Know the Etymology: 193
Place Name of the Day: Saturday, 11 November 2017

Doḍam-pē, Mādam-pē, Hal-pē, Ẹhẹla-pē

தொ₃ட₃ம்பே, மாத₃ம்பே, ஹல்-பே, எᴭஹெᴭலபே
Doḍam-pē, Mādam-pē, Hal-pē, Ẹhẹla-pē

Doḍam+pē
Mā+daṁba+pē
Hal+pē
Ẹhẹla+pē

The orange grove

The Mādam-tree jungle or grove

The Hal-tree forest or grove

The Ẹhẹla-tree jungle or grove

Pē1	tree, grove (Sinhala, Clough); Clough cites the examples, Halpē, Dompē and Mādampē for Pē meaning grove; Pā: tree in general, suffix to tree names, forest, jungle (Sinhala, Clough, Sorata); Etymology 1. Pai: (verb) to become green; (noun) greenness (Tamil, DED 3821); Paca, Pacu: (verb) to be green (Tamil, DED 3821); Fehi: green, greenish (Dhivehi/ Maldivian, DBF); Etymology 2. Pādapa: tree, plant (Sanskrit, CDIAL 8061); tree (Pali, CDIAL 8061); Pāda+pa: literally meaning drinking at foot, i.e., tree, plant (Sanskrit, Monier Williams). See column
Pē2	devil, demon, spirit, goblin, manes of departed persons (Sinhala, Clough); Pēy: devil, goblin, fiend, frenzy (Tamil, DED 4438); Pē, Pēyi: demon (Malayalam, DED 4438); Pēna: ghost, spirit (Malayalam, DED 4438); cognates in 11 Dravidian languages. See column 170
Doḍam	also Doḍaň: orange found in the island that bears a green variety of fruit, Citrus aurantium (Sinhala, Clough); Doḍli: wild orange, a large shrub or small tree of the citrus family, Atalantia monophylla (Kannada, DED 3493); Doḍḍale, Doḍle: wild orange (Tulu, DED 3493); Tōṭai: orange found in the island that bears a green variety of fruit, Citrus aurantium (common usage in Eezham Tamil): different kinds of citrus as lemons, citrons, oranges (Tamil, MTL, Winslow, Jaffna usage cited); Kaiccal-tōṭai, Tēṉ-tōṭai, Puḷit-tōṭai: respectively, bitter, sweet and sour varieties of Tōṭai (Tamil, Jaffna usage, Winslow); Tōṭaṅ-kāy, Tōṭam-paḻam: fruit of the Tōṭai trees (Tamil, Jaffna usage, Winslow); etymology probably related to the peels, composite attribute, rind and round shape of the fruit; Tōṭu: collection, assemblage, cluster, bunch, leaf, petal, shell or rind of a fruit, round moulding (Tamil, DED 3480, MTL, Piṅkalam, 7: 477; Kuṟuntokai, 34: 4-5; 228: 1-2; Naṟṟiṇai, 321: 2; Mullaippāṭṭu, 96); Toṭai: series, unbroken succession, joints of the body, cluster, bunch, compactness, bunch of fruits, garland, bundle, beehive (Tamil, DED 3480, MTL, Kuṟuntokai, 62: 3: 401: 2: Naṟṟiṇai, 59: 3-4; Peruṅkatai, 48: 147; Cīvakacintāmaṇi, 1: 2); Toṭu: (verb) to join, bind, fasten, tie, surround; be connected, united with or joined to (Tamil, DED 3480); Tōṭu: shell of various fruits, pomegranate rind (Malayalam, DED 3544); Tōṭē: bark, rind, peel, pod (Kannada, DED 3544); Toṭṭe: peel (Gondi, DED 3544); note the other Doḍam-related terms in Sinhala, either related to citrus family or to cluster of flowers or fruits; Doḍan-panā: a plant bearing clusters of very small pink fruits of the citrus family, Glucosmis pentaphylla (Sinhala, Clough); Doḍan-vẹnna: a small tree bearing bunches of violet flowers and cluster of fruits, Memecylon grandis, Memecylon edule (Sinhala, Clough); Doḍan-kaha: Memecylon fuscescens peculiar to the island, Memecylon capitallatum (Sinhala, Clough)
Mādam	also Maha-daň: the Jambu tree, Eugenia jambolana (Sinhala, Clough); Maha-daṁba, Mādam-gasa: Eugenia jambolana, "Jambu-vṛkṣaya" (Sinhala, Sorata); Mā, Maha, Mahā: great, large, big; means the big variety in this context (see column 203); Daṁba: Eugenia jambolana, "Jambu-gasa" (Sinhala, Sorata, Clough); J/ D interchange; Jambu: the rose apple tree, Eugenia jambolana (Sanskrit, Pali, CDIAL 5131); from the dark-red colour of the fruit; Tamba: red (Pali, CDIAL 5779); Tāmra: dark red, copper-coloured (Sanskrit, CDIAL 5779); Taṁba: copper, a kind of copper colour, red colour (Sinhala, Clough); Cempu: copper (Tamil, DED 2775); Cem: red (Tamil, DED 1931); Cemappu: redness (Tiyya, Malayalam, DED 1931); Cē: (verb) to redden (Tamil, DED 1931); Kempu: redness (Kannada, DED 1931; redness, ruby (Tulu, DED 1931); cognates in 12 Dravidian languages including Brahui; note the C/ J/ T/ D/ K changes and the presence of the verb Cē in Dravidian
Hal1	also Sal, Sal-gasa, Sāla: a tree commonly found in the forests of the island, Vateria acuminata (Sinhala, Clough; Vateria indica and Shorea robusta are synonyms); Hal, Sal: tree in general, "Vṛkṣaya", Sal/ Hal-gasa, Śāla (Sinhala, Sorata); Śāla: the tree Vatica robusta or Shorea robusta (Sanskrit, CDIAL 12412); Sāla: the tree Shorea robusta (Pali, Prakrit, CDIAL 12412); Cālam: the Āccā tree, Shorea robusta (Tamil, Tivākaram, 4: 4; MTL); Jālāri: Shorea talura (Kannada, DED 2473); Vatica laccifera (Telugu, DED 2473)
Hal2	also Sal: shed, open hall, small house, roadside resting place, "Śālāva, Kuḍāgeya, Ambalama," (Sinhala, Sorata); Śālā: shed, stable, house (Sanskrit, Atharva Vedic, CDIAL 12414); Sālā: shed, stable, large open-sided hall, house (Pali, Prakrit, CDIAL 12414)
Ẹhẹla	also Ẹhẹḷa: a flowering tree, Cassia fistula (Sinhala, Clough); Ẹhẹḷa, Ẹsaḷa: the month of that name, the tree Cassia fistula (Sinhala, Clough, Sorata); as month it means June-July of the lunar calendar, when the full moon occurs in the Āṣāḍha constellation, and means July-August of the solar calendar, calculated from the entry of the Sun in the zodiacal sign of cancer; the Cassia fistula tree flowers during this time, which is the onset of the southwest monsoon; the tree is recognized for the same attribute in Caṅkam Tamil literature (Kuṟuntokai, 21: 3-4); Āṣāḍha: a particular lunar mansion (Sanskrit, Athava Vedic, CDIAL 932). See column 86

