Know the Etymology: 155
Place Name of the Day: Friday, 20 August 2010

Morawaka

மொரவக்க
Moravaka

Mora+waka

The side of Mora trees (Nephelium longanum)

Waka

From Wakkang: Part, portion, share (Sinhala); Vaakkam: A place name suffix meaning, side, surroundings, adjacent area, locality etc. (Tamil, especially coastal areas around Chennai); Paakkam: A neighbouring hamlet, fishermen’s colonies (Pre-Pallavan Tamil Index); A hamlet (Tamil, Changkam Diction, Mathuraikkaagnchi 137); A hamlet of the hill tract (Tamil, Changkam Diction, Ku’runthokai 339:2-3); A hamlet of the coastal tract (Tamil, Changkam Diction, Natti’nai 111:9); Village, seaside village, town (Dravidian Etymological Dictionary 4047); Vaku: (verb) To divide, separate, apportion; Vakuppu: (noun) Section, division (Tamil, Dravidian Etymological Dictionary 5202); Vakukka: (verb) To divide; Vaka: Division, property (Malayalam, Dravidian Etymological Dictionary 5202); Paku: (verb) Divide, separate, split; Pakal: (noun) Dividing, share; Pakir: (noun) Share, section, piece, portion; Pakuthi: (noun) Portion; Pangku: Part, share (Tamil, Dravidian Etymological Dictionary 3808); Paangkar: Side, neighbourhood (Tamil, DED 4053)

Mora

A tree producing sweet or sub-acid fruits, Nephelium longanum (Sinhala); Murali, Mura’li, Nurai: Name of the same tree in Eezham Tamil (See column on Nuraichchoalai)

As could be seen from the table above, the Sinhala place name suffix Waka is a cognate of the Tamil place name suffixes Vaakkam and Paakkam and the Malayalam term Vaka. All of them are Dravidian and are derivates of the verb roots Vaku and Paku (V and P interchange, Dravidian Etymological Dictionary 5202, 3808).

But, there are interesting points of observation.

The Sinahala place name suffix Waka mostly occurs in the southern and hilly parts of the island where as the Tamil suffix Vaakkam is found in the coastal areas of northern Tamil Nadu. Neither Vaakkam nor Paakkam is found in Eezham Tamil place names.

In contemporary Tamil Nadu Vaakkam and Paakkam are generally considered as suffixes of coastal place names. Only in the Changkam Tamil literary traditions Paakkam comes as a toponymic suffix of the hill country (Ku’runthokai 339: 2-3), in addition to the coastal tract. It also generally means a village in the Changkam literature. More interestingly, the closest parallel to the Sinhala term Waka, with identical shade of meaning, is found in the Malayalam term Vaka.

The suffix is one of the many examples for the presence of a Dravidian substratum in the Sinhala place names and its close relationship with old Tamil and Malayalam.

See column on Nuraichchoalai for discussions on the prefix of the place name Mora, which is a tree producing sweet or sub acid fruits (Nephelium longanum).

Morawaka, a part or side of land that was once having the Mora trees, became a rubber plantation and is now a tea estate in the Matara district of Southern Province.


Some related place names:

Sita-waka: (S’eeta-waka): The cool side or the chilly side. Another possibility is that the side or part was named after one of the following plants: Cordia myxa, a small tree; Aloe vulgaris, a sort of aloe; or Marsilea quadrifolia a plant also called Diya-æmbul æmbiliya. Sitawaka is near Avissawella in the Colombo district of Western Province. It was the capital of a kingdom in the 16th century.

Dena-waka: The side of cowherds (pasture land) or the part that was bestowed. This is a place near Pelmadulla in the Ratnapura district of Sabaragamuwa Province. There are two parts of the place; Uda-kada, the upper part and Pata-kada, the lower part (Kade: Side; Kannada, Dravidian Etymological Dictionary 1109; Pathi: Be low-lying as land; Pathivu: Depression, Tamil, DED 3911)


Some place names around Chennai:

Purasai-vaakkam: The side, part or locality of Purasu trees

Puzhuthi-vaakkam: The side or part of dusty earth.

Koddi-vaakkam: The side where Koddi yam grows

Ma’n’ni-vaakkam: The sandy side


Paakkam in Changkam literature:

1. Village in general: “Kad ko’ndik-kudip-paakkaththu…” (Mathuraikkaagnchi 137)
2. Village in a hilly place: “Chaaral ku’ravar paakkaththu izhitharum…” (Ku’runthokai 339: 2-3)
3. Village in a coastal place: “Perungkazhip-paakkam kallena..” (Natti’nai 111:9)

First published: Friday, 20 August 2010, 22:44