Know the Etymology: 457
Place Name of the Day: Sunday, 28 February 2016

Ku'nda-saalea

குண்ட₃ஸாலே
Kuṇḍasālē

Ku'nda+saalea

The king's leisure house or pleasure house

Ku'nda-saala	the king's pleasure house or leisure house; “Rajugea vinodagrhaya” (spoken Sinhala, Sorata); literally meaning “the little palace or minor palace.”
Ku'nda	from Ku'ntha: little (Sinhala, Sorata) related to Kota: little; Kudaa: small (Sinhala); Ku'ndai: little, small, short and stout (Tamil, DED 1670, Aka:naanoo'ru, 184: 8); Ku'nda: (adjective) small, little (Tamil, Chilappathikaaram 23: 87-88); Kuddam: smallness (Tamil, DED 1670)
Saala	house, hall (Sinhala); S'aalaa: shed, stable, house (Atharva Vedic Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, CDIAL 12414); Chaalai: shed (Tamil, Paddinappaalai, 52); hall (Tamil, Theavaaram, 1: 12: 7), palace, royal house (Tamil, Thivaakaram, 5: 152)

Ku'nda-saalea is the name of a historical place in the former kingdom of Kandy.

Sorata Thera's Sinhala dictionary notes that Ku'nda-saala means the king's pleasure house or leisure house (Rajugea vinodagrhaya). The word is marked as spoken Sinhala. The literal meaning is probably ‘the little palace or minor palace’.

The prefix Ku'nda in this context seems to be related to Ku'ntha in Sinhala meaning anything little or small. The word is also a nasalized form of Kudaa in Sinhala, meaning small or minor.

All of them have etymological cognates such as Kuddam, Kuddi etc., meaning the same in Tamil/ Dravidian (DED 1670).

The nasalized form Ku'ndai itself, listed as Dravidian (DED 1670), could be found in Changkam Tamil usage, meaning anything small.

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“Ku'ndaik koadda ku'ru mu'l ka'l'li” (Aka:naanoo'ru, 184: 8)

“குண்டைக் கோட்ட குறு முள் கள்ளி” (அகநானூறு, 184: 8)

The cactus of small stout branches and tiny thorns


“Ku'ndap paarppeer ennodu oathi” (Chilappathikaaram 23: 87-88)

“குண்டப் பார்ப்பீர் என்னொடு ஓதி” (சிலப்பதிகாரம் 23: 87-88)

Little Brahmin children, come and recite together with me

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Saalea, the toponymic form of Saala, means a house or hall in Sinhala. The Sanskrit cognate S'aalaa of Atharva Vedic diction has the meanings, shed, stable or house (CDIAL 12414). The word in its Tamil form Chaalai could be found in the Changkam diction too. In later usages, one of the meanings of the word was a royal house or palace (Thivaakaram Lexicon, 5: 152).

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Ku'nda-saalea is the name of a place and also the name of a division in Kandy district. The place had royal connections in the Kandyan times

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Some related place names:

Saalaawa: The noble house or the hall; Seethawaka division, Colombo district

Saala-mulla: The corner of the noble house or hall; Kolonnawa division, Colombo district

Chaalai: This place name may be related to Chaa'lai-aa'ru, the sea inlet to get Chaa'lai (sardine) fish; Karaithu'raippattu division, Mullaiththeevu district

First published: Sunday, 28 February 2016, 17:40