Know the Etymology: 465
Place Name of the Day: Wednesday, 23 March 2016

Dora-gamuwa, Doratiyaawa, Thora’na-kada, Kithul-dora

தொ₃ரக₃முவ,
தொ₃ரட்டியாவ,
தொரணகட₃,
கி[த்]துல்தொ₃ர
Doragamuva, Doraṭiyāva, Toraṇakaḍa, Kituldora

Dora+la affix
Doratiyaawa
Thora'na+kada
Kithul+dora

The village at the entrance

The entrance or entrance portal

The arched entrance passage

The Kithul-palm locality

Dora1	door, gate, entrance (Sinhala); Gam-dora: village entrance, “Gamata ætul vana tæna” (Sinhala, Sorata); Dora-gam: a village close to a city entrance but located outside (Sinhala, Sorata); 1. Turavu: opening, entrance (Malayalam, DED 3259); related to Thi'ra: (verb) to open as a door, cut open (Tamil, DED 3259, cognates in 15 Dravidian languages); Thu'ra: (verb) spoken form of Thi'ra; (verb) to leave, quit (Tamil, DED 3365); 2. Thoor: (verb) to enter (Tamil, DED 3399, related to Tu'ru as verb meaning to come close, DED 3367; or Tura/ Turu as a verb meaning to bore, to tunnel etc., DED 3339); Doo'ru: (verb) to enter, penetrate (Tulu, DED 3399); Thoo'ru: (verb) to enter, enter a hole as a mouse, go through a hole, penetrate (Kannada, DED 3399); hole or a narrow passage through a fence etc. (spoken Eezham Tamil, often spelt Thooththu); 3. Tho'l: to perforate (Tamil, DED 3528); Tho'lai, Thu'lai: (verb) to make a hole; (noun) hole, orifice, hollow as of a tube, gateway, passage (Tamil, DED 3528); 4. Dvara: door (Sanskrit, CDIAL 6651); Dvaar: gate, door, entrance (Sanskrit, Monier Williams); Dvaara: door, gate, passage, entrance (Sanskrit, Monior Williams); door (Pali, CDIAL 6459); Duvaara: door (Sanskrit, CDIAL 6459);
Dorati	also Dorotu: gate, portal, gateway, “Dvaaraya” (Sinhala, Sorata, Clough); Thoaddi: gate of a fort (Tamil, Changkam diction, Mathuraikkaagnchi 693); protection gate, guard or watch of a fort (Tamil, Changkam diction, Pathittuppaththu, 25: 5; 71: 13); house gate (Tamil, Pingkalam, 4: 234); Dorati could be compared to Doo'ru, Thoo'ru, Thoor: (verb) to enter (respectively, Tulu, Kannada, Tamil, DED 3399); Thoaddi is closer to Tho'lai, Thu'lai: (verb) to make a hole; (noun) gateway, passage (Tamil, DED 3528); Todu, Thoaddu: (verb) to scoop out, pierce through (Tamil, DED 3549); Dvaara-koashthaka, Dvaara-kotthaka: room over a gate, gate, gateway (respectively, Sanskrit, Pali, CDIAL 6664)
Tora'na	entrance, gate, portal, “Vaasala, Doratuwa” (Sinhala, Sorata); outer door, porch (Sinhala, Clough); decorated arch erected on festival occasions (Sinhala, Clough, Sorata); Tora'na, Toara'na: arch, arched doorway, portal, festooned doorway, outer door, gate (Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, Monier Williams, CDIAL 5976); Thoara'nam: decorated arch-entrance, street decorations (Tamil, Chilappathikaaram, 5: 104; Ma'nimeakalai, 1: 43)
Dora2	front yard of a house etc., “Midula” (Sinhala, Sorata); either related to Dora 1, because of the proximity of an entrance or related to Thu'rai: frequented place, place of meeting (Tamil, DED 3370). Also see Dora 4.
Dora3	street, “Veedhiya” (Sinhala, Sorata); Thu'rai: way, path, roadstead (Tamil, DED 3370). Also see Dora 1.
Dora4	side, adjacency “Addara, Sameepaya” (Sinhala, Sorata); Dura: the part placed in front, “Idiri kotasa” (Sinhala, Sorata); Thu'rai: a locational case affix meaning, place, location, situation (Tamil, DED 3370); Thu'ru: (verb) be close by; (noun) closeness (Tamil, DED 3367, “Thu'rumalea nerungkal,” Choodaama'ni lexicon, 8: 14)
Dora5	a kind of grain called Waraa-deri, Waraka, Woraka, Sihin-waraa; (Waraka: wild kidney bean; Woara: a pulse, Dolichos catjang; Clough), or the grains coming from bamboo etc., “Voraka nam dhaanyaya hoa u'na bata aadiyeahi æta” (Sinhala, Sorata); Thuvarai: a pulse Cadjanus indicus (Tamil, DED 3353); Thoarai: a kind of hill paddy (Tamil, Changkam diction, Mathuraikkaagnchi, 286: 7); edible grains obtained from bamboo (Tamil, Malaipadukadaam, 121)
Dora6	a tree, shrub or plant, “Gas vesesak” (Sinhala, Sorata); probably Thoara: Cassia species (Sinhala, Clough)
Dorala	also Dora'la, Dora'na: a tree peculiar to the island. Its oil or resin is balsamic and also used in the preparation of paints, Dipterocarpus glandulosus (Sinhala, Clough, Sorata). Note the 'N/ 'L/ L changes.

