Know the Etymology: 181
Place Name of the Day: Thursday, 02 March 2017

Māṭṭoḻuṅkai, Ōṭai-oḻuṅkai

மாட்டொழுங்கை, ஓடை-ஒழுங்கை
Māṭṭoḻuṅkai, Ōṭai-oḻuṅkai

Māṭṭu+oḻuṅkai
Ōṭai+oḻuṅkai

The lane for the passage of cattle

The flood-outlet cum lane, or the gully-lane

Oḻuṅkai	lane, alley (Eezham Tamil, MTL cites Jaffna Dictionary); narrow way, pathway (Tamil inscription 1106 CE, GTI, SII, v, 1381); Oḻukkai: way (Tamil inscription, 979 CE, GTI, SII xix, 237); Oḻuku: (verb) to flow as water (Tamil, Caṅkam diction, Kuṟuntokai, 25: 4-5; DED 1010); Oḻukku: current, stream (Malayalam, DED 1010); line, order (Tamil, Caṅkam diction, Naṟṟiṇai, 159: 4); Oḻuṅku: (verb) to place in line; (noun) line, order (Tamil, DED 1011)
Māṭu	ox (Tamil, DED 4798); cattle (Tamil inscriptions, 1014 CE, SII, ii, 63; 94); cattle differentiated from goat (Tamil inscription, 1273 CE, SII, xii, 238); Mā: animal in general (Tamil, DED 4780); cow (Tamil, Caṅkam diction, Aiṅkuṟunūṟu, 28: 7)
Ōṭai	a watercourse or small pond (Tamil, DED 1041). See column 002.

Oḻuṅkai is a common word meaning a lane or alley in Eezham Tamil. The usage is especially noticed in the Jaffna Peninsula. Even though obsolete in Tamil Nadu today, the usage of the word in this shade of meaning could be seen in Tamil inscriptions.

Oḻuṅkai meaning a lane or alley corresponds to the Tamil/ Dravidian verbs Oḻuku meaning to flow as water and Oḻuṅku meaning to place in line (DED 1010, 1011). Oḻukku as a noun means a current or stream in Malayalam and a line or order in Tamil.

The Oḻuṅkai lanes in Jaffna usually function both as a way and as a flood outlet. In their origins, many of them are flood outlets turned into lanes.

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Usage examples in inscriptions and literature:

Oḻuṅkai:

"வடபாற் கெல்லை அம்மணரை வட ஒழுங்கைக்குத் தெற்கும்" (Tamil inscription, 1106 CE, SII, v, 1381)

"Vaṭapāṟ kellai ammaṇarai vaṭa oḻuṅkaikkut teṟkum" (Tamil inscription, 1106 CE, SII, v, 1381)

The north-side boundary is the south of the Ammaṇarai (a toponym) North Lane


Oḻukkai:

"மேல்பாற்க்கெல்லை தேர் போகு ஒழுங்கைக்குக் கிழக்கும்"(Tamil inscription, 979 CE, SII, xix, 237)

"Mēlpāṟkkellai tēr pōku oḻukkaikkuk kiḻakkum" (Tamil inscription, 979 CE, SII, xix, 237)

The west-side boundary is the east of the chariot-going way


Oḻuku (verb):

"ஒழுகு நீர் ஆரல் பார்க்கும் குருகும் உண்டு" (குறுந்தொகை, 25: 4-5)

"Oḻuku nīr āral pārkkum kurukum uṇṭu" (Kuṟuntokai, 25: 4-5)

There are also birds that look for the Āral fish in flowing water


Oḻuka (verb):

"மாரி தளி சிறந்து ஏர் தரு கடு நீர் தெருவு தொறு ஒழுக" (அகநானூறு 264: 7-8)

"Māri taḷi ciṟantu ērtaru kaṭu nīr teruvu toṟu oḻuka" (Akanāṉūṟu 264: 7-8)

The rising fast flood of heavy rains flowed in every street

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Māṭu is commonly used in Tamil to mean an ox or cow. Listed as Dravidian (DED 4798), the usage is not noticed in early literature, but found in medieval inscriptions and in later literature. The word-form seems to have derived from Mā in Tamil/ Dravidian meaning animal in general (DED 4780). In one of its usage meanings, Mā stood for cow in Caṅkam diction.

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Usage examples for Mā and Māṭu in literature and inscriptions:

Mā:

"குறவர் முன்றில் மா தீண்டு துறுகல் (ஐங்குறுநூறு, 28: 7)

"Kuṟavar muṉṟil mā tīṇṭu tuṟu kal" (Aiṇkuṟunūṟu, 28: 7)

The stone post, meant for cows to rub their body, placed in the front yard of the houses of the hill people


Māṭu:

"மாடு கொண்ட இடையர்" (Tamil inscription 1014 CE, SII, ii, 63)

"Māṭu koṇṭa iṭaiyar" (Tamil inscription 1014 CE, SII, ii, 63)

The herders who received the cows


ஆட்டாலும் மாட்டாலும் நிலத்தாலும் விடக்கடவதான திருநந்தாவிளக்குக்கு" (Tamil inscription, 1273 CE, SII, xii, 238)

"Āṭṭālum māṭṭālum nilattālum viṭakkaṭavatāṉa tirunantāviḷakkukku" (SII, xii, 238)

The perpetual sacred lamp (at the temple) that has to be maintained by the endowment of goats, cows and land

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Māṭṭoḻuṅkai is at present a street as well as a locality in Āṉaikkōṭṭai-Navāli in Valikamam Southwest division of Jaffna district. It is said that in the past it was used as a passage to take cattle through a tract of paddy fields.

Ōṭai-oḻuṅkai is a lane as well as a locality in Aiyaṉār Kōyilaṭi, Jaffna City division of Jaffna district.

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Revised: Thursday, 02 March 2017, 18:35

First published: Tuesday, 18 January 2011, 22:26