Know the Etymology: 126
Place Name of the Day: Thursday, 19 March 2009

Maddakka'lappu / Batticaloa

மட்டக்களப்பு
Maṭṭakkaḷappu

Madda+ka'lappu

The muddy lagoon / backwaters

Ka'lappu

Lagoon, backwaters (Eezham Tamil); Shallow sea, shallows at sea (Tamil, Winslow); Shallows at sea, banks at sea (Tamil, Kathiraiver Pillai); Shallow part of the sea (Tamil, Dravidian Etymological Dictionary 1359); Kalapuwa: Lake which communicates with the sea, salt water lake (Sinhala, Clough); Ka'lar: Saline soil, bog; Ka'lari: Saline soil (Tamil DED 1359); Ka'lam: Shallows at sea, bank underwater, shoal, sandbar (Tamil, Winslow); Kazhi: Backwater, shallow sea-waters, salt river, marsh, saltpan (Tamil, Changkam Diction, Old Lexicons, modern provincial usage, Dravidian Etymological dictionary 1359); Kazhi: Sea-arm, ebbing brook, salt marsh (Malayalam, DED 1359); Ki'lappu: A variation in spoken Eezham Tamil, sometimes found written too.

Mada

Also Madai: Muddy area in a sea (Tamil, usage of coastal communities, A Dictionary of Technical Terms of the Coastal Folk, S. Murukanantham); Mada: Mud, slime, scum, froth etc. (Sinhala, Clough); Mada-bima: Muddy place, sink, bog, swamp (Sinhala, Clough); Maditta: Muddy ground, slough, bog (Sinhala, Clough); Maddi: Oyster, cockle, found usually in muddy waters (Tamil as well as Sinhala); Ma'ndu (verb), Ma'ndi (adverb): to be close enough (Tamil DED 4681); Ma'ndi (noun): Sediment, dregs, settlings (Tamil, DED 4676); Ma'nda: Dregs, dross, lees (Sinhala); Maddu: Dregs, lees, sediment of oil or palm-wine (Malayalam, DED 4676); Maddi, Maddu: Lees of sediment (Kannada, DED 4676); Maddi: Lees, sediment or refuse of any liquid, dregs, foulness, dirtiness, turbidity (Tulu, DED 4676)

Ka'lappu in Tamil and Kalapuwa in Sinhala are commonly used geographical terms in the island of Sri Lanka, for lagoons, backwaters and saltpans.

A large number of Ka'lappu and Kalapuwa toponyms are found especially in the Batticaloa, Ampa'rai, Hampantota and Matara districts of Southeastern Sri Lanka, even though some of them can be seen in the Jaffna, Ki'linochchi and Mannaar districts also. (See the list of related place names below)

Ki'lappu is a variation of Ka'lappu often heard in Eezham Tamil. It is quite common to hear Maddakka'lappu pronounced as Maddakki'lappu. But this is not usually found in written form, except in some rare examples such as the place name Thanang-ki'lappu in the Jaffna peninsula.

The word, Ka'lappu, meaning shallow sea, is listed as Tamil in the Dravidian Etymological Dictionary, entry 1359. The DED entries are words that are not found in the Indo-Aryan diction.

The root, or an earlier cognate of the word Ka'lappu is Kazhi, which is an extensively used term in the Changkam Tamil literature for backwaters of the littoral tract.

Kazhi, sometimes pronounced as Ka'li, is also found used in modern Tamil and Malayalam in the same meaning.

Ka'lappu probably has come from Kazhi-paadu, meaning a stretch of backwaters or a stretch of land adjacent to backwaters. (See column on Valaippaadu)

Interestingly there are also place names and backwaters names, retaining Kazhi or Ka'li in Eezham Tamil. They are mostly found in Trincomalee, Jaffna, Mannaar and Puththa'lam districts. (See related place names below)

A recently Sinhalicised form Ka'liya for Ka'li is also found in one of the place names, Kiriyang-ka'liya in the Puththa'lam district.

The popularity of the word Kalapuwa in the Sinhala place names of down south, in Hambantota and Matara districts, and its inclusion in the Sinhala dictionary suggest its long usage in Sinhala as well.

Note the loss of the retroflex sound of 'L into L and the addition of the finial 'WA' in the Sinhala form of the word.

Words ending in Tamil with the vowel sound, I /AI and U, taking up YA and WA respectively in Sinhala, is a common linguistic feature between the said languages. (Example: Ka'li > Ka'liya; Ka'lappu > Kalapuwa). Some of these features are found in early inscriptional Tamil too.

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Other related geographical terms found in the place names for Ka'lappu, Kazhi, Ka'li, Leavaaya, Thoduvaay etc., are Kadal, Aa'ru, Oadai, Kudaa and A'lam / A'lan / A'lai.

