Know the Etymology: 237
Place Name of the Day: Wednesday, 20 February 2013

Pita-kotte, Pita-kotuwa, Pettah

பிட்ட கொட்டெ
பிட்ட கொட்டுவ
பெற்றா
Piṭa-koṭṭe, Piṭa-koṭṭuva, Pettāh (English pronunciation)

Pita+kotte, Pita+kotuwa, Pettah

The outside of the fort/
The backside of the fort
The extramural suburb of the fort/
The town adjacent to the fort

Pita	(noun) Back; (adjective) out, outward, upon, outside (Sinhala); In Sinhala place names, other than meaning outer as opposed to inner, the component Pita also sometimes means hinterland, locality or surroundings; Pitata: Outside, out (Sinhala); Pitawata: Outside, back (Sinhala); Pita-æta: Backbone, spine; Pita-kotuwa, Pita-nuwara, Pita-gama, Pita-rata: Respectively, suburb of a fort; Suburbs of a city, Outside of one’s village/ village other than one’s own; Outside of country, foreign country (Sinhala); Pita-æla, Pita-waanea, Pitaari: A canal going around outside of a field (Sinhala); 1. Pidar, Pidari: Back of the head, nape of the neck (Tamil, DED 4146); Pitari, Pitali: Nape of the neck (Malayalam, DED 4146); Peda: State of being behind or after, the back, backwards (Kannada, DED 4146); Hinder, back (Telugu, DED 4146); Hedaku: Back of the nape, the hind part of a fort (Kannada, DED 4146); Pedalu: Backyard of a house (Telugu, DED 4146); Pidtel: Behind, after (Parji, DED 4146); Pidaakai, Padaakai: The outer perimeter of a place (Tamil, inscriptions, 793 CE, SII, ii, 42); 2. Pi’ra, Pu’ra: Outside, outer, backside, exterior, foreign, beyond (Tamil, DED 4333); Pu’ram: Locality, surroundings as in toponymic references such as Malaip-pu’ram, Kiraamap-pu’ram etc.(Tamil); Pi’rap-pakkam: The outside or the other side (Tamil, word combination related to DED 4333); Pida: Outer (Tulu, DED 4333); Pidayi: Outer, out, outside, abroad (Tulu, DED 4333); 3. Pin: Back, rear part, end (Tamil, DED 4205); Pit-pakkam: The backside (Tamil, word combination related to DED 4205). Cognates are found in 16 Dravidian languages
Pettah	The extramural suburb of a fortress, town attached and adjacent to a fortress (Colonial European and Anglo-Indian term noticed in English writing since 1630 CE, Hobson Jobson); From Peaddai: Market place, wholesale area or market town outside and adjacent to a fort or a fortified city or to the centre of an urban settlement (Tamil, but MTL and HJ trace the etymology to Peth in Marathi and Petaka in Sanskrit); 1. See Pidar, Pidaakai (Tamil), Peda, Hedaku (Kannada) and Peda, Pedalu (Telugu) that are traced to Dravidian etymology (DED 4146) and Pita, Pitata, Pitawata and related words in Sinhala; 2. Pudai: Side, place (Tamil, DED 4255); Puta: Side (Malayalam, DED 4255); Peda: Side (Telugu, DED 4255); Pude: Border, edge, brink, margin, side (Tulu, DED 4255); 3. Paadi: Town, city, hamlet (Tamil, DED 4064, listed as a Dravidian word despite Paataka in Sanskrit meaning a kind of village, half of a village); Paatakam: Section of a village, part of a village (Tamil, Malayalam); 4. Paddu: Hamlet, small town (Tamil, DED 3868); Padappai: Backyard, side, garden of field adjacent to a house, village etc. (Tamil, Changkam diction, DED 3868)
Kotte	Kotte: Also Koattaya: Fort (Sinhala); Kotuwa: (Singular); Kotu: (plural and combinations) Enclosure, fortress, castle (Sinhala); Kotu: (adjective) Surrounded, fenced in (Sinhala); Kotu-pawura: Walls of a fortress (Sinhala); Kotu-taappe: Rampart (Sinhala); 1. Koaddai: Fort, castle (Tamil, Pu’ranaanoo’ru, 174:7, DED 2207); Koadu: Stronghold (Tamil, DED 2207); Koatta, Koatu: Fort (Malayalam, DED 2207); Koate: Fort, rampart (Kannada, Tulu, DED 2207); Koata, Kottamu: Fort (Telugu, DED 2207); Kotta, Kota: (only in combinations) Fort, stronghold (Sanskrit); Goade: Wall (Kannada, Tulu, DED 2207 b); Goada: Wall (Telugu, DED 2207 b); 2. Kodu: Curved; Koadu: dam, bund; Koaddam: Bend, curve (Tamil, DED 2054); Temple, prison, dam, bund, military camp (Tamil)

