Know the Etymology: 440
Place Name of the Day: Thursday, 14 January 2016

Hæthækma

ஹெ[æ]தெ[æ]க்ம
Hætækma

Hæthækma

The highway stage or post where burden-bearers, palanquin bearers etc take rest; the milepost

Hæthækma

=Hætæpma, Sætæpma: the distance at which a cooly rests, a mile (Sinhala, Clough); Hætæpma/ Sætæpma-ka'nu: milepost (Sinhala, Sorata); Hætæpum, Sætapum: repose, ease, “Nideema, Vis'raamaya”; resting place, stopping place, “Vis'raamasthaanaya, Navatina tæna”, (Sinhala, Sorata); Sætapeema: reposing, reclining; Sætapenawaa: to repose, recline, sleep (Sinhala); 1. Supta: asleep, lie down to sleep (Sanskrit, CDIAL 13479); Sutta: asleep, lying down (Pali, Prakrit, CDIAL 13479); 2. Chaay: (verb) to recline, lie down, hang down, break (Tamil, DED 2456); Chaayppu, Chaayththal: act of reclining, lying down (Tamil usages); Caayka, Caaykka: to rest, settle down, lower, lie down to sleep (Malayalam, DED 2456); 3. Chaarththu, Chaaththu: from Chaar: to take shelter, lean on, recline against, reach (Tamil DED 2460); 4. Chaththiram: choultry, rest house (Tamil, Thivaakaram, 5: 149, inscription, 955 CE, SII, xiii, 10); Satramu: = Chaththiram (Telugu, MTL)

In the past, for the benefit of highway travellers, especially for burden-bearers and palanquin bearers, there were resting places at every stage of travel. These places were also mileposts or had milestones marking the distance.

As a toponym, Hæthækma in Sinhala means such a place. Sometimes, the toponym takes prefixes, giving specific identity to a travel stage. Note the place name Kurundugaha-hæthækma, where the stage or resting place was identified by the presence of a Kurundu tree at the place.

The milestone associated with Hæthækma was called Hæthæma-ka'nu (Ka'nu: pillar, post in Sinhala, related to Ka'nai in Tamil/ Dravidian, DED 1166).

Hæthækma literally means a place to ease, repose, recline or sleep. The proper form of the word in Sinhala is Hætæpma or Sætæpma, related to the verb form Sætapenawaa meaning to repose, recline or sleep.

The etymology is either connected to Supta in Sanskrit meaning to lie down to sleep (Sutta in Pali/ Prakrit, CDIAL 13479), or to Chaaththu, Chaayppu, Chaaykka etc in Tamil and Malayalam, coming from the Dravidian roots Chaay or Chaar, meaning to recline, lie down, lay down, sleep, lower, take shelter etc (DED 2456, 2460). Also note the terms Chaththiram in Tamil, Satramu in Telugu and Satra in Kannada for a rest house. In explaining their Anglo-Indian rendering Choultry, Hobson Jobson says that the usage is peculiar to South India but the etymology is uncertain.

See columns on Aa'rukaal-madam and Ambalantota for related content.

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Hæthækma is a place in Hali-Ela division of Badulla district

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Some related place names:

Kurundu-gaha Hæthækma: The highway stage resting-place by a Kurundu tree; Karandeniya division, Galle district.

First published: Thursday, 14 January 2016, 23:29