Know the Etymology: 438
Place Name of the Day: Sunday, 10 January 2016

Mæssa-gammana, Mæssalæwa

மெ[æ]ஸ்ஸ-க₃ம்மன மெ[æ]ஸ்ஸலெ[æ]வ
Mæssa-gammana, Mæssalæva

Mæssa+gammana
Mæssa+la+wa

The cultivated outskirts of the village having a watchtower or platform to watch paddy fields

The place of the watchtower or platform to watch paddy fields

Mæssa

(singular), Mæsi (plural): raised floor or platform in the rice fields on which a person is stationed to watch the grain, small erection made of sticks, place to sit or sleep upon, water stand made of sticks, hurdle, hen coop made of wicker work (Sinhala, Clough); Mesi: = Mæsi: Ænda, Mæssa (Sorata); Mæhi: = Mæsi: see Mæsi above, also Mæsi: bed (Sinhala, Clough); Mæsisea: platform (Sinhala, Clough); Mæsi-geya: tower (Sinhala, Clough); Mæsi-gea: “Atalla”, high tower or observatory built of wood for the purpose of surveying the surrounding country (Sinhala, Sorata, Clough); 1. Meadai: platform, raised floor, artificial mound, terraced house, stage (Tamil, DED 4796b); Meata: raised floor, tower, upper story, palace (Malayalam, DED 4796b); Maada, Meata: upper story, storeyed house (Sanskrit, traced to Tamil/ Dravidian Maadam, Meatai, CDIAL 9996); Mea: high place (Tamil, DED 5086); Mettu, Meatu, Meadu, Metta, Mitta: height, raised ground, rising ground etc., in various Dravidian languages (DED 5058); T > Sh change is common in Maldivian but it is rare in Sinhala. It is vice versa in Sanskrit to Prakrit or Dravidian; 2. Misai: elevation, elevated place, hill, mound (Tamil, DED 4841); Meesai: upper part (Tamil, DED 4841); Meesu: elevated place (Tamil, DED 4841); from the root Mee: height, elevation (Tamil, DED 4841)

The Sinhala word Mæssa in the context of place names means a watchtower or raised platform usually made of wood, serving the purpose of surveying the surrounding country or watching paddy fields. See box for other related meanings.

Mæssa and its plural form Mæsi correspond to Meadai in Tamil/ Dravidian (DED 4796b) meaning a platform or raised floor.

T/ D becoming S/ Sh is commonly found in Maldivian as in the example Puti > Fushi (a sandbank islet or an inferior island from the original meaning raised ground or bank). In Sinhala it is rare, but an example could be seen in the case of Mæssa. In cases vice versa, Sh in Sanskrit commonly becomes T/ D in Pali/ Prakrit and in Dravidian as in the example Kaashtha > Kattha/ Kattai (piece of wood).

The Tamil/ Dravidian form Meadai is related to the root Mea meaning a high place (DED 5086). Mettu and Meadu in Tamil and Metta, Mitta, Mutta in other Dravidian languages are related words (DED 5058).

A Comparative Dictionary of Indo-Aryan Languages traces the etymology of Maada/ Meata in Sanskrit meaning an upper story or storeyed house to Maadam and Meadai in Dravidian.

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Misai in old Tamil/ Dravidian (DED 4841), meaning elevation, elevated place, mound, hill etc., is another word that could be compared with Mæssa in Sinhala. In this case, the root word found in Tamil/ Dravidian is Mee, meaning height or elevation (DED 4841). Meesai and Meesu are other derivatives in Tamil.

Misai meaning elevated place:

“Aval izhiyinum misai ea'rinum” (Pu'ra:naanoo'ru, 102: 3)

“அவல் இழியினும் மிசை ஏறினும்” (புறநானூறு, 102: 3)

Whether coming down to a low-lying place or climbing up to an elevated place

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The toponymic form Mæssalæwa comes from Mæssa getting the affix La and then added with another affix Wa.

Coming from another etymon and unrelated to the toponymic context under discussion, Mæssaa in Sinhala (plural: Mæssoa) means a fly or fly in general. The word in this meaning corresponds to Moosu in Tamil/ Dravidian (DED 5030) meaning to swarm about as flies (verb) and meaning swarming or thronging as flies (noun).

For discussions on Gammana meaning a village neighbourhood or cultivated outskirts of a village see column on Nilapalaa-gammana

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Mæssa-gammana is a place in Mallawapitiya division of Kurunegala district

Mæssalæwa is in Kahatagasdigiliya division of Anuradhapura district

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Some related place names:

Maha-mæssalæwa: The bigger part of Mæssalæwa village; Kahatagasdigiliya division, Anuradhapura district

Kuda-mæssalæwa: The smaller part of Mæssalæwa village; Kahatagasdigiliya division, Anuradhapura district

Mæhi-mulla: The watchtower or watch platform corner; Beruwala division, Kalutara district

Mæhi-ælla: The stream, waterfall by the watchtower; or the stream of Mæsi fish; or the stream in the locality of Mæsi plants; Mallawapitiya division, Kurunegala district. Mæsi: a fish (Sinhala, Sorata); an aromatic plant, Indian Spikenard (Sinhala, Sorata)

Thalam-mæhæra: Probably, the sesame field watch hut; or probably Thalam-mahara; Pannala division, Kurunegala district. Meheru: Tabasvi aasanaya? (Sorata), platform, raised seat

First published: Sunday, 10 January 2016, 22:13