The component Pita in Sinhala as a noun means back and as an adjective means out, outside, outward or upon.

There are many word combinations in Sinhala having the component Pita, and in those instances in addition to the above said meanings the component also means suburbs, foreign, surroundings, place other than one’s own, etc. See table for the word combinations in Sinhala.

In some instances in the context of Sinhala place names the component also means surroundings of a locality. See examples of place names below.

Cognates of Pita in Tamil and other Dravidian languages could be seen under three entries in the Dravidian Etymological Dictionary (DED 4146, 4205 and 4333). See table.

Tamil cognates found under DED 4146 are the words Pidar and Pidari meaning back and backside of the head. Coming under this DED entry, cognates found in some other Dravidian languages are much closer to Sinhala in the shades of meanings.

Note the cognate Peda in Kannada and Telugu, and Pedalu in Telugu giving the shades of meanings such as, state of being behind or after, the back, backwards, hinder, backyard of a house etc.

In usage, the Tamil words Pidar and Pidari don’t give such wide shades of meanings.

But DED entries 4333 and 4205 bring in other closer Dravidian cognates in Tamil.

Pi’ra/ Pu’ra as adjectives in Tamil and coming under DED entry 4333, give the shades of meanings outside/outer/ exterior (Pi’rap-pakkam), backside (Pit-pakkam), foreign (Pi’ra-naadu), locality/ surroundings (as in Malaip-puram) etc. Tulu and Kannada cognates coming under the same DED entry respectively are Pida and Pidayi.

Pita-kotte and Pita-kottuwa are usually rendered in Tamil as Pu’rak-koaddai.

Another relevant DED entry is 4205, in which the Tamil cognate Pin and its conjunction form Pit, give meanings related to the backside.

Note the Dravidian root Pi in all the said DED entries and in the Sinhala words.

* * *

Pita-kottuwa in Sinhala or Pu’rak-koaddai in Tamil, in Colombo city is known as Pettah in English and in other colonial renderings.

Pettah is not a derivative of Pita-kottuwa, but it has come from another colonial borrowing of a word of Tamil/ South Indian origin, i.e., Peaddai, meaning a market place, wholesale area or market town outside and adjacent to a fort or a fortified city or to the centre of an urban settlement.

Pettah, in colonial usages meaning the extramural suburb of a fortress, town attached and adjacent to a fortress, was found used in English writings since early 17th century in passages especially related to South India (Hobson Jobson).

Note the following examples:

“Dharur and its petta, where once a week people from all parts, far and near, were accustomed to meet for buying and selling,” (a text of 1630 CE, Hobson Jobson).

“[…] A large pettah, by which name the people on the Coast of Coromandel call every town contiguous to a fortress,” (a text of 1763 CE, Hobson Jobson)

Hobson Jobson Anglo-Indian glossary of 1886, and following it the Madras Tamil Lexicon (MTL), trace the etymology of the Tamil word Peaddai to Peth in Marathi and Petaka in Sanskrit.

