Know the Etymology: 486
Place Name of the Day: Tuesday, 02 August 2016

Muvaň-gala, Māṉ-kāṭu

முவங்க₃ல, மான்காடு
Muvaň-gala, Māṉ-kāṭu

Muvan+gala
Mān+kāṭu

The rocky hill of deer

The deer forest

Muva1	deer, Axis maculata (Sinhala, Clough); animal in general, an animal of that name [deer], wild animal (Sinhala, Sorata); Muvā: male deer, animal in general (Sinhala, Clough); Muvan: plural of Muvā (Sinhala, CDIAL 10264); 1. Mav: deer (Kota, DED 4780); Mof: deer (Toda, DED 4780); Māv: sambar deer (Gondi, Kodagu, Konda, DED 4780); Mā: animal in general, especially horse, elephant (Tamil, DED 4780); deer (Tamil, Akanāṉūṟu 261: 9); Māṉ: deer (Tamil, DED 4780); Māg: deer (Kolami, DED 4780); Māk: antelope, red deer (Kurux, DED 4780); Maku: stag (Maltese, DED 4780); Māvu: horse (Telugu, DED 4780); Mī: buffalo (Sinhala, Sorata); Miyu: buffalo (Sinhala, Clough); Miyu-rupu: horse (Sinhala, Sorata); Miyul: deer (Sinhala, Clough); Māyu: sambar deer (Kuwi, DED 4780); Māju: elk (Kuwi, DED 4780); 2. Mṛga: wild animal, deer (Sanskrit, Rig Vedic, CDIAL 10264); Maga, Miga: deer (Pali, CDIAL 10264);
Muva2	face (Sinhala, Sorata); Mukam, Mukaṉ: face (Tamil, DED 4889); Muṉ: in front (Tamil, DED 5020); Mukana: forepart (Malayalam, DED 4889); Mugaṇu: the front (Tulu, DED 4889); Muhuna (singular), Muhunu (plural): face, countenance (Sinhala, Clough); Mūna: face (Dhivehi/ Maldivian)
Māṉ	deer (Tamil, DED 4780); also elephant, horse, boar, lion, tiger (Tamil, Caṅkam diction); goat, shark (Tamil, lexicons);
Mā	animal in general (Tamil, DED 4780); deer (Tamil, Caṅkam diction). See box on Muva 1.

Māṉ and Muva/ Muvan are commonly used terms for deer in Tamil and Sinhala respectively.

Cognates for the study of etymology could be found both in Dravidian and Indo-Aryan.

The root word Mā, listed as Dravidian (DED 4780), means animal in general as well as deer in Caṅkam Tamil usages (Akanāṉūṟu 261: 9). In old Tamil diction, the word Māṉ stood for various animals including deer (see box).

Cognates Mav, Mof, Māg, Māk and Maku mean deer in the Dravidian languages, Kota, Toda, Kolami, Kurux and Maltese respectively. Another cognate Māv means sambar deer in the Dravidian languages, Gondi, Kodagu and Konda (DED 4780). Māvu is horse in Telugu.

The word forms found in Kota, Gondi, Kodagu, Konda and Telugu are closer to the Sinhala terms Muva, Muvā and Muvan. Like usages found in old Tamil for Mā/ Māṉ, the Sinhala terms also mean animal in general, besides meaning deer.

Meanwhile, the Rig Vedic Sanskrit term Mṛga also means any wild animal as well as deer, and the Pali terms Maga and Miga meaning deer are traced to Mṛga (CDIAL 10264).

Miyul is another term for deer found in Sinhala diction. The root Mī and a derivative Miyul, either related to Mā or Mṛga, mean buffalo in Sinhala and Miyu-rupu is horse. Again, a Dravidian language Kuwi has closer cognates Māyu and Māju meaning Sambar deer or elk (DED 4780).

The said deer-related terms in South Asian languages are a good example for interactions between Dravidian and Indo-Aryan in the distant antiquity. They are also a good example for the presence of a Dravidian substratum in Sinhala, beyond Tamil.

See earlier columns for etymology on Gala meaning rocky hill in Sinhala and Kāṭu meaning forest in Tamil.

The component Muva in certain Sinhala place names may also mean face or front part. The etymology corresponds to cognates Mukam, Mukan, Muṉ etc., in Dravidian (DED 4889, 5020).

* * *

Muvaň-gala is a place in Damana division of Ampara district.

Māṉ-kāṭu is in Manmunai South division of Batticaloa district

* * *

Some related place names:

Muvan-deṇiya: Rattota, Matale

Muvan-vẹva: Lunugamvehera, Hambantota

Muvan-vẹllē-gedara: Wariyapola, Kurunegala

Muvan-pẹlẹssa: Hingurakgoda, Polonnaruwa

Muva-gala: Ukuwela, Matale

Muva-gama: Ratnapura, Ratnapura

Muva-piṭiya: Rambukkana, Kegalle

First published: Tuesday, 02 August 2016, 21:05