Know the Etymology: 286
Place Name of the Day: Thursday, 12 September 2013

Æthul-gama, Athuru-wala, Aththu'lu

எ₂துல்க₃ம,
அ[த்]துருவல,
அத்துளு
Aetulgama, Aturuvala, Attuḷu

Æthul+gama
Athuru+wala
Aththu'lu

The inner village or the village in the interior
The intermediate forest or the forest in between
The inside/ interior

Æthul	Also Æthu'la: (adjective) Inside, inner, within (Sinhala); A place name prefix (Sinhala); Aththu'lu: A place name component very rarely found (Jaffna Tamil); Antha'lai: Remote, end (Eezham Tamil, Jaffna dialect); Antara: Interior, near, neighbouring, the inside (Sanskrit, CDIAL 357); Inside, interval (Pali, CDIAL 357); Antaraa: In the middle (Sanskrit, CDIAL 357); Between, inside, (Pali, CDIAL 357); Amtara, Amtaraa: Inside (Prakrit, CDIAL 357); Antara: (adverb) Within, without, between, amongst, except, outside; (noun) End, conclusion, intermediate space, other (Sinhala). Note the R > ‘L > L shift; U'l: Inside, interior of a place, a locative ending (Tamil, DED 698, cognates in 19 Dravidian languages); Aththu'l: (adverb), Athu+u'l: Inside that (Tamil, Thirumoolar 189)
Athuru	(plural), Athura (singular): Space, intermission (Sinhala); Rope tied between the tops of coconut palms for the toddy-tapper to reach one from the other without climbing down (Sinhala); Antara: Interior, near, the inside (Sanskrit, CDIAL 357); Inside, interval (Pali, CDIAL 357); Antaraa: In the middle (Sanskrit, CDIAL 357); Between, inside, (Pali, CDIAL 357); Amtara, Amtaraa: Inside (Prakrit, CDIAL 357); Antara: (adverb) Within, without, between, amongst, except, outside; (noun) End, conclusion, intermediate space, other (Sinhala); Antharaanai: A place name component very rarely found (Jaffna Tamil)
Gama	Village (Sinhala); Kaamam, Kam: A component meaning a village in place names (Eezham Tamil); Gaama: Village (Pali, CDIAL 4368); Collection, village (Prakrit, CDIAL, 4368); Graama: Troop, village (Sanskrit, Rig Veda, CDIAL 4368)
Wala	Forest, jungle (Sinhala); Wal: Jungle, wood, thicket, grass (Sinhala); Vallai: Extensive thicket, big forest (Tamil, DED 5289); Vallai, Vallan, Vellai, Vellan, Val: Place name components meaning a forest, jungle, wood, thicket or grassland (Eezham Tamil)

Æthul, Æthu'la and Athu'lu found as components in Sinhala place names mean an inside place.

The words correspond to Antara in Sanskrit/ Indo-Aryan, meaning interior, near, neighbouring and the inside (CDIAL 357, R > L change).

Another word Athuru found in the Sinhala place names (Athura in singular), means a place located in-between.

This word is a cognate of Antaraa in Sanskrit/ Indo-Aryan, meaning ‘in the middle' or between (CDIAL 357).

Related words, Aththu'lu and Antharaanai are found in one or two instances of Eezham Tamil place names.

See earlier columns for etymological discussions on Gama meaning village in Indo-Aryan and Wala meaning forest in Dravidian.

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Æthul-gama is a village in the Pathahewaheta division of Kandy district

Athuru-wala is in Narammala division of Kurunegala district

Athu'lu is a locality in Vadamaraadchi Southwest division of Jaffna district

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Some related place names:

Æthul-kotte: The interior of the fort; Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte division, Colombo district. The place name is in comparison of Pita-kotte of the same locality, meaning the exterior or outside of the fort

Athulu-gama: The village in the interior of the inner part of the village; Bandaragama division, Kalutara district; Dehiovita division, Kegalle district

Atulu-gam-wela: The paddy field of the village in the interior; Dehiovita division, Kegalle district

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Athuru-giriya: The hill in between; Kaduwela division, Colombo district

Athuru-wælla: The beach in between; Bentota division, Galle district

Athuru-mulla: The corner in between; Biyagama division, Gampaha district

Athuru-pana: The property, house or dwelling in between; Kegalle division, Kegalle district. Pa'na: property, house, dwelling (Sinhala); the word may be connected to Pa'na meaning wealth and money (80 cowries), traced to Austro Asiatic etymology (CDIAL 7715)

Athuraliya: Athuru-eliya: The open grassland in between; Athuraliya division, Matara district

Antharaanai: The intermediate part; a locality name in Puththoor of Jaffna district (Balasundaram p.292)

First published: Thursday, 12 September 2013, 00:06