The component Dora is found used in different shades of meanings in Sinhala place names. It means an entrance or gate, front yard, street, adjacency, a kind of grain and also a tree or shrub (see the six different boxes on Dora and related place names).

The Sinhala phrases Gam-dora and Dora-gam respectively mean a village entrance and a village located just outside of an entrance (Sorata). Another phrase Dora-kada means an entrance passage or an entrance structure (Kada here means passage or a piece of structure).

In meaning an entrance or gate, Dora is often traced to Dvaara in Sanskrit, meaning the same (CDIAL 6459). But see box on Dora 1 for the verbs and nouns in Dravidian that show possible parallel etymology closer to the Sinhala word formation (DED 3339, 3259, 3365, 3367, 3528). Note especially the verb Doo'ru in Tulu (DED 3339).

Doratiya in Sinhala means the same as Dora, with a small difference that it may also mean a portal or a gateway. CDIAL compares it with Dvaara-koashtaka in Sanskrit (CDIAL 6664). However, the word Thoaddi found in Changkam Tamil diction for the gate of a fort (gate of a house in later Tamil lexicons), and related Dravidian verbs (Thoaddu, Tho'lai, Doo'ru, Thoo'ru etc., DED 3549, 3528, 3339) strengthen the possibility that there was a parallel Dravidian etymology.

Tora'na in Sinhala, Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit generally means an arched and decorated entrance. The usage is first noticed in Mahabharata (CDIAL 5976). The word shows affinities to Dvaara as well as to the Dravidian parallels mentioned above. But the word-form Thoara'nam, used in the same meaning and found in Tamil since post-Changam times of Chilappathikaaram and Ma'nimeakali, shows a linguistic route via Sanskrit/ Prakrit,

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In meaning a front yard and street, Dora in Sinhala may be related to the word meaning an entrance. But there could also be other etyma for these meanings. A possible cognate sharing both the said meanings is Thu'rai in Tamil/ Dravidian (DED 3370). See boxes Dora 2 and Dora 3.

In a strikingly different shade of meaning, the component Dora is also found used in Sinhala place names as an affix standing for adjacency or location. As in the example Kithul-dora, the component is used very similar to Adi in Tamil place names such as Aaladi, Veampadi etc.

Addara or Sameepaya (side or adjacency) is one of the meanings of Dora in Sinhala, notes Sorata.

In such a meaning, Dora in Sinhala is comparable to Thu'rai, which is a locational case affix in old Tamil/ Dravidian, meaning place, location or situation (DED 3370). The verb root Thu'ru, meaning to come close by, and the same word as noun meaning closeness in old Tamil/ Dravidian (DED 3367) should be noted here. See box on Dora 4.

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In meaning a kind of grain (Voraka, bamboo paddy etc), Dora in Sinhala finds the cognates Thuvarai (a pulse) and Thoarai (a hill paddy and also bamboo paddy) in Tamil (DED 3353, Changkam diction, see box Dora 5). Place names such as Dora-kumbura and Dora-liyadda probably mean a field to cultivate Dora grain.

Dora meaning a tree or shrub (Sorata) could be seen in Sinhala place names such as Dora-pe. The identity of the tree/ shrub is not clear, but Dorala/ Dora'la in Sinhala is identified with Dora'na (Dipterocarpus glandulosus), which is a tree peculiar to the island (Clough). Both Dorala and Dora'na are also found in Sinhala place names (see related place names).

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Dora-gamuwa is a village in Pathadumbara division of Kandy district. The village might have got its name by its location at the entrance to former territories of Kandy.

Doratiyaava is a place in Mallawapitiya division of Kurunegala district.

Thora'na-kada is a place in Eheliyagoda division of Ratnapura district.

