‘A–il’
is derived from a–i, a line or row,
and il, a house or place. The squirrel is called a–il
in Tamil, because it possesses three white stripes on its back. The ancient
Tamils had always observed the most distinctive features or characteristics
of things, that readily attract the attention of the spectator, and named
them accordingly. Hence, the initial consonant of the Tulu ca–ilu
is only a prosthetic addition. The same principle applies to many other
Dravidian words shown by Professor Burrow.
On an ultimate analysis, it is found, that
the Madras University Tamil Lexicon is solely responsible for all these
errors. Even the system of transliteration of Tamil sounds adopted in
the Lexicon, grossly misrepresents Tamil and misleads foreigners. Pƒmbu,
the word for snake in Tamil, for instance is never pronounced ‘pƒmpu’,
and ‘kodu’, to give, never ‘ko—u’,
to sting.
Not only Tamil and Dravidian languages,
but also those of the Aryan family, furnish examples for the phenomenon
of prosthetic addition of sibilants.
e.g. |
Tamil |
Aryan
|
|
t‡–,
tu–am |
sth‡–ƒ
(Skt.) |
|
mayir
|
smasru
(Skt.) |
|
nƒgam
|
snake
(MLG & E.)
snaca (OE.) |
|
medu
|
smooth
(E.) |
|
umbar |
super
(L.) |
The Tamil nƒgam
‘is derived from ‘nagar’, to creep.
The English word ‘snake’ also is derived
similarly from the Anglo-Saxon ‘snican’, to creep.
Etymologization of Tamil words is no easy
thing even for a native Tamil Scholar, unless he has devoted his whole
life-time to the study and specialised in it.
The term, ‘etymology’ is derived from the
Greek ‘etymos’, true, and ‘logos’, a word, treatise or science, and hence,
mis-derivation of any word is no etymology at all.
|