Know the Etymology: 254
Place Name of the Day: Monday, 20 May 2013

I’rak-kaamam, Era-gama

இறக்காமம், எரக₃ம
Iṟakkāmam, Eragama

I’ra+kaamam or I’rakka+kaamam
Era+gama

The village in the descending slope

Era

Prefix meaning a sinking ground (Sinhala); Era-wanawaa: (verb) To cause to sink in the ground (Sinhala); Eraa-wætenawaa: To sink in the mud (Sinhala); Era’nawaa: To sink in the mud (Sinhala); I’ra: Coming down; I’rangku: To descend, fall; I’rangkal; Place of descent; I’rakkam: low-lying land, slope; I’ravu: A valley, descending slope (Tamil/ Malayalam, DED 516); Erg: To go down (Kota, DED 516); Erk: Down (Toda, DED 516); Eragu: Come down (Kannada, DED 516); Ærang: Goes down slowly (Kodagu, DED 516); Eraguni: Fall upon (Tulu, DED 516; Eraagu: To descend (Telugu, DED 516). See column on I’rak-ka’ndi

Gama

(singular), Gam (plural): Village (Sinhala); Gaama: Village (Pali, CDIAL 4368); Collection, village (Prakrit, CDIAL 4368); Graama: Troop, village (Sanskrit, CDIAL 4368); Kaamam: Village (Eezham Tamil, place names)

Era is not listed as a separate word in the Sinhala dictionaries. But its usage examples as a prefix in Sinhala phrases clearly show that it means sinking or coming down.

Note the Sinhala phrases, Era-wanawaa, meaning to cause to sink in the ground, and Eraa-waætenawaa or Era’nawaa, meaning to sink in the mud. Erawanawaa and Era’nawaa also mean milk coming down and filling the udders.

The Sinhala component Era is of Dravidian etymology and is a cognate of I’ra/ Ira’ngku/ I’rakkam/ I’ravu etc., in Tamil/ Malayalam (DED 516). See in the table, how the ‘I phoneme’ becomes E in the other Dravidian languages, Kota, Toda, Kannada, Tulu and Telugu too, as in Sinhala.

In geographical and toponymic sense, the terms mean a descending landscape, slope etc.

See column on I’rak-ka’ndi for more etymological discussion and parallels in Eezham Tamil place names.

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I’rakkaamam is a village in the Eragama division of Ampaa’rai district

Eragama is a village in the division by its name in the Ampaa’rai district

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Some related place names: (see column on I’rak-ka’ndi for related Tamil place names)

Era-badda: The thicket in the descending slope; Nivithigala division, Ratnapura district; Welimada division, Badulla district; Divulapitiya division, Gampaha district

Erathna: Probably Era-thana: The descending place (land); Kuruvita division, Ratnapura district

Era-mudu-goda: The hill or bank with a falling crest, or the village of the sloping peak; Akuressa diovision, Matara district

Era-mudu-liyædda: The paddy field beds on the sloping face (of the hill); Hathara-liyædda division, Kandy district

Era-mulla: The descending corner; Elpitiya division, Galle district

First published: Monday, 20 May 2013, 05:56