Know the Etymology: 226
Place Name of the Day: Saturday, 20 October 2012

Pannai-vedduvaan

பன்னைவெட்டுவான்
Paṉṉaiveṭṭuvāṉ

Pannai+vedduvaan

The open land of Pannai shrubs

Pannai

A kind of plant (Tamil, Madras Tamil Lexicon, cited from Jaffna Dictionary); A shrub, resembling the curry-leaf shrub, commonly found in house premises and vacant lands in the island. The strong stem of the shrub is favoured for making the stick used in the traditional game Kiddi-pu’l played by children (Eezham Tamil); Kula-pannai: Glycosmis pentaphylla (Tamil, A Revised Catalogue of the Indigenous Flowering Plants and Ferns of Ceylon, 1911); Kaadduk-Kozhingchi, Kaadduk-kognchi: A shrub, Glycosmis pentaphylla (Tamil, MTL)); Ku’rum-pannal, Panal, Panchi: A shrub, Glycosmis pentaphylla (Malayalam); Ban-nimbu: Glycosmis pentaphylla (Hindi); Vana-nimbuka: Glycosmis pentaphylla (Sanskrit); Dodan-panaa: Glycosmis pentaphylla (Sinhala)

Vedduvaan

Also Veddai, Veddi: Open land (Eezham Tamil); From Ve’li, Vedi, Vedda-ve’li: Open space, open field, open plain (Tamil, Malayalam and cognates in many Dravidian languages, DED 5498, 5475). Also see column on Makizha-vedduvaan.

Pannai in Eezham Tamil usage stands for a commonly identified shrub or a small tree that grows naturally in house premises and in vacant lands.

It resembles very much the curry-leaf shrub, but is different in smell. The small round berries of the shrub are pink in colour.

Parts of the shrub are used in native medicine. Children favour the strong stem of the shrub to make the stick (Pu’l) used in a traditional outdoor game called Kiddip-pu’l.

The term Pannai has an entry in the Madras Tamil Lexicon as a word of Jaffna diction meaning a plant, but the botanical identification is not given.

However, the shrub commonly called Pannai in Eezham Tamil could be identified with Glycosmis pentaphylla of the Rutaceae family.

A Revised Catalogue of the Indigenous Flowering Plants and Ferns of Ceylon, published in 1911 by the Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya, equates Glycosmis pentaphylla with Kula-pannai in Tamil and Dodan-panaa in Sinhala. Ku’rum-pannal (the small Pannal), and Panal are Malayalam names for the same shrub. The Hindi term Bana-nimbu for Glycosmis pentaphylla is related to Vana-nimbuka in Sanskrit, meaning the jungle lime. Tamil has another name Kaadduk-kozhignchi (the jungle bitter-orange) for the same shrub.

The citrus family of the shrub is recognized by the components Dodan (orange), Nimbu (lime) and Kozhignchi (wild orange) of the above terms in different languages.

The component Vedduvaan, as in the case of another component Veddi, means an open land in the context of Eezham Tamil place names. The word is related to the Tamil words Ve’li and Veddai of Dravidian etymology, meaning an open space, field, plain etc. The ‘An’ ending peculiarity of Eezham Tamil place names has been discussed in many other earlier columns. See column on Makizha-vedduvaan.

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Pannai-vedduvaan is a place in the Madu division of Mannaar district.

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Some related place names:

Pannaik-ka’ndi: The sector of Pannai shrubs; a locality in Paranthan, Karaichchi division, Ki’linochchi district.

Pannaalai: Probably, Pannai-aalai: The hamlet of Pannai shrubs; Valikaamam North division, Jaffna district



First published: Saturday, 20 October 2012, 13:17