Know the Etymology: 91
Place Name of the Day: Tuesday, 23 May 2017

Calli

சல்லி
Calli

Calli

The (place scattered with) small pieces of stones, shells, coral etc

Calli

small pieces of stone or glass, potsherd, small chips as of stone, rubble, small flat shells used for lime, small copper coin (Tamil, DED 2381, Tēvāram, 6: 52: 8); cognates in 6 Dravidian languages; Salli: small coin, money in general (Sinhala, Clough); Calli-nilam: seabed of small stones, shell fragments etc., (Tamil, Murukanantham, p. 87); Callittal: making anything into fragments (Tamil, Kathiraiverpillai); Cilli: small broken pieces of stone etc. (Tamil, DED 1577); = Calli (Tamil, MTL); Cil: small, slight, fine, small piece (Tamil, DED 1671, MTL); Cilku: (verb) to become dwindle (Tamil, MTL, Akanāṉūṟu, 17: 20); Cillam: shivers, fragments, small pieces (Tamil, MTL); Cillaṟai: things scattered here and there in small quantities, sundries, fractional quantities, money changed into small units (Tamil, DED 2574)

Calli in Tamil commonly means small fragments and the word is listed as Dravidian (DED 2381). In the context of coastal place names it means small fragments of stones, seashells, coral etc. that are accumulated as banks on a shore, shoal or islet.

Calli in Tamil and Malayalam and Salli in Sinhala meaning a small coin, correspond to the word basically meaning a small piece.

Cil, Cilli and Cillam are another set of Tamil/ Dravidian cognates of Calli (DED 1577, 1671)

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Usage example for Calli in Tamil literature:

"எறி சல்லி புதுமலர்கள் ஆக்கினான்காண்" (அப்பர் தேவாரம், 6: 52: 8)

"Eṟi calli putumalarkaḷ ākkiṉāṉkāṇ" (Appar Tēvāram, 6: 52: 8)

God Siva who made the small stones thrown at him (with devotion) into fresh flowers [A reference to one of the early saints, Cākkiya Nāyaṉār]

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Calli is a coastal place in Trincomalee Town and Gravets division of Trincomalee district.

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Some related place names:

Callai: Karainagar, Jaffna

Calli-muṉai: Kuchchaveli, Trincomalee

Callik-kaḷappu: Kinniya, Trincomalee

Papparavan-calli: Nayiṉā-tīvu, Kayts, Jaffna. This is the land deed name of the ground in which today's Nāka-pūṣaṇi Ammaṉ temple is located

Callit-tīvu: Koralaippattu, Batticaloa. An uninhabited islet, adjacent to a coastal village called by the same name

Callit-tīvu-muṉai: Koralaippattu, Batticaloa. A point at the coast opposite to Callit-tīvu

Calliyam-piṭṭi: an islet off Kaṟpiṭṭi, Puttalam (Kalpitti OIS). Calli+am+piṭṭi (Am is an empty morpheme called Cāriyai in Tamil, used in conjunctions)

Calliyam-pati: Polikaṇṭi, Vatamaradchi, Jaffna (V. Almanac, 2013-14, p. 159). Calli has been made Calli+am+pati to sound prestigious

Celliyā-tīvu: Pūnakari, Kilinochchi. Probably from Calliya-tīvu; Calli+a/ā+tīvu (A and Ā for genitive case is a feature noticed in Tamil Brahmi inscriptions and in old Kannada)

Kommā-calli: a locality in Aṉalai-tīvu South, Kayts, Jaffna (V. Almanac). The toponymic meaning of Kommā is uncertain but note the term coming in coastal places, as in Kommā-tuṟai, Batticaloa (V. Almanac, 2013-14, p. 100); Kommā-piṭṭi, Puṅkuṭu-tīvu, Jaffna (HAM temple records); Komman-taṟai, Uṭuppiṭṭi North, Jaffna (V.Almanac, 2013-14, p. 146); Kommā-kalaṭṭi, Tumpaḷai, Jaffna (Balasundaram, p. 57)

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Revised: Tuesday, 23 May 2017, 18:30

First published: Thursday, 10 April 2008, 21:49