Know the Etymology: 269
Place Name of the Day: Thursday, 01 August 2013

Aththaay, Chinna-aththaay, Us-attawa

அத்தாய், சின்ன அத்தாய், உஸ் அத்தவ
Attāy, Ciṉṉa Attāy, Ussattava

Aththaay
Chinna+aththaay
Us+attawa

The annexe
The little annexe
The upper branch

Aththaay	A rare place name component, probably meaning an annexe or a part (Eezham Tamil, especially Jaffna dialect); Aththu: (verb) To unite, join (Tamil, DED 145); To be attached or joined (Telugu, DED 145); Aththu: Boundary, limit (Tamil, as in Aththu-mee’ri, MTL)
Atta	(singular), Atu (plural): Branch (Sinhala); Attatuwa: Wing (Sinhala); Kotu-atta: Path, by-way (Sinhala); Aththam: Jungle, way (Tamil, Changkam diction); Ata (singular), At (plural): Hand, arm, side or quarter (Sinhala, this word with a single t etymologically corresponds to Hasta, meaning hand in Sanskrit, CDIAL 14024)
Chinna	Small, little, inferior, mean, low, young (Tamil, DED 2594); Cognates are found in Malayalam, Kannada, Kodagu, Telugu, Kolami, Naikri, Gadba, Gondi and Brahui (DED 2594)
Us	(adjective) High, elevated (Sinhala); Usa: Height (Sinhala); Uha: (adjective) High; (noun) Height (Sinhala); Ucca: Tall, lofty, above (Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, CDIAL 1634); Uyar: (verb) To rise, be high, elevated, lofty, grow, be excellent, eminent (Tamil, DED 646); Uyaram, Ucaram: Height, eminence (Tamil, DED 646); Uka: (verb) To ascend, rise (Tamil, DED 559); Ukai: To rise (Tamil, DED 559); Ukappu: Height, elevation (Tamil, DED 559); The root U itself stands for further or higher as in Up-paal: Further region; Umpar: Elevated spot, height, sky; Uva’n: Upper place; Uva’nam: Height (Tamil, DED 557a)

Aththaay is a rare place name or a place name component found in Eezham Tamil. It is noticed in a very few village names or locality names in Vadamaraadchi, Koapaay and Poonakari.

Related place name components, Atta (singular) and Atu (plural) are found in more instances in Sinhala.

In Sinhala, the words mean a branch. Other related words Attatuwa and Kotu-atta in Sinhala mean a wing and a by-way respectively.

Aththaay therefore seems to mean an annexe land, annex residential area or annexe village. The meaning suits the contexts.

The Eezham Tamil toponym Aththaay and the Sinhala cognates Atta, Atu etc., seem to be etymologically related to the Tamil/ Telugu verb Aththu, meaning to unite, join (Tamil) and meaning to be united or joined (Telugu). Aththu in this sense of meaning is listed as a word of Dravidian etymology (DED 145)

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The adjective Chinna, meaning small, little etc., is a common Tamil word of Dravidian etymology (DED 2594).

The word Us in Sinhala, meaning high or elevated corresponds to Ucca in Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit (CDIAL 1634) as well as Usaram/ Uyaram in Tamil/ Dravidian (DED 646). For further etymological discussions, see column on Usbima Kotasa.

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Aththaay is a place in Vadamaraadchi Southwest (Karaveddi) division of Jaffna district. There is another Aththaay in the Poonakari division of Ki’linochchi district

Chinna-aththaay is a locality in Puloali, Vadamaraadchi Southwest (Karaveddi) division of Jaffna district (Balasundaram p.393).

Ussattawa (Us-attawa) is a place in Naula division of Matale district.

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Some related place names:


Aththaay (Tamil):

Periya-theavan-aththaay: Periya-theavan’s annexe; a locality in Poloali, Vadamaraadchi Southwest division of Jaffna district (Balasundaram p.393)

Kudumpaththai: Kudumpu-aththaay: The annexe of the family or the ward annexe; a locality in Koappaay in Jaffna district (Balasundaram p252). Kudumpam: Family, clan (Tamil, DED 1655); Kudumpu: Ward (Tamil, inscriptions)


Atta, Atu (Sinhala):

Atuwe-watta: The garden annexe; Doluwa division, Kandy district

Athu-paara-yaaya: The expanse of the by-road; Dambulla division, Matale district

Maila-attawa: The wing of Maila shrubs; Dambulla division, Matale district

Pol-attawa: The annexe land having coconut palms; Dambulla division, Matale district

Puwak-atta-wala: The jungle of the annexe land having areca nut palms; Dambulla division, Matale district

Ata-kohota: The annexe part; Elpitiya division, Galle district. Kohota, Kotasa: Share, part and portion.

Ata-nikitha: The residential annexe or the house annexe; Imaduwa division, Galle district. Niketa: House, habitation, dwelling, residence (Sinhala)

Attana-yala: The paddy field annexe; Angunakolapelessa division, Hambantota district

Atta-villuwa: The annexe pond; Puththa’lam division, Puththa’lam district

Athu-wana: The jungle annexe; Madampe division, Puththa’lam district

First published: Thursday, 01 August 2013, 01:57