Know the Etymology: 247
Place Name of the Day: Saturday, 27 April 2013

Panthiya, Aanaip-panthi

பந்திய
ஆனைப்பந்தி
Pantiya
Āṉaippanti

Panthiya
Aanaip+panthi

The stable or cattle stand
The elephant stable

Panthiya	Multitude, flock, herd, row of trees, procession, stall, stable, cattle stand (Sinhala); Pangkti: Row, troop (Sanskrit, CDIAL 7646); Panti: Line, row (Pali, Prakrit, CDIAL 7646); Panthi: flock, order, line, array, stable, multitude, composition (Tamil)
Aanai	Also Yaanai: Elephant (Tamil, DED 5161). See Aanai-vizhunthaan-ku’lam

Panthi in Tamil and Panthiya in Sinhala almost mean the same: flock, line, array, stable etc. Both are cognates of the Sanskrit/ Indo-Aryan word Pangkti.

The usage of the word Panthi in the sense of the meaning, stable, is found in Tamil literature since c. 6th century CE (Peruntheavanaar Paaratham 3:57)

In the context of place names, Panthi mostly means a stable or a cattle stand

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Panthiya is a place in Mathugama division of Kalutara district

Aanaip-panthi is a place in Jaffna city.

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Some related place names:

Panthiyawa: The stable of cattle stand; Rajanganaya division, Anuradhapura district

First published: Saturday, 27 April 2013, 09:42