The component Pē coming in Sinhala place names mostly mean a grove, forest or jungle, corresponding to another Sinhala term Pā meaning tree in general or a grove. See box on Pē above and column 185 on Pā for etymology.

Pē also means devil, ghost, mane of a departed person, spirit etc. in Sinhala, for which cognates are found in 11 Dravidian languages. In this meaning, Pē in Sinhala and Pēy in Tamil are found used in a few place names.

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Doḍam in Sinhala commonly means a kind of greenish orange found in the island. Tōṭai is the Eezham Tamil term for orange. Doḍli in Kannada and Doḍḍale/ Doḍle in Tulu, meaning a species of wild orange, are the cognates found outside of the island. The usages seem to be of Western Ghats origins. The etymology may be related to the nouns Tōṭu/ Toṭai and to the verb Toṭu, corresponding to the compact and composite peels of the fruit of orange (see box).

Mā-dam is the large variety of the Jampu (Nāval in Tamil) tree. Etymology is related to the dark red colour of the fruit (see box).

The term Hal has been found used in two different meanings in Sinhala place names: Hal/ Sal is the name of a tree commonly found in the island. The terms are cognates of Sāla in Pali/ Prakrit and Śāla in Sanskrit. Hal/ Sal also means a shed, open hall, cottage or a roadside structure to take rest. In this shade of meaning, the terms correspond to Śālā in Sanskrit and Sālā in Pali/ Prakrit.

