Know the Etymology: 106
Place Name of the Day: Monday, 28 August 2017

Karaicci, Kuṭṭik-karaicci

கரைச்சி, குட்டிக்கரைச்சி
Karaicci, Kuṭṭik-karaicci

Karaicci
Kuṭṭi+karaicci

The coastal bare-land subject to saltwater

The small-sized coastal bare-land, subject to saltwater

Karaicci

a coastal bare-land subject to saltwater; this may be a seasonal saltmarsh, coastal floodplain of brackish soil etc. (Eezham Tamil, usage especially found in the coastal parts of Kilinochchi, Mullaiththeevu, Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts; the first definition is noted in One-Inch Sheets); Etymology 1: from the brackish nature of the ground, Kār: (verb) to be very saltish or brackish (Tamil, DED 1466); Kari: (verb) to be saltish to taste (Tamil, DED 1466); Karlu: salt land (Kannada, DED 1466); Kāru: saltness, salt, brackish (Telugu, DED 1466); cognates in 13 Dravidian languages; Kara: salt, "Luṇu" (Sinhala, Sorata); Kara-bima: unfruitful ground (Sinhala, Clough); salty unfruitful ground, "Luṇugatiya ẹti nisarubima" (Sinhala, Sorata); Etymology 2: from the coastal location, Karai: shore, bank (Tamil, DED 1293); cognates in 10 Dravidian languages; Karā: seashore, "Muhuduverala" (Sinhala, Sorata, inscription, EZ, iii, 103); Kari/ Kara/ karai/+ icci; Icci, Iñci: an end-affix seen in some Eezham Tamil terms, as in Kirā/ Kirāy > Kirāñci (waste grassland, the form close to Tulu); Kakkā > Kākkācci (a cockle); also note Amuṇa (dam) > Amunicciya, a place name in Tirappanē

Kuṭṭi

smallness (Tamil, DED 1670); Kuṭu: small (Malayalam, DED 1670); Kuṭ: small (Toda, DED 1670); cognates in 11 Dravidian languages; Kuḍā: small (Sinhala, Clough);

Karaicci is an Eezham Tamil geographical term, meaning a coastal bare land subject to salt water. The ground is usually a seasonal salt marsh or flood plain of brackish soil, found by the side of a sea, lagoon, brackish backwater or an estuary. The vegetation of such a landscape is also sometimes called as Karaicci.

The usage of the term Karaicci is mostly found along the eastern coast of Kilinochchi, Mullaiththeevu, Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts, where the landscape abounds with lagoons and backwaters.

The old survey maps use Karaicci as a technical term to mark the said geographical and ecological feature, and there are a number of places simply marked as Karaicci.

The etymology of Karaicci seems to be either related to saltiness of ground, corresponding to the verbs Kār/ Kari in Tamil, or related to the coastal location, corresponding to the term Karai in Tamil. The words are listed as Dravidian and cognates are found in Sinhala too (see box above). The Icci ending is perhaps an affix, as in other examples like Kirāy > Kirāñci (see column 99).

* * *

Karaicci comes as the name of a division in Kilinochchi district and this is the best known of all the Karaiccis in the island. This Karaicci was once marking the entire stretch of the brackish soil flood plain south of Elephant Pass Lagoon. The identity included Parantaṉ and Kiḷinocci. Earlier, the division headquartered in Kiḷinocci was part of Jaffna district. Later, when Kiḷinocci became a separate district, a new division, Kaṇṭāvaḷai was created in the original Karaicci land, while the Karaicci identity went with Kiḷinocci, which is not actually a Karaicci land.

Some of the other Karaicci lands could be found marked in the One-Inch Sheets by the side of Kokkuḷāi Lagoon near Cuvanta-muṟippu in Mullaiththeevu district (Kokkilai OIS); near Pulmōṭṭai in Trincomalee district (Kokkilai OIS); north of Kaṟukkāy-muṉai in Trincomalee district (Kathiraveli OIS); at Āṉaittīvu in Trincomalee district (Kathiraveli OIS); north and west of the Paṉiccaṅkēṇi Lagoon in Trincomalee district (Kathiraveli OIS); south of Uppu-alaṉ in Batticaloa district (Vakaneri OIS); near Māṅkēṇi in Batticaloa district (Vakaneri OIS) and near Periyavaṭṭavāṉ in Batticaloa district (Kalkudah OIS).

Kuṭṭik-karaicci is in Kinniya division of Trincomalee district.

* * *

Some related place names:

Karaiccik-kuṭiyiruppu: Karathuraippattu, Mullaiththeevu

Ciṉṉak-karaicci: Kuccaveḷi (Padawiya OIS)

Kārai-muṉaik-karaicci: Māṇkēṇi (Vakaneri OIS)

Mayilaṅ-karaicci: Thiāvaṭṭavān (Kalkudah OIS)

Puṭṭak-karaicci: Mīrāvōṭai (Kalkudah OIS)

Karaiccik-kuḷam: Kaḷutāvaḷai (Batticaloa OIS)

Nāvaṟ-karaicci: a locality in Neruñciyaṭaippu, Karainagar, Jaffna (K. Almanac, 2016-17, p. 94). Nāval+karaicci; Nāval: a tree

Kōḻi-muṭṭai-karaichchi: Kinniya, Trincomalee

Mā-karaicci-āṟu: name of a stream that flows through a Karaicci land and enters into Paṉiccaṅkēṇi Lagoon, Koralaippattu, Batticaloa

* * *



* * *


Revised: Monday, 28 August 2017, 18:30

First published: Saturday, 16 August 2008, 20:52