Know the Etymology: 362
Place Name of the Day: Wednesday, 16 July 2014

Polle-bædda

பொல்லேபெ₃[æ]த்₃த₃
Pollēbædda

Pollea+bædda

The high-ground thicket in the middle of the paddy field stretch

Pollea	from Pollæ: A High ground situated in the middle of a paddy field (Sinhala, colloquial); Kumburu mæda pihiti us idama (Sorata’s dictionary, citing Glossary of Codrington); Po’r’ra: A slight elevation in rice grounds (Malayalam, DED 4567); Po’rai, Po’r’rai: Hill, mountain (Tamil, DED 4567). Note the R/ L change. See column on Gal-poru-yaya
Bædda	Forest, wood, thicket, jungle (Sinhala); Paththai: Thicket (Eezham Tamil); Turf (Tamil, MTL); Pa’r’rai: Bushes, low shrubbery, underwood (Tamil, MTL, from Pa’r’ru: Land seized by the growth of vegetation (Tamil, related to DED 4034). See column on Indibædda for other Dravidian cognates

Pollæ is a colloquial Sinhala word, which means a high ground situated in the middle of a paddy field stretch. Such grounds can’t be cultivated and are usually chosen for settlements by those who cultivate the paddy fields.

Pollæ in Sinhala is identical in meaning to Po’r’ra in Malayalam, meaning a slight elevation in rice grounds (DED 4567). R/ L interchange within a language as well as in between languages is common in South Asia.

The Malayalam word Po’r’ra corresponds to Po’r’rai and Po’rai in Tamil, listed as Dravidian (DED 4567) and meaning a hill or mountain. See column on Galporuyaya.

Bædda in Sinhala meaning a forest, jungle, wood or thicket, is probably related to Paththai in Eezham Tamil and Pa’r’rai in Tamil dictionary entries, meaning a thicket, scrub forest, bushes, low shrubbery, underwood etc. Pa’r’rai is related to DED entry 4034, Pa’r’ru, in the sense that any natural vegetation has a seizing growth. There are also other relevant cognates in Dravidian, for which, see column on Indibædda.

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Polle-badda (spelt as Pollea-bædda in Sinhala) is a place in Mahaoya division of Ampaa’rai district. The small village here is on a high ground of scrub, flanked by paddy fields.

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Some related place names:

Hulanka-polla: Probably, Hulanka-pollæ; The high ground in the middle of paddy fields having Hulang trees/ weed/ plants; Welimada division, Badulla district. Hulang: Many species of vegetation such as Hulang-hik, Hulang-maaraa (trees), Hulang-talaa (weed) and Hulang-idda (plant)

First published: Wednesday, 16 July 2014, 07:41