Know the Etymology: 123
Place Name of the Day: Wednesday, 25 February 2009

Neelaava'nai

நீலாவணை
Nīlāvaṇai

Nee'la+va'nai
Nila+va'nai
Nee'la+a’nai
Nila+a'nai

• The long curve
• Where the land curves
• The long land bridge
• The land bridge

Va'nai	Curve (occurs as noun in the toponym); Va'nai (verb): To bend; Va'nakku (verb): To bend; Va'nar (noun): Curl (as the hair), vault (Changkam Diction, Dravidian Etymological Dictionary 5236); Va'nagku (verb): To bend, pay obeisance (Tamil, Cangkam and Modern); Va'nakkam (noun): Obeisance by bending (Tamil Changkam and Modern); Va'nangnguka (verb): To bend, bow (Malayalam)
A'nai	Embankment, dam, ridge (for retaining water in a field), bank (of river or sea), (Tamil, Dravidian Etymological Dictionary 122)
Nee'la	(adjective): Long, lengthy, extensive (to a great length or distance), Nee'lam (noun): Length (Tamil, Changkam and Modern, Dravidian Etymological Dictionary 3692)
Nilam	(noun): Ground, land, earth, soil, field (Tamil, Changkam and Modern, Dravidian Etymological Dictionary 3676); Nila (adjective): Connected to land

It is important to understand the landscape of Neelaava'nai to grasp the etymology of its toponym.

Neelaava'nai is located at the southern most end of the long Batticaloa Lagoon, where the land curves sharply.

If we take the suffix of the place name as Va'nai, then it may mean the curved landscape.

See the table for how the word stands for curve, bend etc.

The common Tamil word Va'nakkam for paying obeisance originated from the practice of prostrating or bending oneself while paying respect.

The other possibility is taking the suffix as A'nai. It will become Va'nai in compounds after vowel.

In this case it may mean the narrow land bridge or the sandbar the landscape of Nilaava'nai makes between the lagoon and Bay of Bengal.

The prefix Nilaa is probably derived from either Nee'la, Nila, both adjectives.

The former may mean the lengthiness of the sandbar and the latter word simply stands for land. The last vowel in the words can get elongated in compound words.

The Neelaava'nai village has two parts, Periya Neelaava'nai, meaning the big part of Neelaava'nai and Thu'rai Neelaava'nai, meaning the jetty or ferry point part of Neelaava'nai.

The former is the sandbar part and the latter is a ferry point to cross the lagoon or to travel along the Batticaloa Lagoon.

Neelaava'nai, the end point of the lagoon, is also the boundary of the present day Batticaloa and Ampaa'rai districts.

The big part of the village, Periya Neelaava'nai is a GS area in the Kalmunai division of Ampaa'rai district, while Thu'rai Neelaava'nai is a GS area in the Ka'luvaagnchikkudi (Ma'nmunai South and Eruvilpattu) division of Batticaloa district.



First published: Wednesday, 25 February 2009, 23:26