Know the Etymology: 288
Place Name of the Day: Sunday, 15 September 2013

Dandu hæ'la

த₃ன்டு₃ஹெ₂ள
Danḍu-hæḷa

Dandu+hæ'la

The wooded swamp or the swamp in area of timber trees

Hæla

Also Hæ'la: Swamp, marshy land, bog (Sinhala, Clough); A kind of wet marsh with a floating peat mat (Madduma Bandara 2009); Hæ'la-kimbulaa: Marsh crocodile found in the tank sides (Sinhala); Gola-hæla: Deep hole, full of mud (Sinhala); Cha'l'lal: Mud, slush (Tamil, DED 2412); Cha'la-cha'la: To be wet, muddy, sloppy (Tamil, DED 2412); A'l'lal, A'lakkar, A'laru: Mud, mire (Tamil, DED 2412); Ca'l'la: Bog, sludge (Malayalam, DED 2412); Ca'li, Ce'li, Ce'l'la: Mud, mire (Malayalam, DED 2412); Ca'liya: State of growing muddy (Kannada, DED 2412); Hadlu: Mud (Kannada, DED 82); U'lai: Mud (Tamil, DED 702); U'la: Mud (Malayalam DED 702); A'lam: Salt marsh (Malayalam, DED 299). Also see column on Maanel-o'luwa

Dandu

Wood, timber (Sinhala); Dandu-path: Timber, planks (Sinhala); Dandu-hala: Timber yard (Sinhala); Dandu-wæta: Fence of sticks or any kind of wood (Sinhala); Ea-da'ndu: (plural), Ea-da'ndu (singular): Plank or beam laid across a river or brook to pass over as a bridge (Sinhala); Da'nda: Stick, staff, club, stem of a tree, punishment, fine, army (Sinhala); Ta'ndaka: Tree trunk (Sanskrit); Da'ntha, Ta'nta: Stem (Sanskrit, traced to Dravidian and Munda, CDIAL 5527); Da'nda: Stick, club, handle, control, punishment, stalk, stem (Sanskrit, probably non-Aryan, CDIAL 6128); Tha'ntu: Stalk, stem (Tamil, Malayalam, DED 3056); Thaddu, Thaddai; Stalk of grain (Tamil, DED 3056); Da'ntu, Da'nda: Stalk (Kannada, DED 3056); Thadi: Stick, staff, rod, cane, club, cudgel, bludgeon, a piece as of wood, measuring rod, pestle, bow (Tamil, DED 3030); Tha'ndu: To collect, levy, recover taxes etc., (Tamil, DED 3054); Army, troops (Tamil, DED 3055)

Hæ'la and its variant Hæla mean a swamp, marsh or a bog in Sinhala.

When presenting place names in English, the components are invariably written as Hela.

Hæ'la corresponds to Cha'l'lal in Tamil/ Dravidian, meaning mud or slush, and more closely to Ca'l'la in Malayalam meaning a bog or sludge (DED 2412).

See table for the Dravidian cognates with C/ H, A/ Æ changes and with the absence of the initial phoneme.

* * *

Dandu in Sinhala means wood or timber. In a phrase like Dandu-wæta it means logs or sticks. A related word Da'nda in Sinhala means stem of a tree, stick, staff, club etc.

Both the Sinhala words correspond to Da'ntha/ Ta'nta and Da'nda in Sanskrit and Tha'ndu in Tamil. A Comparative Dictionary of Indo-Aryan Languages traces the phonology of Da'ntha/ Ta'nta in Sanskrit to Dravidian or Munda and suggests that Da'nda in Sanskrit has probably come from Dravidian. A reason for the CDIAL deduction is the absence of cognates in Indo-European (CDIAL 5527, 6128).

Tha'ndu and its related word Thadi in Tamil, listed as Dravidian, cover all the shades of meanings of the cognates discussed above (DED 3056, 3030).

Related to one of the basic meanings, i.e., a staff, the Tamil/ Sanskrit/ Sinhala words also mean, punishment, levying fine tax etc., and also an army.

While Dandu in the Sinhala place names means timber or logs, Da'nda seems to be mostly meaning the growth of trees identified by their stems (see related place names given below).

