Know the Etymology: 171
Place Name of the Day: Friday, 03 December 2010

A’luth punchi ku’lama, Kugnchukku’lam

அளுத் புஞ்சி குளம, குஞ்சுக்குளம்
aḷut puñci kuḷama
kuñcukkuḷam

Aluth+pugnchi+ku’lama
Kugnchu+ku’lam

The new small tank
The small tank

Pugnchi	Small in size (Sinhala); Pugnchaa: Little one (Sinhala); Pugnchaavi: Young girl (Sinhala); Pugnchikama: Disgrace, literally smallness (Sinhala); Pugnchikara’nawa: (verb) To reduce in size, to disparage, to disgrace (Sinhala); Pun: Small: Punmai: Smallness, meanness, disgrace (Tamil, Dravidian Etymological Dictionary 4301, 4547); Poogn-chiddu: A tiny bird (Tamil, MTL); Poognchai: Thin, weak or fragile body (Tamil, Cre-A, Dictionary of Contemporary Tamil).
Kugnchu	Anything small as in Kugnchuk-kadakam for a small woven basket (Eezham Tamil); Young of any living being (Tamil, MTL, Dravidian Etymological Dictionary 1646); Kugnchi: Anything small as in Kugnchip-peddi for a small box (Tamil, MTL, DED 1646); (adjective) Junior in relationship, as in Kugnchi-appu and Kugnchi-aachchi for father’s younger brother and mother’s younger sister (Tamil, MTL); Kugngnu: Young, small, infant (Malayalam, DED 1646); From the root Kun, Kun’ri, Ku’ru: Smallness (DED 1646, 1851).
A’luth	(adjective) New, fresh, novel (Sinhala); Aduththa, Aduththu: What comes next in sequence; from the root Adu: To be next (Tamil, Dravidian Etymological Dictionary 79); Aa, Au: New, not formed or seen before (Dhivehi/ Maldivian).
Ku'lam	Pond, tank, lake, reservoir (Tamil / Malayalam, Dravidian Etymological Dictionary 1828); Ko'la, Ko'lahe, Ko'na: Equivalent to Ku'lam (Kannada); Ku'la: Equivalent to Ku'lam (Tulu); Kolanu, Kolaaku, Kolaakuvu: Equivalent to Ku'lam (Telugu). The cognates of this word are found in several other Dravidian languages too. Also note the following related words: Kuddam: Pond (Tamil, DED1669); Kuddai: Small pond (Tamil, DED 1669); Ku'ndam: Pond, waterhole (Tamil, DED 1669); Kooval: Well (Tamil, DED 1909); Kuzhi: Pit, pond, well (Tamil, DED1818); Ku'lama: Sinhalicised form of Ku'lam. See column onOddan Kaddu Ku'lam for other etymological discussions.

Pugnchi-ku’lama in Sinhala (normally written in Roman as Punchi-kulama) and Kugnchuk-ku’lam in Tamil are cognates and synonyms meaning a small tank.

As the prefixes Pugnchi and Kugnchu are often used in comparative sense the phrases could also mean ‘the smaller tank’.

Both the terms Pugnchi and Kugnchu are Dravidian in etymology, but their usages, meaning small or smaller in toponymic sense, are peculiar to Sinhala and Eezham Tamil.

The root Pun of the Sinhala word Pugnchi, means small, smallness etc in Dravidian (Dravidian Etymological Dictionary 4301, 4547). The root and another derivate of it, Punmai, are found used in this sense in the Changkam Tamil literature. There are also other examples such as Poogn-chiddu (a tiny bird of the Chiddu family), Poognchai (smallness, thinness) etc in Tamil usage.

Similarly, the root Kun of the Tamil/ Malayalam word Kugnchu, meaning anything small or any living thing small, is also of Dravidian etymology (DED 1646). Kugnchu, that is used for the small of the living things or used in the pet way of referring to small children in Tamil and Malayalam, is also used for small things in Eezham Tamil as in the example of Kugnchuk-kadakam (a small basket).

An early reference for the usage of the word Kugnchu in the island is the name of a 2nd century BCE ruler, Kugncha-Naaga, found mentioned in the Pali chronicles. The word Kugncha meaning in this context as younger, junior, smaller etc is attested by the fact that this ruler was also called as Kuda-naa in historiographical literature (Kuda is another Dravidian word meaning younger, junior smaller etc., DED 1670). The word Kugnchu and its shades of meaning found in Eezham Tamil kinship terms and place names have a long continuity (Indrapala K., 2005, p 375).

Both the roots, Pun and Kun should also be compared with Chin (Chinna for small, little, young etc., in Dravidian, DED 2594) and Heena (inferior, little, low etc in Sanskrit/ Prakrit). P, K, Ch, H etc are interchangeable phonemes in South Asian languages.

Ku’lam is a widely used Tamil/ Dravidian word for a tank, pond, reservoir, lake etc, (DED 1828). Ku’lama in Sinhala place names often mark recent Sinhalicization of Tamil place names. They are mostly found in the North Central and North Western provinces.

