Know the Etymology: 468
Place Name of the Day: Tuesday, 12 April 2016

Wæli-kanna, Kadu-kanna, Kayak-kanai

வெ[æ]லி-கன்ன, கடு₃-கன்ன, கயக்கனை
Vẹli-kanna, Koḍu-kanna, Kayakkaṉai

Wæli+kanna
Kadu+kanna
Kayak+kanai

The sandy side

The jungle side

The pond side

Kanna1	from Kan+a: direction, side, end, extremity, corner, “Dissaawa, Ke'lawara, Ko'na” (Sinhala, Sorata); Eak-kanna: = Eak-pæththa: one side (Sinhala, Sorata); Kanna-maaru: =Thattu-maaruwa: changing sides (spoken Sinhala Sorata). See boxes on Kan;
Kanna2	from Kanu+a: a piece, part, “Kæbælla” (Sinhala, Sorata); Ka'n: joint as in bamboo etc. (Tamil, Malayalam, Kota, Kannada, DED 1160);
Kan1	direction, side, “Disaawa” (Sinhala, Sorata); Kannai: side, one side of two opposite directions, party as in games, wrestling, fighting etc. (Eezham Tamil, Kathiraiverpillai, MTL cites Jaffna Dictionary); Kannai-maa'ruthal: to change sides in a game (Eezham Tamil, MTL); Kannai-piriththal: dividing a group into two opposite sides in a game (Eezham Tamil, MTL); 1. Kannam: cheek, ear (Tamil, DED 1413); cheek, jaw (Malayalam DED 1413); Kanna: the upper cheek (Kannada, DED 1413); Kan: ear, eye (Sinhala, Sorata); Kar'na: ear (Sanskrit, Rig Vedic, CDIAL 2830); Ka'n'na: ear, angle, tip (Pali, CDIAL 2830); Ka'n: eye (Tamil, cognates in 21 Dravidian languages, DED 1159); 2. Ka'n: place, site, locative case suffix (Tamil, DED 1161); Ka'ni: a place (Kannada, DED 1161)
Kan2	end, extremity, corner, “Ke'lawara, Ko'na” (Sinhala, Sorata); Konai: tip, end (Tamil, DED 2174); 1. Kone: extremity, point, tip, end, corner (Kannada, DED 2174); point, end, extremity (Tulu, DED 2174); Kona: end, extremity, point, tip, summit (Telugu, DED 2174); 2. Koa'n: crookedness, angle, crossness of disposition (Tamil, DED 2209, note the root Koa and Ko related to curve, bend etc., in other Dravidian word formations); Koa'nu: (verb) to be bent, curved, be crooked (Tamil, DED 2209); Koa'nam: curve, curvature, angle, corner (Tamil, DED 2209); Ko'na: corner, angle (Sanskrit, CDIAL 3504); Koa'n, Koa'na, Koa'ne, Koana: angle, corner (Kannada, DED 2209)
Kanai	from Kannai: side, edge (Eezham Tamil); see boxes on Kan 1 and Kan 2

The Sinhala term Kanna and Eezham Tamil word Kannai mean one side or extremity as compared or opposed to another.

Note Sorata's Sinhala dictionary explaining Eak-kanna as Eak-pæththa (one side), and explaining Kanna-maaru as Thattu-maaruwa (changing sides). They correspond to Kannai (one side) Kannai-maa'ruthal (changing sides) and Kannai-piriththal (dividing and forming sides in a game etc.) in Eezham Tamil (Kathiraiver Pillai's Tamil Dictionary).

The etymology of Kanna/ Kannai could be explained through the word Kannam/ Kanna, meaning cheeks of the face in Dravidian languages (DED 1413). In turn, Kannam could be related to either Kar'na for ear in Sanskrit/ Indo-Aryan (CDIAL 2830) or to Ka'n in Tamil/ Dravidian, meaning eye (DED 1159). The root Kan in Sinhala means both ear and eye (Sorata). The same root also means direction or side (Dissaawa) in Sinhala.

Another possibility of explaining the etymology of Kanna is the root Kan meaning end, edge, extremity (Ke'lawara) and corner in Sinhala (Sorata). See box on Kan 2 for the Dravidian cognates (DED 2174, 2209). Looking at the place names, Kan 1 seems to be more appropriate in explaining the toponymic component Kanna.

The suffix component Kanai (sometimes written as Ka'nai) found in some Eezham Tamil place names seems to be a shortened form of Kannai.

See earlier columns for the etymology of Wæli meaning sand, Kada meaning jungle and Kayam meaning pond.

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Wæli-kanna is a place in Seethawaka division of Colombo district.

Kadu-kanna is in Malimbada division of Matale district.

Kayak-kanai, sometimes written as Kayak-ka'nai is a locality name found in Kantharoadai in Valikaamam South division of Jaffna district.

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Some related place names:

Wæwuru-kannala: The tank bund side; Dickwella division, Matara district. Wẹwura: tank bund; Kanna+la affix Kannaa-de'niya: The valley on the side or extremity; Thumpane division, Kandy district

Dun-kannaawa: The side given (endowed); Nattandiya division, Puththa'lam district

Kannath-thota: The ferry point at the side or end; Ruwanwella division, Kegalle district

Kannan-kudaa: The lagoon arm at the side, end or corner; Ma'nmunai West division, Batticaloa district

First published: Tuesday, 12 April 2016, 17:28