Know the Etymology: 329
Place Name of the Day: Thursday, 27 February 2014

Ere-poruwa (Æræ-poaruwa)

எ[æ]ரெ[æ] போருவ
Æræpōruva

Æræ+poaruwa

The laid-aside part or division

Æræ

Placed away (Sinhala); Ære'nawaa: (verb) To be put away, to be laid aside, to be out of employment (Sinhala); Oruvu: (verb) To abandon, renounce, pass over, escape, be excepted; (noun) Leaving, separation, renunciation (Tamil, DED 993); Ori: To move aside (Gondi, DED 993); Earaanaa: To be separated, be separate from (Gondi, DED 915); Ea'r: To be separated (Konda, DED 915); Ears: To separate, keep separate (Kuwi, DED 915)

Poaruwa

A changed form of Pearuwa: Division of a district, share, setting apart, race, tribe, caste (Sinhala); Pirivu, Pirippu: Division (Tamil, Dravidian Etymological Dictionary 4176); from the verb root, Piri: To divide, separate, distribute etc. (Tamil, DED 4176, cognates found in 14 Dravidian languages, including Brahui of Pakistan), See column on Uda-peruwa, Palle-peruwa

In some instances of the Sinhala place names, the component Poaruwa coming as a suffix, seems to be a changed form of Pearuwa, meaning a small division, sub-division or part of a larger settlement. Pearuwa/ Poaruwa also means a section of people.

See column on Uda-peruwa, Palle-peruwa, for etymological discussions on the component Pearuwa, which is a cognate of Tamil/ Dravidian Pirivu (DED 4176).

The component Æræ (commonly written in Roman as Ere), as an adjective in Sinhala place names, seems to mean a place that is put away, laid aside or has gone out of use.

The verb form Ære'nawaa in Sinhala means: to be put away, to be laid aside or to be out of employment.

Cognates in Tamil/ Dravidian are the old Tamil usages, Oruvu, Oraa-al, Oree-i, etc., (DED 993) that meant keeping away, leaving aside, separating, leaving etc. Closer cognates to the Sinhala word form could be seen in the other Dravidian languages, Gondi, Konda and Kuwi (DED 915).

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Ere-poruwa (Æræ-poaruwa) is a village in Kolonna division of Ratnapura district

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Some related place names:

Poaruwa:

Netala-poruwa: The chief's part or division; Angunakolapelessa division, Hambantota district. Neatha: Master, owner, chief (Sinhala); Naatha: protector, master (Sanskrit, CDIAL 7051); Neetha: Gained, obtained (Sinhala)

Hath-poruwa: The seven divisions or parts; Sooriyawewa division, Hambantota district

Thalam-poruwa: The palmyra palm part or division; Angunakolapelessa division, Hambantota district

Kohom-poruwa: The neem-trees part or division; Katuwana division, Hambantota district

Palli-poruwa: The mosque part or division; Mawanella division, Kegalle district

Kiri-poruwa: The part or division of Kiri vegetation; or the milk producing part; Bulathkohupitiya division, Kegalle district; Eheliyagoda division, Ratnapura district. Kiri: Milk, Clinsene coracana (Sinhala)

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Æræ:

Erew-wala: The laid-aside forest; Kesbewa dvision, Colombo district

Erev-ula: The placed-away (remotely located) spring; Dambulla division, Matale district

Ere-pola-kanda: The hill of the laid-aside open space or the abandoned market place; Rideegama division, Kurunegala district

Ere-pola: The laid-aside open place, or the abandoned market place; Pannala division, Kurunegala district

Ere-gama: The placed-away village or the abandoned/discarded village; Kegalle division, Kegalle district

First published: Thursday, 27 February 2014, 00:58