Know the Etymology: 398
Place Name of the Day: Saturday, 25 April 2015

Oavilaana

ஓவிலான
Ōvilāna

Oavilaan+a

The streamside marsh found grown with small trees, shrubs and plants

Oavilaan

a riverside marsh where small trees, shrubs, plants etc. grow; “Gangaa attara kudaa gas wæwunu vaguru bim” (spoken Sinhala, Sorata); 1. Probably from Oya+wælla: riverbank; Hoawæla: bank of a river (Sinhala, Clough); 2. Oa-vila: probably meaning a sub-marsh, Vila > Oavila, as in Vita and Oavita

Oavilla, Oavili and Ovili in Sinhala generally mean a swing, cradle or palanquin, etymologically corresponding to Uvaale and Uvvaale in Kannada and Oognchal/ Oosal in Tamil meaning a swing (DED 731).

But in the case of the toponymic usage, Oavilla or Oavilaana seems to be related to the spoken Sinhala word Oavilaan, meaning a riverside marsh having small trees, shrubs or plants. “Gangaa attara kudaa gas wæwunu vaguru bim” is the meaning given by Sorata for the term Oavilaan.

In such a meaning Oavillan seems to have come from Oya-wælla > Hoa-wæla, meaning a riverbank. (On the Dravidian etymology of the terms, Oya > Hoya > Hoa and Wælla, see earlier columns).

Another possibility is the term Oavilaan corresponding to Oa-vila that could mean a sub-marsh, as in the case of Vita and Oa-vita respectively meaning a hill and lower part of a hill in Sinhala.

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Oavilaana is a place in Beliatta division of Hambantota district.

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Some related place names:

Oavilla: The riverside marsh; Ukuwela division, Matale district

Oavil-pitiya Estate: The plantation at the high-ground plain of the riverside marsh; Oavilla, Ukuwela division, Matale district

Oavili-kanda: The hill at the riverside marsh; Ukuwela division, Matale district

First published: Saturday, 25 April 2015, 12:06