Ẹhẹḷa in Sinhala meaning Cassia fistula tree comes from the tree profusely flowering during the Ẹhẹḷa/ Ẹsaḷa month. The name of the month comes from full moon of that month occurring in the constellation called Āṣāḍha.

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Doḍam-pē comes as a place name in Habaraduwa division of Galle district and in Kiriella division of Ratnapura district.

Mādam-pē is a place heading a division in Puttalam district. There is another Mādam-pē in Godakawela division of Ratnapura district.

Hal-pē is seen as a place name in Padukka division of Colombo district; Divulapitiya division of Gampaha district; Ẹlla division of Badulla district and in Imbulpe division of Ratnapura district.

Ẹhẹla-pē is in Akuressa division of Matara district.

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Some related place names:

Pē:

Bō-pē: Padukka, Colombo; Galle Four Gravets, Galle; Bōpē Poddala, Galle

Piṭum-pē: Padukka, Colombo

Dam-pē: Padukka, Colombo; Kesbewa, Colombo

Mōl-pē: Moratuwa, Colombo. Mola-gaha: tree not ascertained (Sinhala, Clough)

Mām-pē: Kesbewa, Colombo

Paraṇa Hal-pē: Divulapitiya, Gampaha

Gas-pē: Mirigama, Gampaha

Kukulnā-pē: Mirigama, Gampaha

Nuga-pē: Wattala, Gampaha

Hora-pē: Wattala, Gampaha

Dom-pē: Dompe, Gampaha

Siyaṁbalā-pē: Biyagama, Gampaha

Panā-pē: Bandaragama, Kalutara

Mini-pē: Minipe, Kandy

Il-pē-maḍa: Hatharaliyadda, Kandy

Nava Mora-pē: Kothmale, Nuwara Eliya

Miraham-pē: Hanguranketha, Nuwara Eliya. Miraham: sweet today

Rẹkiṭi-pē: Hanguranketha, Nuwara Eliya

Kitul-pē: Hanguranketha, Nuwara Eliya

Mā-kem-pē: Hanguranketha, Nuwara Eliya

Ẹhẹla-mal-pē: Hanguranketha, Nuwara Eliya

Dehi-pē: Hanguranketha, Nuwara Eliya

Dō-pē: Bentota, Galle

Nā-pē: Balapitiya, Galle; Siyambalanduwa, Moneragala; Warakapola, Kegalle

Tala-gas-pē: Elpitiya, Galle

Kalu-pē: Hikkaduwa, Galle

Kaṭu-dam-pē: Hikkaduwa, Galle

Kaduru-pē: Hikkaduwa, Galle

Mā-iṭi-pē: Galle Four Gravets, Galle

Mali-gas-pē: Galle Four Gravets, Galle

Talpe-goḍa: Akmeemana, Galle

Hav-pē: Imaduwa, Galle; Athuraliya, Matara; Kahawatta, Ratnapura

Dora-pē: Imaduwa, Galle

Tal-pē: Habaraduwa, Galle

Mī-pē: Habaraduwa, Galle

Tala-pe-kuṁbura: Pitabeddara, Matara

Kẹṭiya-pē: Mulatiyana, Matara

Diyala-pē: Akuressa, Matara

Mūṇa-mal-pē: Welipitiya, Matara

Nā-pē: Malimbada, Matara

Lāl-pē: Hakmana, Matara.

Nū-pē: Matara Four Gravets, Matara

Mā-pē-gamuva: Maspotha, Kurunegala

Kal-pē: Horowpothana, Anuradhapura

Kitul-pē: Kuruvita, Ratnapura

Veraḷu-pē: Ratnapura, Ratnapura

Iṁbul-pē: Imbulpe, Ratnapura

Ela-mal-pē: Weligepola, Ratnapura

Ō-mal-pē: Kolonna, Ratnapura. Hō, Hoya: = Oya

Para-pē: Rambukkana, Kegalle

Pōḍā-pē: Aranayaka, Kegalle. Pōḍā: a small flowering creeper; "Itā kuḍā mal ẹti vẹl jātiyak" (Sinhala, Sorata); = Pūḍā: kinds of creepers called Sāmā and Mīminnā (Sinhala, Sorata)

