Know the Etymology: 493
Place Name of the Day: Friday, 19 August 2016

Mattaka, Matu-raṭa, Ōmatta

மத்தக, ம[த்]து-ர[ட்]ட, ஓமத்த
Mattaka, Matu-raṭa, Ōmatta

Mattaka
Matu+raṭa
Oya+matta

The high ground

The high-ground country or district

The high ground by the stream

Matta	top, summit (Sinhala, Clough); = Mat+vū, Matu+a (Sinhala, Sorata); Mata, Matu: summit, pinnacle, top of anything, head, "Mastakaya" (Sinhala, Sorata); Matu-piṭa: upper part, "Uḍa pẹtta" (Sinhala, Sorata); Masta, Mastaka: head, skull (Sanskrit, CDIAL 9926); Matthaka: head, top, summit (Pali, CDIAL 9926); Mata: (verb) to grow fat, (Tamil, DED 4687); Mita: (verb) to rise high in the sky (Tamil, DED 4841); Mitappu: height, elevation (Tamil, DED 4841); Maitā: uppermost, topmost, placed above, higher, highest, the higher regions (Kurux, DED 4841)
Ōmatta	probably Oya+matta: high ground by the side of a stream (Sinhala, place names); as in Ōvilān, Ho-vẹḷa, Hō-vẹḷa, Hō-vẹḷu, Ōkaḍa etc., in which Ō/ Hō stands for Oya, meaning a stream
Matu	summit, pinnacle, top of anything, head, "Mastakaya" (Sinhala, Sorata); see Matta
Raṭa	country, district, inhabited country (Sinhala, Clough); Rāṣtra: kingdom, country (Sanskrit, Rig Vedic, CDIAL 10273, from the root Rāj); Raṭṭha: kingdom, country (Pali, Prakrit, CDIAL 10721)

The Sinhala place name components Matta and Matu as could be deduced from their geographical context seems to be meaning a high ground, top ground, bulging landscape, high bank etc.

Mata and Matu in Sinhala mean summit, pinnacle, top of anything and head, and the terms are taken as cognates of Masta and Mastaka in Sanskrit meaning head or skull, and of Matthaka in Pali, meaning head, top or summit (CDIAL 9926). However, note that in Dravidian Mata as verb is to bulge and Mita as verb is to rise high (DED 4687, 4861). Maitā in Kurux/ Dravidian means uppermost, topmost, placed above, higher, highest and the higher regions (DED 4861).

The places having the name Ōmatta are streamside high grounds or rising grounds. It seems Ōmatta is the shortened form of Oya-matta. Similar word formations could be cited in Sinhala in the cases of Ōvilān (Oya-vilāna meaning a riverside marsh or Oya-vẹḷān, meaning a riverbank), and Ōkaḍa (Oya-kaḍa meaning a stream passage). See earlier columns for the etymology of Oya meaning a stream.

Raṭa meaning a country, district or inhabited country corresponds to Rāṣtra in Sanskrit and Raṭṭha in Pali/ Prakrit meaning the same.

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Mattaka is a place in Niyagama division of Galle district.

Matu-raṭa is in Hanguranketha division of Nuwara Eliya district.

Ōmatta is noticed as a place name in Agalawatta division of Kalutara district, as well as in Elpitiya division of Galle district.

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Some related place names:

Matta:

Gal-matta: Mathugama, Kalutara

Uḍala-matta: Nagoda, Galle

Yaṭala-matta: Nagoda, Galle

Mattala: Lunugamvehera, Hambantota; Matta+la

Uḍu-matta: Eheliyagoda, Ratnapura

Mattam-goḍa: Yatiyanthota, Kegalle

Mattē-gama: Pannala, Kurunegala

Mattē-goḍa: Homagama, Colombo

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Matu:

Mattuma-gala: Wattala, Gampaha

Matu-gama: Mathugama, Kalutara

Kuḍā-matugama: Walallavita, Kalutara

Matuva-kanda: Walasmulla, Hambantota

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Omatta:

Homatā-gama: Bamunakotuwa, Kurunegala. Hoya, Ho, Hō: =Oya (Sinhala). The place name could also mean ‘the facing village’. Homu: face (Sinhala, Sorata); from Mukam.

First published: Friday, 19 August 2016, 14:27