Know the Etymology: 451
Place Name of the Day: Thursday, 11 February 2016

Kayikaawala

கயிகாவல
Kayikāvala

Kayi+kaawala

The watch post

Kayikaawala

from Kayi-kaawal: watch post, sentinel's post, “Mura-pala” (Sinhala, Sorata); 1. Kayi, Kai: hand, “Ata”, (Sinhala, Sorata); voluntary work (spoken Sinhala, Sorata); Kaawal: guard, watchman, keeper, “Rækawala; watching, guarding, “Mura-kireema” (Sinhala, Sorata); Kai: hand, arm (Tamil, DED 2023); Kayi: hand, fore-arm (Kannada, DED 2023); cognates in 19 Dravidian languages; Kaaval: watching, defence, guard, protection, fence, fortification (Tamil, DED 1416); Kai-kaaval: that which is useful in emergency, provisions, weapons (Tamil, MTL, DED 2023+DED 1416); 2. Kaa: (verb) to watch, guard, preserve, shelter (Tamil, DED 1416); Kaa, Kaay, Kaayi: (verb) to guard, protect, watch, keep in check (Kannada, DED 1416); Kaayi: (noun) person who watches, guards (Kannada, DED 1416); Kaavala: place where anything is guarded, guarding, watching (Kannada, DED 1416); see Kaaval above; cognates in 20 Dravidian languages. See columns on Mura-pola and Raekawa.

Kayi-kaaval as a phrase in Sinhala means a watch post or sentinel's post.

Sorata Thera's Sinhala dictionary, listing the phrase under the main entry Kayi, gives the meaning “Mura-pala”, citing the Sinhala literature, Sæ'lalihi'ni Sandes'aya.

The prefix Kayi in the dictionary, means hand and the suffix Kaaval means guard or guarding. They are taken as Sinhala words.

Kayi has many usages and phrases in Sinhala, related to the meaning hand. The term corresponds to Kai meaning the same in Tamil/ Dravidian (DED 2023). An identical cognate Kayi could be found in Kannada.

Kaawal meaning guard or guarding in Sinhala means the same in Tamil/ Dravidian (DED 1416).

There is also a phrase Kai-kaaval in Tamil meaning weapons, provisions etc. that are kept for emergency. But the Tamil phrase doesn't correspond to Kayi-kaaval in Sinhala.

The Sinhala phrase Kayi-kaawal also doesn't seem to be related to the entry Kayi (hand) under which it is listed by Sorata, but seems to have come from a combination of usages in Kannada.

Related to the root verb Kaa (Tamil, DED 1416, from which Kaaval derived), there are two derivatives in Kannada: Kaayi as noun meaning guards or the person who watches, and Kaavala meaning the place where anything is guarded (DED 1416).

The Kannada phrase form Kaayi-kaavala, meaning a guards' post, thus exactly tallies with the meaning of Kayi-kaavala in Sinhala.

There is a strong probability that Kayi-kaavala hasn't derived from Kayi meaning hand, but has come as a technical term for a guard-post, through Kannada connections.

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Kayikaawala is noticed as a place name in Udadumbara division of Kandy district; Rattota division of Matale district and in Bentota division of Galle district

First published: Thursday, 11 February 2016, 21:05