Ampē: Galigamuwa, Kegalle

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Pē: (as devil)

Pē-maḍuva: Mahawilachchiya, Anuradhapura

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Doḍam:

Doḍam-gaha-hēna: Kolonnawa, Colombo

Doḍam-mulla: Kalutara, Kalutara

Doḍan-goḍa: Dodangoda, Kalutara; Baddegama, Galle

Doḍam-golla: Akurana, Kandy; Kundasale, Kandy; Ella, Badulla; Bibile, Moneragala

Nuvara Doḍam-vala: Kandy Four Gravets, Kandy

Pahaḷa Doḍam-vala: Yatinuwara, Kandy

Ihaḷa Doḍam-vala: Yatinuwara, Kandy

Doḍam-deṇiya: Udunuwara, Kandy

Doḍam-attāvela: Naula, Matale

Doḍam-gas-yāya: Pallepola, Matale

Doḍam-deniya: Matale, Matale

Doḍam-kuṁbura: Hanguranketha, Nuwara Eliya

Doḍan-du-goḍa: Hikkaduwa, Galle. See Doḍan-dūva

Doḍan-dūva: Hikkaduwa, Galle

Doḍam-pahaḷa: Dickwella, Matara

Doḍam-gollē-gama: Kotavehera, Kurunegala

Doḍan-gaha-koṭuva: Rideegama, Kurunegala

Doḍan-gas-landa: Rideegama, Kurunegala

Doḍam-potta: Pannala, Kurunegala

Doḍam-vatta: Haputale, Badulla

Doḍan-talē: Mawanella, Kegalle

Doḍā-vatta: Deraniyagala, Kegalle

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Doḍam-kaha:

Doḍam-kaha-vila: Gonapeenuwala, Galle. Doḍan-kaha: Memecylon fuscescens peculiar to the island; Memecylon capitallatum (Sinhala, Clough)

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Mādam:

Mādam-piṭiya: Colombo, Colombo

Mādan-vala: Hanguranketha, Nuwara Eliya

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Hal:

Hal-piṭa: Kesbewa, Colombo

Hal-oluva: Divulapitiya, Gampaha

Hal-gam-piṭiya: Attanagalla, Gampaha

Hal-toṭiyā-vatta: Horana, Kalutara

Hal-vatura: Bulathsinhala, Kalutara

Hallan-kanda: Madurawala, Kalutara

Hal-kańda-vila: Beruwala, Kalutara

Hal-ōviṭa: Agalawatta, Kalutara

Hal-vala: Walallavita, Kalutara

Hal-oḷuva: Harispattuva, Kandy

Haliyadda: Yatinuwara, Kandy. Either Hal-liyadda or Hāl-liyadda

Hal-oya: Doluwa, Kandy

Hal-miṇiya: Laggala-Pallegama, Matale

Halaň-goḍa: Ukuwela, Matale

Hal-golla: Kothmale, Nuwara Eliya

Hal-gaha-vella: Karandeniya, Galle

Hal-viṭi-gala: Thawalama, Galle

Hal-pā-toṭa: Baddegama, Galle

Uḍu-hal-piṭiya: Hikkaduwa, Galle

Hal-gas-mulla: Akmeemana, Galle

Halloluva-goḍa: Habaraduwa, Galle

Hāl-dańḍu-vana: Dankotuwa, Puttalam. Probably, Hal-dańḍu-vana

Hallan-kanda: Maduruwala, Kalutara

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Hal: (probably meaning Ambalam):

Hal-toṭa: Millaniya, Kalutara

Hal-vahala: Mawathagama, Kurunegala

Hal-mulla: Kolonnawa, Colombo

Nā-halla: Maduruwala, Kalutara; Rideegama, Kurunegala

Hallala: Welipitiya, Matara

Hal-linna: Opanayaka, Ratnapura

Hallava: Warakapola, Kegalle

Mā-halla: Ruwanwella, Kegalle

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Ẹhẹla:

Ẹhẹla-mal-pē: Hanguranketha, Nuwara Eliya

Ẹhẹla-piṭiya: Neluwa, Galle

Ẹhẹla-kanda: Pasgoda, Matara

Ẹhẹlē-pola: Pallepola, Matale

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Revised: Saturday, 11 November 2017, 18:30

First published: Saturday, 05 March 2011, 13:24