Know the Etymology: 95
Place Name of the Day: Saturday, 13 May 2017

Karampaṉ, Cītaiyār-karampai, Karaṁbē, Karampaik-kuḷam, Karaṁba-vẹva

கரம்பன், சீதையார் கரம்பை, கரம்பே₃, கரம்பைக்குளம், கரம்ப₃வெ[æ]வ
Karampaṉ, Cītaiyār-karampai, Karaṁbē, Karampaik-kuḷam, Karaṁba-vẹva

Karampu+aṉ
Cītaiyār+karampai
Karaṁba
Karampai+kuḷam
Karaṁba+vẹva

The wasteland

The wasteland belonging to a person called Cītai

The wasteland

The tank in the locality of Karampai shrubs or the tank in the wasteland

The tank in the locality of Karaṁba shrubs or the tank in the wasteland

Karampaṉ	Karampu+aṉ (Aṉ is attributive suffix); Karampu, Karampai: wasteland (Tamil, DED 1285, Caṅkam diction, Kuṟuntokai, 400: 4-5; inscriptions, 789 CE, SII, ii, 99; 1004 CE, SII, vii, 440): hard clayey soil (Tamil, MTL, Caṅkam diction, Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai, 93); hard and sterile ground (Tamil, Winslow); Karampaic-cīrūr: hamlet in a wasteland or unproductive land, usually lived by non-cultivation communities such as the wandering bards or Pāṇar (Tamil, Caṅkam usage, Puṟanāṉūṟu, 285: 14-17; 302: 5-7); related to Karu-nilam: barren soil, wasteland (Tamil, DED 1285); Karuñ-cey: dry land, uncultivated waste (Tamil, DED 1285); Kara-bima: unfruitful ground (Sinhala, Clough); "luṇugatiya ẹti nisarubima" (Sinhala, Sorata); Kari, Karuku: (verb) to be scorched (Tamil, DED 1278a). See columns
Aṉ	attributive suffix, as in Parampaṉ Kōkūr: the Kōkūr village of the Parampaṉ type of land (Tamil Brahmi inscription, ETE 84); Parampaṉ: Parampu+aṉ, a type of land (Mahadevan, I., ETE 84, 2003, p. 439, 680); Aṉ, Aṉṉa: (noun) thing of that nature or type (Tamil, Paripāṭal, 4: 64); Aṉṉa: (verb) of that nature or type; (noun) thing of that nature or type (Tamil, Kuṟuntokai, 48: 5-6; Naṟṟiṇai, 165: 7-8; DED 1)
Karampai1	wasteland (Tamil, DED 1285). See box on Karampaṉ
Karampai2	a low-spreading, spiny, evergreen shrub, identified with Ciṟu-kaḷā, Carissa spinarum (Tamil, MTL, Peruṅ-kaḷā is Carissa carandas); Karaṇṭa: Carissa carandas (Malayalam, DED 1269); Karaṇḍe: Carissa carandas (Kannada, Tulu, DED 1269); Karamarda: Carissa carandas (Sanskrit, CDIAL 2799); Karamadda, Karamanda: Carissa caradas (Pali, CDIAL 2799); Karaṁba: tree of which there are two species; Maha-karaṁba: Carissa carandas; Hīn-karaṁba: Carissa, spinarum (Sinhala, Clough); etymology probably related to, 1. The black berries of the shrub; Kaḷā: blackness as well as Carissa spinarum and Carissa carandas (Tamil, DED 1377, Ḷ/ R interchange); Karu, Kār: black (Tamil, 1278a, 1278c); Kaṟu: (verb) to grow black (Tamil, DED 1395); 2. The thorny attribute of the shrub, Karu: barb, spike (Tamil, DED 1265); Kari-muḷ: hard thorn (Malayalam, DED 1265); Khara: hard, sharp (Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, CDIAL 3819); Mpa/ Ṁba is a morpheme affix noticed both in Tamil and Sinhala
Karaṁba	tree of which there are two species; Maha-karaṁba: Carissa carandas; Hīn-karaṁba: Carissa, spinarum (Sinhala, Clough). See box on Karampai 2

Karampu and Karampai in Tamil primarily mean a wasteland, sterile ground, rugged ground or hard alkaline land. Listed as terms of Dravidian etymology (DED 1285), the verb roots could be traced to Kari and Karuku meaning to be scorched (DED 1278a). Sinhala has a cognate Kara-bima, meaning unfruitful ground.

The form Karampaṉ comes from Karampu+aṉ. The aṉ ending in this case is an attributive suffix, meaning, 'of that nature'. Early examples could be seen in Tamil Brahmi inscriptions and in Caṅkam usage (ETE, 84; Paripāṭal, 4: 64).