Kadal (Dravidian Etymological Dictionary 1118) is a general word for sea, found used in all south Dravidian languages (Ka'ndu for channels, inter-atoll waters etc in Maldivian). But it is also used for lagoons and sea inlets in Jaffna and Mullaiththeevu districts. (See examples below)

Aa'ru generally means a river (DED 5159), but narrow backwaters are also known by this name in Batticaloa, Mullaiththeevu and Jaffna districts. (See examples below).

Oadai, which commonly means stream, brook, flood-outlet, pond etc., is used in the Musali division of Mannaar and in Puththa'lam for small backwaters at the estuary of forest streams flow into the Gulf of Mannaar. (See examples below). Oadai means a water front in the Changkam Tamil diction (Paripaadal) and a pond or lake in the old Tamil lexicons (from the verb root Oadu: to run, running). Oadea / Ōḍē is a small lake or water course in Sinhala (Claugh's Dictionary).

Kudaa (DED1660) is a curving sea inlet, generally stands for bay and gulf. Some of the lagoons of this shape are known by this term. (See examples below).

A'lam (DED 299) is a word for saltpan, maritime tract, saline soil and sea. In Malayalam it means salt marsh and saltpan. A related word A'lakkar in Changkam diction stood for sea. Also A'lavar and A'laththi meant coastal folk and a coastal woman respectively in the Changkam diction.

In modern Tamil Uppa'lam (Uppu-a'lam) is saltpan.

Some of the backwaters formally produced salt are known by the suffix or prefix of A'lam / A'lan / A'lai etc in Batticaloa and Mullaiththeevu districts. (See examples below).

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Considering geography and parallel examples of place names, interpreting the prefix Madda of Maddakka'lappu as an adjective meaning muddy seems to be the appropriate. See table above for the shades of meaning of the word Madda for mud, turbidity, sediments etc., in relevant languages.

This word is not commonly used in standard Tamil in this form and meaning today, but it is found used in the Tamil coastal dialects and in Sinhala.

A muddy part of a sea is called Madai or Mada in the Tamil dialects of the coastal fisherman (Murukanantham, S., A Dictionary of Technical Terms of the Coastal Fisherman, 1990, Chennai).

Mada is a commonly used word in Sinhala for mud. There are also many related word formations such as Mada-gohoruwa (muddy place), Mada-bima (muddy place), Maditta (muddy ground) etc in Sinhala.

Once again, cognates of this word are not found in Indo-Aryan diction, but they are widely seen in Dravidian (DED 4676).

Mud basically is silt or sediment.

Compare the words Ma'ndi (Tamil), Maddu (Malayalam), Maddi, Maddu (Kannada) and Maddi (Tulu), meaning sediments (DED 4676).

The etymology of the words is connected to Ma'ndu (verb, Tamil), meaning coming closer, as in sediments settling (DED 4681). The Sinhala vocabulary also has a similar word, Ma'nda, with a comparable shade of meaning.

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Both the components, Madda and Ka'lappu found in the place name Maddak-ka'lappu are of Dravidian linguistic origins, but it is interesting to note them being shared by both Tamil and Sinhala vocabulary. The close affinities of the prefix with the usage of the Tamil fisher folk and with the word formation in Malayalam are also significant to note.

Maddak-ka'lappu, which was originally the name of the long stretch of lagoon, became the name for the location of the present city because the only entrance to the lagoon from the sea is found at this spot.

The strategic importance of the spot, providing and guarding entry into the 70 km long lagoon was recognized from very early times as evidenced by archaeological finds dating back to the dawn of the Common Era.

The Portuguese and later the Dutch built a Fort in the 17th century in a small islet called Pu'liyan-theevu (the island of Tamarind trees) at the mouth of the lagoon, which became the nucleus for the present day Batticaloa city.

Batticaloa is the Europeanized form of the place name Maddakka'lappu.



Some related place names:

Ka'lappu:

Koarai-ka'lappu: The backwaters having Koarai grass (different kinds of the genera Cyperus and Scirpus). Thirukkoayil, Thirukkoyil division, Ampaa'rai district

Periya-ka'lappu: The big backwaters. Thampiluvil, Thirukkoayil division, Ampaa'rai district

Mu'l'liyadi-ka'lappu: The backwaters of Mu'l'li vegetaion (generally Solanum indicum, but here probably Neer-mu'l'li, Barleria longifolia. Changkaman Ka'ndi, Poththuvil division, Ampaa'rai district

Thaa'ndiyadi-ka'lappu: The bachwaters in the locality of Thaan'ri trees (Terminalia bellerica). Changkaman Ka'ndi, Poththuvil, Ampaa'rai district

Thimpudu-ka'lappu: The backwaters in the locality of probably, Thimbiri/Panichchai trees (Embryopteris glutnifera, see column on Panichchangkea'ni). Koamaari, Poththuvil / Uhana divisions, Ampaa'rai district

