Know the Etymology: 314
Place Name of the Day: Tuesday, 21 January 2014

Kirimetiyaawa, Kara-metiya, Meti-bokka

கிரிமெ₂[ட்]டியாவ
கரமெ₂[ட்]டிய
Kirimaeṭiyāva
Karamaeṭiya
Maeṭibokka

Kirimættiyaa+wa
Kara-mætiya
Mæti-bokka

The place of white clay.
The place of hard clay.
The clayey creek, hollow or pit.

Mæti	Clay, mould, earth (Sinhala); Kiri-mæti: White-clay, pipe clay, marl, kaolin (Sinhala); Rath-mæti: Red clay (Sinhala); 1. Mrttikaa: Earth, clay (Sanskrit, CDIAL 10286); Matti, Mattiaa: Earth, clay, brick (Prakrit, CDIAL 10286); Mattha: Lump (Sanskrit, CDIAL 9725); Mathunnee: Lump of clay or dough (Pali, CDIAL 9725); 2. Mada: mud, lime, foam, cream (Sinhala); Ma’nda: Scum, cream (Pali, CDIAL 9735); Ma’ndi: Sediments, dregs, settlings (Tamil, DED 4676); Mattu: Dregs, lees (Malayalam, DED 4676); Maddi: Sediment (Tulu, Kannada, Telugu, DED 4676); Maddi: Oyster usually found on the clayey or silt bed of lagoons and backwaters (Tamil); 3. Ma’n: Earth, soil, land (Tamil, DED 4666); Earth, soil, mud (Malayalam, DED 4666); Earth, mud, whitewash (Kota, DED 4666); Earth, clay, mud, soil, ground (Kannada, DED 4666); Ma’n’nu: Earth, clay, soil (Tulu, DED 4666); Ma’n-kalam > Mad-kalam: Earthen ware (Tamil); Maadaa: Large earthen vessel (Tamil, DED 4651); Madake, Madike: Pot (Kannada, DED 4651); Mata: Pot (Kui, DED 4651); Meta: Chatty, pitcher (Maltese, DED 4651)
Kiri	(adjective) White (Sinhala); (noun) Milk, a plant Clinsene coracana, elephants (Sinhala); Ksheerin: Yielding milk (Sanskrit, CDIAL 3704); Kiri, Geri: Milch cows (Sinhala inscriptions); the elephant meaning may be related to the above as cows and elephants are called by synonyms in some South Asian languages (Ex: Aa/ Aan: cow as well as elephant in Tamil); or related to Kari: Dark in colour, burnt, charcoal, elephant (Tamil)
Kara	Related to Karahu, Karaho, Kara’lu: Hard (Sinhala); Karadu: Rough (Tamil, Telugu, DED 1265); Ka’ru: Rough (Malayalam, DED 1265); Kara-gala: Whetstone (Sinhala); Kara-bima: Unfruitful ground; Karampu, Karampai: Hard clayey land, wastland (Tamil, MTL, DED 1285);
Bokka	(singular) Creek, gulf; Boku: (adjective) Oval, hollow; (noun) anything bent into a hollow shape (Sinhala); Pokku: Hollow; Pokkai, Ponthu: Hole, hollow (Tamil, DED 4452); from the root, Po, Poy: to make a hole, to be hollowed (Tamil, DED 4452); Bokka: Pit, hole, orifice, aperture (Telugu, DED 4452); Pokka: Ditch, grave (Kolomi, DED 4452); Hole, cave (Naikri, DED 4452); Bogga: Hole (Naikri, DED 4452); Bonku: Hollow, void, empty (Tulu, DED 4452); Bhooka: Hole (Sanskrit, only in lexicons); Poaka: Hollow (Sanskrit, etymology is traced probably to Dravidian, CDIAL 8391)

Mæti in Sinhala means clay, mould or earth. The etymology could be explained both through Dravidian and Indo-Aryan.

Matti and Mattia in Prakrit, meaning earth, clay or brick are traced to Mrttikaa in Sanskrit, meaning earth or clay (CDIAL 10286). There is also the Pali word Matthunnee, meaning a lump of clay, traced to Mattha in Sanskrit (CDIAL 9725).

However, another related Sinhala word, Mada, meaning mud, seems to be a cognate of Ma’ndi, Mattu and Maddi in Dravidian (DED 4676).

The root word Ma’n in Dravidian, besides meaning earth or soil in Tamil, also means clay and mud in Kannada (DED 4666). In word combinations meaning a clay pot etc., Ma’n becomes Mad/ Mat in Dravidian, as in Mad-kalam in Tamil or Madake in Kannada (DED 4651). Note the meaning mould for Mæti in Sinhala.

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Kiri-mæti means white clay or kaolin in Sinhala, and Rath-mæti means red clay.

The Kiri prefix as an adjective means white and as a noun means milk. The word in these senses of meaning is traced to Ksheerin in Sanskrit, standing for ‘yielding milk’ (CDIAL 3704). Kiri and geri are used in Sinhala inscriptions to mean milch cows.

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The prefix Kara of the place name Kara-mætiya, means hard, and the place name stands for a locality of hard clay.