But the meaning for Petaka in Sanskrit (Monier Williams) would not come anywhere near the meaning in which the word Peaddai is used in Tamil or Peth is used in Marathi.

Peaddai seems to be etymologically related to the DED entries brought out in the tables above. Marathi might have got the word from its Dravidian connections. (See table)

The word Peaddai is not found used in early Tamil literature, but a closely related word Pidaakai/ Padaakai, meaning the outer perimeter of a place, could be found in the Tamil inscriptions from 550 CE onwards.

See the following examples from the Tamil inscriptions:

“மகாவலி வாணராயர் பிடாகை வலஞ்செய்து கொடுத்தார்”

“Mahaavali vaa’naraayar pidaakai valagncheythu koduththaar,” (793 CE, SII, ii, 42)

The great-strength Vaa’na king went around the outer perimeter (of the place) and donated it.

“பிடி சூழ்ந்து பிடாகை நடந்து”

“Pidi choozhnthu pidaakai nadanthu” (the practice of making a female elephant to walk around the outer perimeter of a place that would be donated)

“படாகை நடந்து கல்லுங் கள்ளியும் நாட்டி”

“Padaakai nadanthu kallung ka’l’liyum naaddi,” (550 CE, TASSI, 1958-59, pp 41-83; PLCP, pp26-32)

Walking around the outer perimeter and planting boundary stones and cactuses (to mark the boundary)

* * *

Kotte, Koattaya, Kotuwa and Kotu in Sinhala, meaning a fort, enclosure etc., are cognates of the word Koaddai meaning the same in Tamil.

Koaddai, found used in Tamil since the Changkam times, is listed as a word of Dravidian etymology (DED 2207). The root is traced to the word Koadu, meaning a stronghold. Cognates are found in several Dravidian languages. In Sanskrit related words are found used only in combinations. Another related entry in the DED is the root Kodu and the word Koaddam, meaning anything that is curved (DED 2054).

Example for usage of Koaddai in Changkam Tamil:

“விடர்ப் புலி பொறித்த கோட்டை,” (புறநானூறு 174: 17)

“Vidarp puli po’riththa koaddai,” (Pu'ra:naanoo’ru 174: 17)

The fort with the emblem of the tiger of the hills

* * *

Pita-Kotte is the suburb of Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte, which had a fortified city by that name, and was the capital of the Kingdom of Kotte, at the time of the advent of Portuguese in the island. Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte, which now comes under Greater Colombo, was declared as the political capital and the building of the new parliamentary complex there was initiated when J.R. Jayawardane was President of Sri Lanka.

Pita-kotuwa in Sinhala and Pu’rak-koaddai in Tamil is the outskirts or backside of the colonial fort at Colombo. The fort built by the Portuguese and was continued by the Dutch and the English, was the seat of the Colonial Governor. The fort area became the centre of Colombo city. The official residence of the Colonial Governor in the fort is the official residence of the President of Sri Lanka today. Pita-Kotuwa/ Pu’rak-koaddai, the native town, was at the outside or backside of the fort facing the sea.

Pettah is the colonial and English name for the part of Colombo city just adjacent to the colonial fort that is referred to as Pita-kotuwa/ Pu’rak-koaddai in Sinhala/ Tamil. The Anglo Indian toponym used in the sense of native town outside of the fort, comes from the Tamil word Peaddai.

