Know the Etymology: 259
Place Name of the Day: Thursday, 30 May 2013

Welisara, Malsara-nuwara

வெ₂லிசர
மல்சர நுவர
Vaelisara
Malsara Nuvara

Wæli+sara
Mal+sara

The sandy pool or the pool in the sandy area
The flower-pool town

Sara	Lake, pool, water (Sinhala); Lake, pond (Pali, Prakrit, CDIAL 13254); Saras: Lake, pond (Sanskrit, CDIAL 13254); Sarasa: Pool, pond (Sinhala); Saras: Large pond or lake, water (Sinhala); Che’ru: (verb) To control, prevent the passage as of water; (noun) Tank, field, garden, plot (Tamil, DED 1980); From the root Che’ri: Keep within bounds, to secure, store up (Tamil, DED 1980); Chi’rai: (verb) To imprison, dam up; (noun) Prison, dam, bank, tank, boundary (Tamil, DED 1980); Ci’ra: Enclosure, dam, limit, tank, reservoir (Malayalam, DED 1980); Ceruvu: Artificial lake, tank (Telugu, DED 1980); Seru: Tank (Konda, DED 1980); Saru: Tank (Naikri, DED 1980); Cognates are found in 18 Dravidian languages
Wæli	Sand, gravel (Sinhala); Vaalukaa: Sand (Sanskrit, Pali, CDIAL 11580); Vaalukam, Vaal-ma’nal: Sand, white sand (Tamil); from Vaal: Whiteness; Vaalithu: That which is white (Tamil, DED 5364)
Mal	(plural); Mala (singular): Flower (Sinhala); Malar: Flower (Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, DED 4739); (verb) to open as a flower, bloom (Tamil, DED 4739)
Nuwara	Also Niyaree: Town, city (Sinhala); Nagara: Town (Sanskrit, Pali, CDIAL 6924); Nagaree: Stronghold, city (Pali, CDIAL 6924); N’agara, ‘Niyara, Niyaree: Town (Prakrit, CDIAL 6924); Nakar: House, abode, mansion, temple, palace, town, city (Tamil, DED 3568); Town, city (Malayalam, DED 3568); Nakari: A variation of Nakar (Tamil)

The component Sara, found in the Sinhala place names, means a lake or pool.

The word means the same in Pali and Prakrit.

The corresponding Indo-Aryan cognate in Sanskrit is Saras, meaning a lake or pond (CDIAL 13254).

The Sanskrit word Saras basically meaning anything flowing or fluid (Sara: fluid, liquid) is explained from the root verb Sri, meaning to run, flow etc.

See table for how parallel words in Dravidian languages, meaning confined water bodies such as ponds, tanks etc., are explained through a root word Che’ri in Tamil/ Dravidian (DED 1980).

Saras and its derivative Sarasa are also found used in Sinhala to mean pool, pond and water.

Etymological discussions on the components Wæli, Mal, and Nuwara could be found in the earlier columns. Also see the table for finding cognates of Wæli and Nuwara both in the CDIAL as well as the DED.

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Welisara is a place in Wattala division of Gampaha district

Malsara-nuwara is a place in Hanguranketha division of Nuwara Eliya district

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Some related place names:

Gan-sara-pola: The market place at the village pond; Ratota division, Matale district

Polgas-sara-gama: The village of the coconut palm-pond; Damana division, Ampaa’rai district

Pas-sara: The place of five ponds; Passara division, Badulla district

Thapas-sara-kanda: The hill having a poll to do penance; Kalawana division Ratnapura district

First published: Thursday, 30 May 2013, 22:32