Know the Etymology: 488
Place Name of the Day: Sunday, 07 August 2016

Vẹl-gāla, Ẹt-gāla, Iluk-kālai, Paṭṭik-kālai

வெல்-கா₃ல, எத்-கா₃ல, இலுக்-காலை, பட்டிக்-காலை
Vẹl-gāla, Ẹt-gāla, Iluk-kālai, Paṭṭik-kālai

Vẹl+gāla
Ẹt+gāla
Iluk+kālai
Paṭṭik+kālai

The creeper thicket

The elephant shed or enclosure for elephants

The Iluk grass thicket or the cattle pen in Iluk grassland

The enclosure for cattle

Gāla1	thicket (Sinhala, Clough); Kāl: forest (Tamil, DED 1418)
Gāla2	enclosure for elephants or cattle (Sinhala, Clough); shed, enclosure (Sinhala, Codrington); see box on Kālai
Kālai	enclosure, cattle pen, “Aṭaippu, Toḻuvam” (Eezham Tamil, Kathiraiverpillai); enclosure, area of enclosure (Tamil, MTL cites Jaffna Dictionary); Kā: (verb) to shelter (Tamil, DED 1416); Kāval: that which serves as protection, fence, fortification (Tamil, DED 1416); Kāl: tie-rope used in tethering cattle (Tamil, DED 1482); Kāli: herd of cows, cow (Tamil, DED 1479); cow, cattle (Malayalam, DED 1479)
Vẹl	(noun) creeper; (adjective) creeping (Sinhala, Clough); Vallī: creeper, possible Dravidian origin cited (Sanskrit, Pali, CDIAL 11429); Vaḷḷi: climber, creeper (Tamil, DED 5316); creeper, vine, the pepper-vine (Malayalam, DED 5316); Baḷḷi: creeper (Kannada, Kodagu, DED 5316); a creeper, especially the betel vine (Tulu, DED 5316)

The component Gāla coming in Sinhala place names has two meanings: it means a thicket, especially a creeper thicket in some place names such as Titta-vẹl-gāla, and in some other place names it means a shed or enclosure especially for cattle or elephants, as in the example Ẹt-gāla.

In meaning a thicket, Gāla corresponds to Kẹla in Sinhala meaning a thicket, wood, jungle, wild uncultivated spot etc., and to Kāl in old Tamil/ Dravidian meaning a forest (DED 1418).

In meaning a shed or enclosure for cattle or elephants, the Sinhala term is a cognate of Kālai in Eezham Tamil, meaning a cattle pen or enclosure.

A shade of meaning for the word Kālai in Eezham Tamil usage is enclosure especially for cattle. Aṭaippu (enclosure) and Toḻuvam (cattle shed or cattle pen) are the explanations given to the word by Eezham Tamil lexicographer Kathiraiverpillai.

The Madras Tamil Lexicon cites Jaffna dictionary for Kālai meaning an enclosure or an area of enclosure.

The term, coming as a place-name component in the meaning of cattle-enclosure especially in the Eastern Province, is also a term of common usage in Jaffna Tamil to mean a shed, as in the phrase Marak-kālai (shed for woodwork or a timber depot).

In the above usages if the basic meaning of Kālai is an enclosure, the etymology could be traced to the Tamil/ Dravidian root verb Kā, meaning to shelter (DED 1416). If the meaning originally comes from cattle-pen or enclosure for cattle, then the etymology is probably related to the term Kāli meaning herd of cows or cattle in Tamil and Malayalam (DED 1479), and to Kāl in Tamil meaning tie-rope used in tethering cattle (DED 1482).

See earlier columns for Ẹt meaning elephant, Iluk meaning a kind of grass and Paṭṭi meaning herd of cattle.

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Vẹl-gāla comes as a place name in Pujapitiya division, Kandy district; Ibbagamuwa division, Kurunegala district and in Wariyapola division of Kurunegala district.

Ẹt-gāla is found as a place name in Katana division, Gampaha district and in Ganga Ihala Korale division of Kandy district.

Iluk-kālai is a place in Koralippattu division of Batticaloa district.

Paṭṭik-kālai, also known as Cāḷaiyaṭi Paṭṭik-kāḷai is also in Koralaippattu division of Batticaloa district.

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Some related place names:

Gāla:

Hatamuṇa-gāla: The thicket or cattle-pen at the edge; Matale, Matale. Hata-muṇa; Hata: Ata: end, edge, side, direction, nearby; Muṇa, Muna: face, front

Kẹlē-gāla: The cattle-pen in the forest; Nuwara Eliya, Nuwara Eliya

Paḷu-vẹl-gāla: The thicket of Paḷu-vẹl creepers; Nattandiya, Puttalam

Titta-vẹl-gāla: Ganewatta, Kurunegala. Titta-vẹl: literally meaning bitter creeper, a plant, Anamirta paniculata (Sinhala, Clough). Titta: bitter (Pali, Prakrit, Sinhala, CDIAL 5806); Tikta: bitter (Sanskrit, CDIAL 5806)

Gālē-vatta: The garden or grove in the thicket; or the cattle-pen grove; Pathadumbara, Kandy

Gālē-koluva: The thicket bank; or the cattle-pen bank; or the cattle-pen thicket; Rattota, Matale. Kolu: 1. Kol: river bank, shore; “Kūlaya, Ivura”; Koludu: “Verala” (Sinhala, Sorata); 2. Probably Golu: thicket, “Gulmaya, Lẹhẹba” (Sinhala, Sorata)

Gālē-vẹva: The tank in the thicket; or the tank of the cattle-pen; Maho, Kurunegala

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Kālai:

Tīvuk-kālai: The cattle enclosure in the islet; Alayadivempu, Amparai

Kālaik-koṭṭam: The cattle-pen shed or enclosure; Karaitheevu, Batticaloa

First published: Sunday, 07 August 2016, 10:25