While meaning a wasteland, the word Karampai in Tamil also means a shrub of the Carissa species that is usually found in arid scrubs. Kaḷā is another term in Tamil for this thorny shrub known for its pitch-black berries. Karaṁba is the corresponding term in Sinhala for the Carissa species.

In meaning the Carissa shrub, cognates of Karampai/ Karaṁba could be found both in Dravidian and Indo-Aryan (DED 1269, CDIAL 2799). The etymology is probably related to the black berries (Kaḻā/ Karu/ Kaṟu, DED 1278, 1395), or to the thorns of the shrub (Karu/ Khara, DED 1265, CDIAL 3819).

Karampai/ Karaṁba means a wasteland in some place names and in some others it means the Carissa shrub (see the examples).

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Karampai meaning wasteland, hard terrain etc:

"முரம்பு கண் உடைய ஏகி கரம்பைப் புது வழிப் படுத்த மதியுடை வலவோய்" (குறுந்தொகை, 400: 4-5)

"Murampu kaṇ uṭaiya ēki karampaip putu vaḻip paṭutta matiyuṭai valavōy" (Kuṟuntokai, 400: 4-5)

You the thoughtful charioteer, you have made a new track in the barren land by driving through it, smashing the rough, hard ground [Thanking the charioteer for avoiding the long road and taking a shortcut through wasteland, in order to save time in reaching home]


"காடுங் கரம்பையும்" (Tamil inscription, 789 CE, SII, ii, 99)

"Kāṭuṅ karampaiyum" (Tamil inscription, 789 CE, SII, ii, 99)

Jungle and wasteland


Karampaic-cīṟūr meaning a hamlet in wasteland:

"சீறி யாழ்க் கைவார் நரம்பின் பாணர்க்கு ஓக்கிய நிரம்பா இயல்பின் கரம்பைச் சீறூர்”

"Cīṟi yāḻk kaivār narampiṉ pāṇarkku ōkkiya nirampā iyalpiṉ karampaic cīṟūr”

The hamlet in the Karampai ground of unproductive or waterless nature that was given to the Pāṇar bards, whose hands play the strings of the Cīṟi-yāḻ harp [Allotment of wasteland for Pāṇar settlements is noted in many instances of Caṅkam poetry]


Karampu meaning the same as Karampai:

"களரி கரம்பே பெரும்பாழ் முதுநிலம்" (திவாகரம், 5: 223)

"Kaḷari karampē perumpāḻ mutunilam" (Tivākaram, 5: 223)

Kaḷari and Karampu mean big wasteland and barren land

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Reference to the black fruits of Kaḷā:

"காக்கையிற் கரியது களாம் பழம்" (Saying in Tamil)

"Kākkaiyiṟ kariyatu kaḷām paḻam" (Saying in Tamil)

What is darker than a crow is the fruit of Kaḷā

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Karampaṉ is a place in Kayts division of Jaffna district. It is largely a barren, alkaline plain. There is another Karampaṉ in Karaveṭṭi East of Jaffna district (V. Almanac).

Cītaiyār-karampai is in Nanaddan division of Mannar district.

Karaṁbē is a place in Maho division of Kurunegala district.

Karampaik-kuḷam is found in many places: Manthai West division of Mannar district; Madu division of Mannar district (at three places: Pālampiṭṭi, Maḻavarāyar-kaṭṭai-aṭampaṉ and in Paṉṉai-veṭṭuvāṉ); Manthai East division of Mullaiththeevu district; Thunukkay division of Mullaiththeevu district and in Oddusuddan division of Mullaiththeevu district.

Karaṁba-vẹva comes in Lunugamvehera division of Hambantota district.

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Some related place names:

Karampaṉ/ Karampai: (Tamil)

Karampaik-kuṟicci: Thenmaradchi, Jaffna

Karampaṉ-tū: Ampaṉ, Vadamaradchi East, Jaffna

Karampaṉ-ōṭai: Kokkuvil, Nallur, Jaffna (Balasundaram p. 105)

Karampakam: Thenmaradchi, Jaffna

Karampaik-kāṭu: Oddusuddan, Mullaiththeevu

Karampaṉ-kuḷam: Medawachchiya, Anuradhapura

Karampai: Kalpitti, Puttalam

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Karamban/ Karaṁba: (Sinhala)

Karamban-kulama: Medawachchiya, Anuradhapura. See Karampaṉ-kuḷam, the Tamil form of the same place

Karaṁba: Kalpitti, Puttalam. See Karampai, the Tamil form of the same place

Karaṁba-kẹṭiya: Udadumbara, Kandy; Beliatta, Hambantota

Karaṁbệva: Anaimadu, Puttalam; Nuwaragam Palatha, Anuradhapura; Either from Karaṁba-vẹva or from Karaṁba-bẹva

Karaṁba-goḍa: Siyambalanduwa, Moneragala

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Revised: Saturday, 13 May 2017, 18:30

First published: Sunday, 15 June 2008, 15:31