Another related word found in the Sinhala place names is Ea-dandu/ Ea-da'nda, that means an improvised bridge of logs or planks placed across a brook, canal etc. The Ea prefix might have come in the sense of meaning the opposite side, as in the word formation Egoda (E+goda) literally meaning the opposite bank, or by the drop of the initial S in the word Se in Sinhala, meaning a bridge or causeway in a field (from Setu)

* * *

Dandu-hæ'la is in Hebaraduwa division of Galle district. The place has a large swamp, which is now partly converted into paddy fields. The surroundings must have been a wooded place once.

* * *

Some related place names:


Hæla as swamp:

Gola-hela: The deep swamp or the deep hole full of mud; Kegalle division, Kegalle district

Peni-hela: The treacle-like swamp; Warakapola division, Kegalle district. The place has a swamp.

Hela-kandana: The swamp part of Kandana: Minuwangoda division, Gampaha district. The locality has many swampy tracts, which have become paddy fields

Pela-hela: The line of swamp; the swamp of plants and shrubs; or the swamp to cultivate; Dompe division, Gampaha district. Pela: Line, row; Pæla: Plant, shrub; Pæla-karanawa: to plant, to cultivate trees, to cause to germinate (Sinhala). The place has narrow lines of paddy fields that are actually swamps or drainage tracts converted into paddy fields

Hela-gama: The village in the swampy area; or the village under the cliffs; Walapane division, Nuwara Eliya district. A low cliff surrounds the village and it is a swampy area.

Hela-komana; The swamp part of Komana village; or the rock-hillock part of Komana; Padiyathalawa division, Ampaa'rai district. The place has swamp patches as well as small rocky hilocks.

Hela-yaal-kumbura: The paddy fields cultivated in the Yaala season in the swampy areas; Welimada division, Badulla district

Hela-uda-kanda: The hillock above the swamp; Kolonna division, Ratnapura district

Weli-hela-thenna: The highland plain having a sandy swamp or the highland plain of the gravel escarpment; Yatyanthota division, Kegalle district

* * *

Dandu:


Dandu-gama: The village to get timber or wood; Ja-Ela division, Gampaha district

Dandu-yaaya: The wooded expanse or the expanse to get timber trees; Galewela division, Matale district

Dandu-wana: The forest of timber trees; Hikkaduwa division, Galle district

Hal-dandu-wana: The forest to get Hal-tree timber; Dankotuwa division, Puththa'lam district

Dandu-bendiruppa: The place separated by wooden palisade; Galewala division, Matale district

Dandu-bediruppa: Pasbage Korale division, Kandy district

Danduwaawa: The forest of timber trees; Nikaweratiya division, Kurunegala district

Eda'nduwawa: The place of a wooden log or plank bridge; Yatinuwara division, Kandy district; Mawanella division, Kegalle district

Gal-eda'ndu-goda: The rocky bank (of a river or canal) to reach through a wooden plank bridge; or the bank (of a river or canal) to reach through a stone-beam bridge; Horana division, Kalutara district

Eda'ndu-kitha: The log or plank bridge with rope to hold on and cross; Pitabeddara division, Matara district. Kittan: marline, tow (Sinhala)

* * *

Danda:


Gal-edanda: The bridge made by a stone-plank or planks; Biyagama division, Gampaha district; Welimada division, Badulla district

Mahaa-edanda: The big bridge made of logs or planks; Karandeniya division, Galle district

Mola-danda: The (place of) Mola-gaha stems; Yatinuwara division, Kandy district

Imbulan-danda: The (place of) Imbul tree stems; Matale division, Matale district

Nelu-danda; The (place of) Nelu tree stems; Hali-Ela division, Badulla district

Waraka-danda: The (place of) jack tree stems; Hali-Ela division, Badulla district

Nuga-danda: The (place of) Nuga tree stems: Eheliyagoda division, Ratnapura district

We-danda: The (place of) rattan cane vines or bamboo stems; Bamunukotuwa division, Kurunegala district

Puwak-danduwa: The (place of) areca nut stems; Beliatta division, Hambantota district

Poruwa-danda: The (place of) Porawa-maara stems or the (place to get) wooden rollers used in levelling agricultural grounds after ploughing; Ingiriya division, Kalutara district

Nil-danda-heenna: The low range or spur found with stems of Nil trees; Walapane division, Nuwara Eliya district. Heenna: A low range or spur (Sinhala, Madduma Bandara 2009); Nil: Blue, green; a variety of trees and plants, including a kind of bamboo have this prefix (Sinhala)

First published: Sunday, 15 September 2013, 13:59