Know the Etymology: 473
Place Name of the Day: Saturday, 02 July 2016

Bæmbiya, Mæti-bæmbiya, Bæm-mulla

பெ₃ம்பி₃ய, மெ[ட்]டி-பெ₃ம்பி₃ய, பெ₃ம்-முல்ல
Bẹṁbiya,
Mẹṭi-bẹṁbiya,
Bẹṁ-mulla

Bæmbiya
Mæti+bæmbiya
Bæm+mulla

The bank or dam

The mud embankment or dam

The locality of the embankment or dam

Bẹṁbiya

from Bẹm, Bẹmma, as in Vẹv-bẹmma: bank, embankment or dam of a tank, “Vẹvē vēlla hō miyara” (Sinhala, Sorata); Pāmpu: bank of a river or tank (Tamil, DED 4086); bank, embankment, dam, “Varampu” (Tamil, piṅkalam, 10: 786)

Bẹṁbiya and Bẹm, as in the phrase Vẹv-bẹmma in Sinhala mean a bank, embankment or dam of a water body.

Sorata, giving the meaning Vēlla (bank) or Miyara (embankment, dam) for Bẹmma, traces the etymology to Bẹńduma related to Bańdana (binding, CDIAL 9136).

But the direct cognate of Bẹṁbiya/ Bẹmma seems to be Pāmpu in Tamil/ Dravidian (DED 4086), having identical meaning, i.e., bank of a river or tank.

Old Tamil lexicons cite the word Varampu for Pāmpu (Varampu > Parampu > Pāmpu).

Another etymological probability is Bẹmma and Pāmpu corresponding to the meaning ridge, related to Pommu (verb), meaning to swell (Tamil, DED 4469). Also note Bẹma in Sinhala and Bomma in Telugu/ Dravidian meaning eyebrow.

See earlier columns on Mẹṭi meaning clay and Mulla meaning corner or locality in Sinhala.

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Bẹṁbiya is a place in Minipe division of Kandy district.

Mẹṭi-bẹṁbiya is in Hanguranketha division of Nuwara Eliya district.

Bẹm-mulla is in Attanagalla division of Gampaha district.

First published: Sunday, 03 July 2016, 01:28