The prefix is related to the Sinhala words, Karaho. Karaho and Kara’lu, meaning hard. The words are cognates of Karadu meaning rough and Karampu/ Karampai, meaning a hard clayey land in Tamil/ Dravidian (DED 1265, 1285).

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Bokka in Sinhala is a creek, gulf or hollow place. The related word form Boku in Sinhala means anything that is bent into a hollow shape. The word has many cognates in Tamil/ Dravidian (DED 4452), and CDIAL also traces the possible etymology of Poaka meaning hollow in Sanskrit to Dravidian (CDIAL 8391). The words are also related to Poka’nai in Tamil and Poku’na in Sinhala meaning a pond. See earlier columns on place names having the component Bokka/ Pokka’nai/ Poku’na.

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Kirimetiyawa as a place name is found in the following divisions: Ukuwela division, Matale district; Kothmale division, Nuwara Eliya district; Ambanpola division, Kurunegala district; Mahawa division, Kurunegala district; and Nawagattegama division, Puththa’lam district

Kara-metiya is a place name in Meegahakivula division of Badulla district.

Meti-bokka is in Mawathagama division of Kurunegala district

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Some related place names:

Kirimetiya: The place of white clay; Rattota division, Matale district; Hanguranketha division, Nuwara Eliya district; Nuwara Eliya division, Nuwara Eliya district

Maha-kirimetiya: The great (place) of white clay; Lankapura division, Polonnaruwa district

Handagala-kirimetiyawa: The white clay place adjacent to the moon-hill; Kebithigollewa division, Anuradhapura district

Kirimetiyana: The place of white clay; Dankotuwa division, Puththa’lam district

Kirimeti-thenna: The high ground plain of white clay; Balangoda division, Ratnapura district

Kirimeti-mulla: The corner, the ground of which is of white clay; Malimbada division, Matara district

Kirimetiya-watta: The garden or grove in the white clay land; Dompe division, Gampaha district; Yatinuwara division, Kandy district

Kirimetiya-gara: The house or structure built of white clay or plastered by white clay; Mahara division, Gampaha district. Gara: house (Sinhala); Ghara: house (Pali, Prakrit, CDIAL 4428)

Metikotu-mulla: The corner of the clay or mud-wall enclosure; Minuwangoda division, Gampaha district

Meti-kotuwa: The clay enclosure or mud-wall enclosure; Dankotuwa division, Puththa’lam district

Meti-deniya: The clayey rising ground of the valley; Medadumbara division, Kandy district

Meti-bembiya: The clayey ground; Hanguranketha division, Nuwara Eliya district. Bim, Bima: Ground, place, site, earth, land, soil, landed property (Sinhala); Bhoomi: Earth, ground (Sanskrit, CDIAL 9557)

Meti-wala: The clayey forest; Ambalangoda division, Galle district

Meti-wala-landa: The high ground with low jungle attached to the clayey forest; Uva Paranagama division, Badulla district

Meti-viliya: The clayey marsh/ hole/chasm; or the liquefied clay/ clayey water (bog); Elpitiya division, Galle district. Either from Vila: hole, chasm, pond, marsh (Sinhala); or from Vileena: semi fluid, liquefied (Sinhala)

Meti-gath-wala: The forest to obtain clay; or the forest of clay (land); Angunukolapelessa division, Hambantota district. Gata, Gat: obtained, gained (Sinhala); Gone (Sanskrit, CDIAL 4008); referring to, concerning (Pali, CDIAL 4008, genitive affix Ge in Sinhala)

Gal-metiyawa: The clayey ground with rocks; Thampalakamam division, Trincomalee district

Metiyak-gama: The village in the clayey ground; Mahawa division, Kurunegala district

Metiyam-potha: The range of clay; Rideegama division, Kurunegala district

Metiya-gane: The clayey corner; or the clayey forest; Narammala division, Kurunegala district; Warakapola division, Kegalle district

Rath-metiya: The place of red clay; Hanguranketha division, Nuwara Eliya district

Metihak-wala: The forest of clayey ground; Opanayake division, Ratnapura district

Metihakka: The clayey (place); Ambanganga Korale division, Matale district


Kara:

Karasna-gala: The hard rock or rocky hill; Attanagalla division, Gampaha district; Galigamuwa division, Kegalle district

Karaliyadda: Kara’l-leeyadda: The hard bed of land; Medadumbara division, Kandy district; Hanguranketha division, Nuwara Eliya district

Kara-mada: The hard field; Udunuwara division, Kandy district

Kara-gala: The hard or rough rocky hill; Ganga Ihala Korale division, Kandu district

Karada-mulla: The corner of hard or rough surface; Laggala-Pallegama division, Matale district

Kara-midula: The hard or rough yard or compound; Hanguranketha division, Nuwara Eliya district

Kara-vita: The hard or rough hill/ mound; Nivithigala division, Ratnapura district; Chilaapam division, Puththa’lam district. In this context of the latter, it also could mean the mound of Kaarai shrubs or the coastal mound

Kara-pola: The open place of hard earth; Welikanda division, Polonnaruwa district

Karala-pala: The hard or rough open place; Narammala division, Kurunegala district

First published: Tuesday, 21 January 2014, 20:07