The word A’luth as an adjective in Sinhala means anything new, fresh or novel. It is comparable to the Tamil adjective Aduththa that means, what comes next in sequence. The Tamil adjective is from the Dravidian verb root Adu, meaning, ‘to be next’ (DED 79). ‘L and D are interchangeable in South Asian languages.

A’luth-punchi-ku’lama is in Thirappane division of Anuradhapura district.

Kunchuk-ku’lam is in Mannaar Town division of Mannaar district. There is another Kunchuk-ku’lam in Puthukkudiyiruppu division of Mullaiththeevu district.


Some related place names:


Pugnchi: (normally written in Roman as Punchi)

Punchi Mandawala: The small part of the place Manda-wala (the forest in the alluvial plain, or the forest in the area of sediments; Ma’ndi in Tamil and Manda in Sinhala means sediments, DED 4676; Vallai in Tamil and Wala in Sinhala means forest, DED 5289); Dompe div, Gampaha dt.

Punchi-deniya: The small part of the open field or cultivated land (De’niya: a level spot of cultivated ground, an irrigated field or an open field; Sinhala, from Dera’na in Sinhala and Dhara’nee in Sanskrit for earth, ground, soil of the earth etc.); Panadura div., Gampaha dt.

Punchi-seluwakanda: The small part of the village Seluwa-kanda (the bare hill; Se’luwa: nakedness, Sinhala; or the hill having a monastery, Selwaga: a monastery on a rock, Sinhala; or the hill of Cordia myxa trees, Selu: Cordia myxa, Sinhala)) Rattota div., Matale dt.

Punchiappu-jandura: The junior headman’s machinery; Lunigamvehera div., Hambantota dt.

Punchi-henayagama: The small slash-and-burn cultivation village; Ambalanthota div., Hambantota dt.

Punchi Vilattawa: The small sticky marsh or pond of dirt; Chilaapam div., Puththa’lam dt.

Punchi-mudagama: The small part of Mudagama (the barbers’ village); Kepithigollewa div., Anuradhapura dt.

Punchi-halmillewa: The small part of the village, Halmilla-wewa (the tank of Halmilla, Berrya ammonilla, timber trees); Kahatagasdigiliya div., Anuradhapura dt.

Punchi-wewa: The small tank; Sevanagala div., Moneragala dt.

* * *


Kugnchu:

Kunchup-paranthan: The small part of the village Paranthan (the expanse); Karaichchi div., Ki’linochchi dt.

Kunchuk-Koadaalikkallu: The small part of the Koadaalikkkallu (axe-rock) village; Oddusuddaan div., Mullaiththeevu dt.

Kunchuttuwa: Probably, the small spring; Kebithigollewa div., Anuradhapura dt.

* * *


Aluth:

A’luth-nuwara: The new town; Mawanella div., Kegalle dt.; Imbulpe div., Ratnapura dt.

A’luth-wewa: The new tank; Thanamalvila div., Moneragala dt.: Welikanda div., Polonnaruwa dt.; Medirigiriya div., Polonnaruwadt.; Naachchadoowa div., Anuradhapura dt.; Angunakolapelessa div., Hambantota dt.

A’luth-gama: The new village; Gampaha div., Gampaha dt.; Bandaragama div., Kalutara dt.; Beruwala div., Kalutara dt.; Pathadumbara div., Kandy dt.; Hatharaliyadda div., Kandy dt.; Pasbage korale div., Kandy dt.; Pallepola div., Matale dt.; Yatawatta div., Matale dt.

A’luth-kade: The new market place or shopping area; Colombo div., Colombo dt.

A’luth-mawaththa: The new road; Colombo div., Colombo dt.

A’luth-ambalama: The new public resting place; Hanwella div., Colombo dt.

A’luth Eluwanku’lama: A’luth Ilavang-ku’lam: The new part of the Ilavang-ku’lam (the tank of silk cotton trees) village; Va’n’naaththivillu div., Puththa’lam dt. This is a new Sinhala village created next to the old Tamil village Va’n’naaththivillu.

A’luth-watta: The new garden or grove; Chilaapam div., Puththa’lam dt.

A’luth-oya: The new stream; Dimbulagala div., Polonnaruwa dt.

A’luth-dambewatana: The new part of the village Dambe-watana (the locality of rose apple trees); Ipalogama div., Anuradhapura dt.

A’luth-divulwewa: The new part of the village Divul-wewa (the tank of wood apple trees); Galenbindunuwewa div., Anuradhapura dt.

A’luth-wela: The new paddy fields; Haputale div., Badulla dt.

Maha-a’luthgam-Aa’ra: The big part of the new village on the riverside; Lunugam Vehara div., Hambantota dt.

A’luth Arapothagama: The new part of the village on the riverside; Mahaoya div., Ampaa’rai dt.

A’luth Thanayamgoda: The new part of the village Thanayam-goda (the bank or mound having a travellers’ rest; Thaanaayama: travellers’ resting place, Sinhala); Naagoda div., Galled dt.

First published: Friday, 03 December 2010, 01:41