Know the Etymology: 441
Place Name of the Day: Monday, 18 January 2016

Æla-paatha

எ[æ]லபா[த்]த
Aelapāta

Æla+paatha

The adjacent side of a paddy field tract

Ælapaatha

Æla-paatha: the outskirt of a track of a field (Sinhala, Codrington); Ihala-ælapata: front part of a field near the tank that is reserved for Gamraala (Sinhala, Codrington); Pahala-ælapata: back part of a field attached to a tank (Sinhala, Codrington);

Æla

1. side of the body, “Angs'aya, Pæta” (Sinhala, Sorata); bent, inclined, one side curved; “Æda, Ek pætakada næmunu”, (Sinhala, Sorata); A'l'lai: side of the body (Tamil, DED 294); A'l'le: side of the abdomen, flank of an animal (Kannada, DED 294); the side, groin, hip (Tulu, DED 294); 2. “Pæta-kada”, sidepiece, (Sinhala, Sorata); Æla-pata: part of the paddy field belonging to the village chief (Sinhala, Sorata); related to Asala: border, margin, environs, nearness (Sinhala, Clough); one side, “Ekathpasa”, (Sinhala, Sorata); Asal-waasiyaa: neighbour (Sinhala); Ayal, Asal: adjacent place, neighbourhood, being foreign or alien (Tamil, DED 189); Ayal-pakkam: adjacent side (Tamil); 3. Æla-atu: the strip of land along the boundary of a paddy field, “Kumburehi maayima digea dibena bimpatiya” (Sinhala, Sorata); Ellai: limit, border, boundary, extremity (Tamil, DED 846); Ellaip-pakkam: border side, adjacent side (Tamil)

According to Codrington's glossary, Æla-paatha as a phrase in Sinhala means the outskirts of a paddy field tract.

The suffix Paatha seems to be a variation of Pætta, meaning a side.

The prefix Æla in the context of this phrase means adjacency. This meaning comes from a different etymon unrelated to Æla meaning a canal or brook in Sinhala.

In meaning adjacency, Æla in Sinhala seems to be a cognate of another Sinhala word Asala, meaning nearness, border, margin and environs, and in turn a cognate of Ayal/ Acal in Tamil/ Dravidian, meaning an adjacent place or neighbourhood (DED 189).

In a related sense, Æla in Sinhala also means a side of the body, and this is a cognate of A'l'lai in Tamil/ Dravidian meaning the same (DED 294).

Æla-athu in spoken Sinhala means a strip of land along the border of a paddy field. Æla in this phrase either corresponds to Asala/ Ayal discussed above or Ellai in Tamil meaning border (DED 846).

* * *

Æla-paatha is a place that has also given its name to a division in Ratnapura district

* * *

First published: Monday, 18 January 2016, 20:51