Know the Etymology: 309
Place Name of the Day: Monday, 23 December 2013

Mukaththuvaaram, Modara

முகத்துவாரம்
மோத₃ர
Mukattuvāram
Mōdara

Muka+thuvaaram
Moadara

The river mouth

Mukaththuvaaram

Mukam+thuvaaram: River mouth (Tamil, MTL); Moadara: Mouth of a river, place where a river disembogues (Sinhala, Mukha+Dora); Mukam: Face, mouth (Tamil, DED 4889); Front, front side, entrance, point, view, place, origin, face of a drum (Changkam Tamil usages); Mukha: Mouth, face, entrance (Sanskrit, CDIAL 10158); Duvaara: Door (Sanskrit, CDIAL 6459); Dora: Door (Sinhala); Kazhi-mukam: Place where a river disembogues (Tamil, from Kazhi: to pass, elapse, discharge, come to an end, DED 1356 + Mukam, DED 4889); Moaya, Moaya-kata: Mouth of a river (Sinhala); Mukhaayana: Entrance course of a river (Sanskrit, CDIAL 10173); Mutwal: Anglicized form of Mukaththuvaaram in Colombo.

Moadara

Another etymological possibility is Mooda+dora or Moodu+dora: Literally meaning sea-entrance (Sinhala); Mooda, Muhuda: (singular); Moodu (plural) Sea, ocean (Sinhala); CDIAL 13236 traces etymology to Samudra (Sanskrit) > Samudda (Pali) > Humuda > Muhuda (Sinhala); Muthu-neer, Muthu-kadal, Muthu-kayam: Sea, ocean (Tamil); From Muthu: Old, ancient (Tamil, DED 4954); large, great, full, surrounding (Tamil usages); Moothu: Oldness (Tamil, DED 4954); Moathu: To hit, strike, dash against (Tamil, DED 5117); Action of sea and its waves (Tamil usage); Moadu, Moahu: To strike (Kannada, DED 5117); Moada: Wave billow, surge (Tulu, DED 5117); Oatham: Flood, sea, wave (Tamil, DED 1047)

Mukaththuvaaram in Tamil and Modara in Sinhala are cognates meaning a river mouth or the place where a river disembogues.

The Tamil term Mukaththuvaaram is made of two word components: Mukam and Thuvaaram; Mukam meaning face or mouth and Thuvaaram meaning an entrance. The Sinhala word Modara is a shortened form of it (Muka+dora)

Mukam is recognized as a word of Dravidian etymology (DED 4889), but the Sanskrit diction also has a cognate Mukham (CDIAL 10158). The root Mu/ Mun (DED 5020) could be seen in another old Tamil word Munnam for face (Changkam usage, from Mun, DED 5020), which has a cognate Moona, meaning face or countenance in Sinhala.

Mukam comes to mean a river mouth in other phrases too in Tamil, such as Kazhi-mukam and Athoa-mukam (Thivakaram 5:51).

Pukaar, Azhivu, Aruvi and Koodal are the other words in Tamil for a river mouth. But Mukaththuvaaram is the one that is in common usage today.

Duvaara, meaning an entrance or door, is listed as a word of Indo-Aryan etymology (CDIAL 6459). A cognate Dora in Sinhala means the same. The Tamil cognate is Thuvaaram.

Moaya and Moaya-kata (Kata meaning a passage or end, Tamil, DED 1109) are other words for a river mouth in Sinhala. Moaya could be traced to Mukhaayana in Sanskrit, meaning the entrance course of a river (CDIAL 10173), or to Muka+oya (DED 4889 + DED 984).

In another etymological possibility, the Sinhala word Moadara could be split into Moodu (pertaining to sea) and Dora (entrance), literally meaning the sea-entrance.

Mooda/ Muhuda in Sinhala means sea or ocean. In word combinations, the plural form Moodu means pertaining to sea. A Comparative Dictionary of Indo-Aryan Languages traces the etymology to Samudra in Sanskrit (CDIAL 13236). See table for other etymological possibilities through Dravidian

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Mukath-thuvaaram in Tamil (anglicized into Mutwal) and Modara in Sinhala mark the same place where the Kelani River enters into the sea in Colombo division of Colombo district. The terms are also respectively used in many other Tamil and Sinhala place names in the island. For instance, Mukaththuvaaram is also a place name in the Karaithu’raippattu division of Mullaiththeevu district. See related place names for other examples in Tamil and Sinhala.

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Some related place names:

Mukaththuvaaram:

Chinna-mukaththuvaaram: The small river mouth; Aalaiyadivempu division, Ampaa’rai district

Kalladi-mukaththuvaaram: The river mouth at the locality of rocks; Mu’nmunai North division, Batticaloa district

Ilangkaiththu’rai-mukaththuvaaram: The river mouth at the port having an islet; or the river mouth at a place called Ilangkaith-thu’rai (the place, which is a port, has gained the name as it has an islet at the entrance; Ilangkai means an islet in the river etc); Verukal division, Trincomalee district

Verukal-mukaththuvaaram: The river mouth at the place Verukal; Verukal division, Trincomalee district


Moadara:

Thum-modara: The river mouth of three streams; Padukka division, Colombo district; Kuliyapitiya West division, Kurunegala district; Nattandiya division, Puththa’lam district

Kaluwa-modara: The river mouth of dark waters; Beruwala division, Kalutara district

Doowe-modara: The river mouth having an islet; Balapitiya division, Galle district

Modara Patuwatha: The narrow grove at the river mouth; Hikkaduwa division, Galle district

Maha-modara: The great river mouth; Galle Four Gravets division, Galle district

Welipiti-modara: The river mouth at the sand banks; Galle Four Gravets division, Galle district

Lanu-modara: The river mouth (to cross) with a rope line; Habaraduwa division, Galle district. Lanuwa (singular); Lanu (plural): String, cord, line, rope (Sinhala); Nool (Tamil, DED 3726)

Modara-Piliwala: The forest of fruit trees at the river mouth; Ambalanthota division, Hambantota district.

Modara-wana: The jungle of the river mouth; Okewela division, Hambantota district; Embilipitiya division, Ratnapura district

Kahanda-modara: The river mouth of Kaha-andanahiriya (Crotularia retusa) plants (a leguminous plant of yellow flowers that grows abundantly near water bodies); Tangalle division, Hambantota district

Seeni-modara: The river mouth of Seeni shrubs; Tangalle division, Hambantota district

Kos-modara: The river mouth of Kos trees; Kotapola division, Matara district

Polwathu-modara: The river mouth having a coconut palm grove; Weligama division, Matara district

Modara-wella: The sandy beach of the river mouth; Mahawewa division, Puththa’lam district

De-modara: The confluence of the two rivers; Passara division, Badulla district; Ella division, Badulla district

First published: Monday, 23 December 2013, 20:07