Aṭṭu, Aṭṭi: (verb) to put, place, put on; also used in the sense to construct something high, to heap up or to make a bank, dam etc., as in Karai-aṭṭuvōm (Tamil, DED 79, inscription, 884 CE, SII, vi, 375); 2. Aṭṭa: tower, watchtower (Sanskrit, CDIAL 180, Non-IA origin noted); watchtower, platform, hideout in a tree (Pali, CDIAL 180); watchtower, room on roof (Prakrit, CDIAL 180); Aṭṭāla: watchtower (Sanskrit, Pali, CDIAL 185); Aṭṭālaya: roof terrace (Prakrit, CDIAL 185); Aṭāḷa: platform in cornfield (Marathi, CDIAL 185); Aṭāḷī: terrace (Marathi, CDIAL 185)
Aṭāla	from Aṭṭāla: = Aṭalla: high tower or observatory built of wood for the purpose of surveying the surrounding country (Sinhala, Clough); watchtower (Mura-geya) on the high spot of a city wall (Sinhala, Sorata); Aṭalu: plural of Aṭalla (Sinhala, Clough); Aṭṭa, Aṭu, Aṭulu, Aṭṭāla, Aṭṭālaka: = Aṭalla (Sinhala, Sorata). See box on Aṭṭāḷai for etymology
Aṭuva	from Aṭu: 1. = Aṭalla, "Us koṭa sệdū mẹssa" (Sinhala, Sorata); 2. platform, loft, structure over fireplace (Sinhala, CDIAL 180); "Muḷutẹngeyi tumaṭa uḍin tẹnū mẹssa" (Sinhala, Sorata); 3. barn, granary, may be because it is placed on a platform; "Vī tẹbīma sańdahā sẹdū mahapeṭṭiya" (Sinhala, Clough, Sorata). See box on Aṭṭāḷai for etymology.
Cēṉai	slash-and-burn cultivation field, shifting cultivation field or jungle cultivation field (Eezham Tamil); Sēna, Hēna: ground prepared for cultivation by the cutting and burning of jungle, high jungle ground cultivated at intervals (Sinhala, Clough); Sehena: = Sēna, Hēna: cultivation field, paddy field, "Kṣetraya" (Sinhala, Sorata, note the S/ H change and the addition of H in Sehena); Cēnu: field (Telugu, DED 1958); Cēlu: plural of Cēnu (Telugu, DED 1958, note the N/ L change); Kēn: field for shifting cultivation (Parji, DED 1958); field (Kolami, Naikri, DED 1958, note the C/ K change); Ken: = Kēn: field (Kolami, DED 1958); Key: field (Kannada, DED 1958); Ceyi: rice-field (Malayalam, DED 1958); Cey: field, especially wet field (Tamil, DED 1958); probably related to Cey: (verb) to do, produce (Tamil, DED 1957); Key, Ken: (verb) to do (Gadba, DED 1957, Key as a verb meaning to do, work, make etc., is found in many Dravidian languages, DED 1957); also note Ēṉal: foxtail millet cultivation field (Tamil, Caṅkam diction, Kuṟuntokai, 72: 4-5); foxtail millet that is usually cultivated in jungle cultivation fields (Tamil, Caṅkam diction, Kuṟuntokai, 54: 2); Ēṉam: wild hog that frequents to jungle cultivation fields (Tamil, Caṅkam diction, DED 771); Cēṉai, Cēna, Kēne: a yam produced in jungle fields (Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Tulu, DED 2022)

In the context of place names, Aṭṭāḷai in Tamil and Aṭāla/ Aṭuva in Sinhala mean a watch-hut built on a high platform of wooden logs or planks that rest on wooden posts. The terms also mean a high watchtower or observatory built of wood or built on the branches of a tree.

Such structures usually serve the purpose of watching a cultivation field, garden, cattle pen, village or town etc. They are commonly found in jungle cultivation fields to protect the crop from birds in the daytime, from wild animals such as boars and elephants in the night, and to protect the watcher from the attack of wild animals. Watchers take turn or often live in these structures.

In non-toponymic context the terms mean an attic or loft in the house, scaffold on stilted legs, rack above fireplace, a platform structure in the house to keep the barn or store sacks of grain etc.

Paraṇ, Paṇavai, Kaḻutu, Mēṭai, Ciṟāmpi and Kōkkāli in Tamil, and Pẹḷa, Mẹssa and Sirāmbi in Sinhala are other terms for similar or related structures.

In Maldives, Aṭṭe (singular)/ Aṣi (plural) as in Koḷu-aṣi, mean a sheltered platform built of screw pine logs resting on wooden posts. This serves as a resting place or waiting place for boat travellers and visitors.

The cognates of Aṭṭāḷai could be found in many of both the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan languages of South Asia. On etymology, while A Comparative Dictionary of Indo-Aryan Languages notes non-IA origins (CDIAL 180), A Dravidian Etymological Dictionary comes out with a note of uncertainty (DED 93). If high, flat layer is the basic meaning, related verb cognates could be found in Dravidian (see box on Aṭṭāḷai).

See box above and other columns for the etymology of Cēṉai meaning a jungle cultivation field and Vatta meaning a garden or grove

* * *

Usage example of Aṭṭālai:

"நாஞ்சில் மருங்கு அணைய அட்டாலை இட்டு" (நம்பியாண்டார் நம்பி, 7: 28, 10th century CE)

"Nāñcil maruṅku aṇaiya aṭṭālai iṭṭu" (Nampiyāṇṭār Nampi, 7: 28, 10th century CE)

The watch platform built attached to the high side of the fort wall

* * *

Aṭṭāḷaic-cēṉai is in the division of its own name in Amparai district.

Aṭāla is a place in Galigamuwa division of Kegalle district.

Aṭuvē-vatta is in Doluwa division of Kandy district.

* * *

Some related place names:

Maḍāṭuva: Maḍa+aṭuva: The resting place built on a raised platform; Wariyapola, Kurunegala. Maḍama: resting place, usually a roadside resting place for pedestrians, head-load carriers, palanquin bearers and caravans; "Viśrāma-śālāva" (Sinhala, Sorata); Maṭam: (Tamil, from Māṭam, DED 4796)




Revised: Saturday, 05 November 2016, 22:13

First published: Sunday, 30 March 2008, 20:45