* * *

Some related place names: Pita, meaning outside, outer, backside, hinterland, suburb and surroundings or locality

Note the meanings when Pita comes as a prefix:

Pita-katuwana: The outer part of Katuwana (thorny jungle) village; Kamburupitiya division, Matara district

Pita-rathmale: The outer part of Rathmale (red-hill) village; Haputale division, Badulla district

Pita-wela Amu’nugama: The Amu’nugama village of the paddy fields at the outside; Padiyathalawa division, Ampaa’rai district

Pita-welagama: The outer Welagama (paddy field village); Badulla division, Badulla district

Pita-kumbura: The paddy field in the outside or the outside of the paddy fields; Bibile division, Moneragala district

Pita-deniya: The outer land or the land at the outside/ backside; Kuliyapitiya West division, Kurunegala district; Medagama division, Moneragala district; Warakapola division, Kegalle district

Pita-kanda: The outer hill or the hill at the back; Ayagama division, Ratnapura district

Pita-kanda-gama: The village of the outer hill or the hill at the back; KFG&G Korale, Kandy district

Pita-maruwa: The desert/ waterless land/ sandy desert in the outside or the outer part of the desert/ waterless land/ sandy desert; Meegahakivula division, Badulla district. Maru: Region or soil destitute of water, sandy desert etc (Sinhala); Maruwaa: Death personified (Sinhala); Muradu: Rugged land, desert; Murampu: Mound of gravel or stone, rough hard ground (Tamil, DED 4971); Ma’ram, Ma’rali: Yama (Tamil); Ma’ral: Death (Tamil, Malayalam); Yama (Malayalam) are taken as words of Dravidian etymology (DED 4763)

Pita-wala: The forest at the outside or the outer forest; Panvila division, Kandy district; Udadumbara division, Kandy district;

Pita-bæddara: Pita-bædda-ara: The stream of the outer jungle; Pitabæddara division, Galle district

Epita-wala: The forest at the distance; Kiriella division, Ratnapura district. E-pita: (adjective) distant, far, at a distance (Sinhala)

Epita-mulla: The distant corner; Bandaragama division, Kalutara district

* * *

Note the meanings when Pita comes as a suffix or component:

Hen-pita: The slash and burn field surroundings or its backside; Homagama division, Colombo district

Thala-wathu-hen-pita: The back side or the surroundings of the slash and burn field cleared at the Talipot palm grove; Kelaniya division, Gampaha district

Hen-pita-gedara: The house or residential premises at the back or outside of the slash-and-burn cultivation field; Divulapitiya division, Gampaha district Wal-pita: The backside of the forest or the forest surroundings; Homagama division, Colombo district

Wal-pita-mulla: The corner behind the forest or the corner at the forest surroundings; Minuwangoda division, Gampaha district

Narahen-pita: The backside or surroundings of the grey slash and burn field/ or such a field frequented by herons/ or such a field having water; Thimbirigasyaya division, Colombo district

Kande-pita-wala: The forest behind the hill/ the forest beyond the hill/ the forest upon the hill; Laggala-Pallegama division, Matale district

Pæl-pita: The backside of the paddy-field watch-hut/ or the Western exterior; Dompe division, Gampaha district

Pa’lu-pæl-pita: The old Pæl-pita village; Dompe division, Gampaha district

Ka’ndiya-pita-wewa: The tank outside or backside of the Ka’ndi (sector); Thanamalvila division, Moneragala district

Gala-pita-mada: The muddy land outside or at the back of the rocky hill; Ruwanwella division, Kegalle district

Gala-pita-mulla: The corner beyond or at the back of the rocky hill: Mawathagama division, Kurunegala district

Gala-pita-gala: The hill behind the hill: Uhana division, Ampaa’rai district

Mam-pita: Mang-pita: The area beyond the road; Warakapola division, Kegalle district. Mang: road (Sinhala)

Wera-gam-pita: The outside or backside of Weragam village; Matara Four Gravets division, Matara district

Thala-pita-oya: The stream beyond or behind the plain; Padiyathalawa division, Ampaa’rai district

Vil-pita: The outer side or backside of the marsh; Mulatiyana division, Matara district

Theni-pita: The outer land; Kotapola division, Matara district

Uha-pita-goda: The upper part of the outside hill/ bank/ village; Ambalanthota division, Hambantota district

First published: Wednesday, 20 February 2013, 09:17