Kithul-dora is in Hatharaliyadda division of Kandy district.

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Some related place names:

Dora related to entrance:

Niyamgam-dora: The entrance to the mercantile settlement; Kothmala division, Nuwara Eliya district

Kada-dora-pitiya: The high ground plain at the forest entrance; Kothmale division, Nuwara Eliya district. Kada-dora as a phrase in Sinhala means forest entrance, “vanayata piveesena dvaaraya” (Sorata)

Dora-weruwa: The gate barrier; Polpithigama division, Kurunegala district. The place was probably a border barrier to Kandyan territories. Weru: probably Wæru: barrier, obstruction, stop, Wæ'lækwu, Nævætvu (Sinhala, Sorata, Vilakku: verb, to obstruct; noun, obstruction Tamil, DED 5423); Varai: (verb) to restrain (Tamil, DED 5273); bank, shore, limit, boundary (Tamil, DED 5261); Varampu: boundary, limit (Tamil, DED 5261); Varu: boundary, border (Malayalam, DED 5261); Wara: bank, “Goda vana tæna”; enclosure, “Aawara'naya, Praakaaraya” (Sorata); related to Varaippu: limit, boundary, wall, enclosure (Tamil, DED 5261)

Dora-baawila: The entrance valley; or probably. Doru-bæwila: the hollow valley; Panduwasnuwara division, Kurunegala district. This is a valley or depression between two high grounds and there is a marsh pond.

Dora-madalaawa: The entrance region; Mihinthale division, Anuradhapura district. The division was entrance region to Kandyan territories; Madala: from Madol: Ma'ndalaya: circle, region, district (spoken Sinhala, Sorata)

Katu-dora: The spiked entrance; or probably Kattu-dora: The border entrance to a region, barrier gate or the dam entrance; Walallavita division, Kalutara district

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Doratiya:

Doratiyaa-gedara: The house and premises having an arched entrance; Panduwasnuwara West division, Kurunegla district

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Thora'na:

Thoranea-gama: The village having an arched entrance; Galnewa division, Anuradhapura district

Thoranea-gedara: The house and premises having an arched entrance; Kuliyapitiya East division, Kurunegala district

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Dora related to adjacency:

Del-dora-watta: The garden by the side of a Del tree; Millaniya division, Kalutara district

Bala-dora: The Bala tree locality; Kobeigane division, Kurunegala district

Horo-dorowwa: The Hora tree locality; Haputale division, Badulla district

Al-dora: Probably the Hal tree locality; Balangoda division, Ratnapua district. Al = probably Hal: the Sal tree or public hall, S'alaawa, Ambalama

Diya-dora: The place adjacent to a water body; or the waterfront; Kuliyapitiya West division, Puththa'lam district

Lena-dora: The place adjacent to the cave; or the entrance to the cave; Dambulla division, Matale district

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Dora related to a grain crop:

Dora-liyadda: The grid to cultivate Dora; Medadumbara division, Kandy district

Maha-dora-liyadda: The bigger village of the name Dora-liyadda, differentiated from Dora-liyadda of the same division; Medadumbara division, Kandy district. See Dora-liyadda.

Dora-kumbura: The field to cultivate Dora; or the paddy fields at the entrance; Matale division, Matale district; Padiyathalawa division, Ampaa'rai district

Asgiri-Dora-kumbura: The Dora-kumbura at Asgiriya (bear hill) or belonging to Asgiriya monastery, differentiated from Dora-kumbura of the same district; Yatawata division, Matale district. See Dora-kumbura.

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Dora related to a tree or shrub:

Dora-waka: The part of Dora trees; Warakapola division, Kegalle district

Dora-pe: The grove of Dora trees; Imaduwa division, Galle district

Dora-pane: The place of Dora trees; Kolonna division, Ratnapura district

Dora-gala: The rocky hill of Dora trees; or the rock/ rocky hill at the entrance; Udapalatha division, Kandy district

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Dorala as a tree:

Dorala: The (place of) Dorala trees; or Dora+la: The entrance; Ambalangoda division, Galle district

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Dora'na (Dorala/ Dora'la) as a tree:

Dora'naa-goda: The bank/ hill/ village of Dora'na trees; Minuwangoda division, Gampaha district

Dora'næ-gama: The village of Dora'na trees; Harispattuwa division, Kandy district

Doranæ-pola: The open field of Dora'na trees; Rideegama division, Kurunegala district

Dora'nuwa: The place of Dora'na trees; Ruwanwella division, Kegalle district

First published: Wednesday, 23 March 2016, 18:48