Koamaarik-ka'lappu: The backwaters of Koamaari village. Koamaari, Poththuvil / Uhana divisions, Ampaa'rai district

Murungkathena-ka'lappu: The backwaters in the locality of the place of Murungkai trees. Koamaari, Poththuvil / Uhana divisions, Ampaa'rai district

Poththuvil-ka'lappu: The backwaters of Poththuvil village. Poththuvil, Poththuvil division, Ampaa'rai district

Arukam-ka'lappu: The backwaters of the locality having A'ruku grass (Agrostis linearis). A'rukam Kudaa, Ampaa'rai district

< Ka'lappuk-kaddu: The bund of the backwaters. Ka'lappukkaddu, Poththuvil division, Ampaa'rai district

Challik-ka'lappu: The backwaters of shell-fragments. Challikka'lappu, Ki'n'niyaa division, Trincomalee district

Periya-ka'lappu: The big backwaters. Tha'l'laadi, Mannaar division, Mannaar district

Vangkaalaik-ka'lappu: The backwaters of Vangkaalai. Vangkaalai, Naanaaddaan division, Mannaar district

Upullavan-ka'lappu: The backwaters named after the deity Upullavan (Sinhala for Vishnu) or a person of that name. Poonakari, Ki'linochchi district

Raaman-ka'lappu: The backwaters named after the deity Raaman or a person of that name. Poonakari, Ki'linochchi district

Vairavan-kidangku-ka'lappu: The backwaters of the ditch, named after the deity Vairavar or a person of that name. Poonakari, Ki'linochchi district

Karaiyaan-piddi-ka'lappu: The backwaters of the mound named after Karaiyaar (coastal) community or a member of that community. Poonakari, Ki'linochchi district

Thanang-ka'lappu, Thanag-ki'lappu: The backwaters named after a person Thanan (a shortened form of several names beginning with Thana). Thanagki'lappu, Jaffna district

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Kalapuwa:

Panama-kalapuwa, Panakala-kalapuwa, Solambe-kalapuwa, Kunugala-kalapuwa (all in Paa'nama area, Ampaa'rai district), Helawe-kalapuwa, Okanda-kalapuwa (in Oakanthai / Ukanthai, Ampaa'rai district), Kirikala-kalapuwa, Bagura-kalapuwa, Andarakala-kalapuwa, Itikala-kalapuwa (in Kirigalla, Ampaa'rai district), Yakkala-kalapuwa (Yakkala, Ampaa'rai district), Etheliwela-kalapuwa (Yaala, Ampaa'rai district), Karametiya-kalapuwa, Lunama-kalapuwa (Hungama, Hambantota district), Embiligala-kalapuwa (Bundala, Hambantota district), Palatupanagoda-kalapuwa (Palatupanagoda, Hambantota district), Garanduwa-kalapuwa (Garanduwa, Matara district), Dondra-kalapuwa (Dondra, Matara district), Mawella-kalapuwa (Mawella, Matara district), Tiruwalugoda-kalapuwa (Tiruwalugoda, Matara district), Kalametiya-kalapuwa (Kalametiya, Matara district), Lunama-kalapuwa (Lunama, Matara district), Rekawa-kalapuwa (Tangalla, Matara district), Kahanda-kalapuwa (Oruwelagoda, Matara district)



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Kazhi / Ka'li:

Uppuk-kazhi: The backwaters of saltpans or salty backwaters, Pungkudutheevu, Islands division, Jaffna district

Vellaik-kazhi, Vellaik-ka'li: The backwaters in the scrub forest (see column on Vellaave'li). Neduntheevu(Delft) island, Neduntheevu division, Jaffna district

Earal-kazhi, Earal-ka'li: The backwaters of Earal (a kind of small pink coloured bivalve/oyster). Foul Point, Trincomalee district

Ullaik-kazhi, Ullaik-ka'li: The backwaters visited by Ullam fish (Indian Shad, Tenualosa illisha). Ilangkaiththu'rai, Verukal division, Trincomalee district

Chuvanthere-kazhi, Chuvanthere ka'li: Ilakkanthai, Trincomalee district

Periya-naachchik-kazhi, Periya-naachchik-ka'li: The bigger backwaters named after a lady or goddess (also known as Naachchiyammaa Kangkai, see column on Naachchikkudaa). Katpiddi, Puththa'lam district

Chinna-naachchik-kazhi, Chinna-naachchik-ka'li: The smaller backwaters named after a lady or a goddess (also known as Naachchiyammaa Kangkai, see column on Naachchikkudaa). Katpiddi, Puththa'lam district

Uppuk-kazhi, Uppuk-ka'li: The backwaters having saltpans. Nuraichchoalai, Puththa'lam district

Perung-kazhi, Perung-ka'li: The big backwaters. Vidaththal theevu, Mannaar district

Kiriyang-ka'liya: A place adjacent to Munthal lagoon, Munthal (Mundalama) division, Puththa'lam district

Watta-ka'liya: The round lagoon. This is in Chilaapam (Chilaw) division of Puththa'lam district.

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Kuzhi / Ku'li / Ku'liya: Kuzhi in Tamil generally means a shallow area, water resource, etc. Fresh water ponds are also called Kuzhi (See column on Chu'ndikkuzhi). But, the word sometimes comes to indicate a small backwaters or marsh. Ku'liya is the Sinhala form of the word.

Examples: Ka'ndaku'li (Ka'ndal-kuzhi, the marsh / backwaters of mangroves, Kalpiddi peninsula Puththa'lam district), Maddakku'liya (the muddy backwaters / marsh, Colombo division, Colombo district), Ku'liyapitiya (the sandbank of the marsh)

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Aa'ru: Generally means a river but used for narrow backwaters or sea inlets.

Tho'ndaimaan-aa'ru: The long backwaters or lagoon named after Karu'naakara Tho'ndaimaan, a general of Chola times. A place name for the mouth of the lagoon, facing Palk Strait, as well as the name of the narrow and long lagoon in the Jaffna district

Uppaa'ru, Uppu-aa'ru: The narrow backwaters or lagoon of saltpans. This is a narrow lagoon inlet of the Jaffna lagoon going deep into the Jaffna peninsula. Historical records are available for saltpans in the lagoon, where it touches the other lagoon Tho'ndamaanaa'ru, at Kara'navaay, Vara'ni. Another Uppaa'ru is found near Panichchangkea'ni in the Vaazhaichcheanai division of Batticaloa district.

Naayaa'ru, Naay-aa'ru: The narrow backwaters or lagoon of beavers/otters (Neer-naay or Meen-naay). Mullaiththeevu district

Vaazhaichcheanai-aa'ru: The narrow backwaters of Vaazhaichcheanai village. Vaazhaichcheanai, Batticaloa district

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Oadai: The word generally means running water, small stream, flood outlet, small pond etc. But, in the Musali division of Mannaar district and in an instance in Puththa'lam district it also means small patches of backwaters at the mouths of small forest streams running into the Gulf of Mannaar.

Examples: Ka'n'naa-oadai (the backwaters of Ka'n'naa shrub, a mangrove), Chinna Marukkan-oadai, Kal-oadai (stony backwaters), Paampadiththa-oadai (the backwaters where snakes were killed), Paalai-aa'ru-oadai (the backwaters at the delta of a stream called Paalai-aa'ru), Thalai-villu-odai (the backwaters of the place Thalai-villu, Va'n'naaththi-villu, Puththa'lam district)

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Kadal: Generally means sea, but at least in a few instances it comes to indicate a lagoon.

Yaazhppaa'nap-paravaik-kadal: The Jaffna lagoon (Paravai itself means sea in Changkam Tamil diction). Jaffna district

Nanthik-kadal: The lagoon of conch-shells (Nanthu or Nantham means conch shell. The area is well known for conch shell diving). Mullaiththeevu district

Ku'rukkuk-kadal: The lagoon cutting in. Charava'nai, Kayts Island, Jaffna district

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A'lam, A'lan, A'lai, A'lar: means saltpans, coastal marsh, littoral land, sea, brackishness etc (Dravidian Etymological Dictionary 299; A'lakkar meaning sea in Changkam diction). Some of the backwaters, brackish areas and coastal stretches are also known by these terms in place names. (See column on Kokku'laay)

Examples: Uppu-a'lan (The saltpan, Batticaloa district), Kokku'laay (Kokku-a'lai, the backwaters of cranes (Mullaiththeevu district), Maaththa'lan (Maaththu-a'lan, known for long as a saltpan, Mullaiththeevu district), A'lampil (known as saltpan in the past, Mullaiththeevu district

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Madda / Maddu / Mada / Ma'ndu (Adjectives):

Maddu-vil: The muddy pond. (See column on Vilpattu). Madduvil, Thenmaraadchi division, Jaffna district

Madda-ku'liya: The muddy pond / backwaters / marsh. (See column on Chu'ndik-kuzhi). Maddaku'liya, Colombo division, Colombo district

Madda-goda: The muddy bank. (See column on Ælla-goda). Maddagoda, Attanagala division, Gampaha district

Mada-wala: The muddy forest. Madawala, Katana division, Gampaha district; Muthugama division, Kalutara district, and many other places

Mada-kumbura: The muddy paddy field. Madakumbura, Rattota division, Matale district; Kothmale division, Nuwara Eliya district and many other places

First published: Thursday, 19 March 2009, 11:56