Mahapurana of Puspdanta

Author(s): Ratna N Shriyan
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 57

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DESYA WORDS FROM THE MAHAPURĀŅA
Tibetan, and Kōl-Munda or (Austric). Because of long contacts some of the element might have crept in Indo-Aryan also and some of Dest words might owe their origin to them. Out of them Dravidian is most important. A good many of the words found in the Deśīnāmamālā show close resemblance to words in the Dravidian languages. E.g., taṭṭi (Ta., Kan., Tu. Mal., tatta frame of bamboos'), kalla (Te., Kan. kaļļu. Ta. kal 'toddy'), sippa (Kan. sippe='rin 1'), nesara (Kan. nesaṛ='sun', Ta. neyir 'su.-shine', Mal. ner-'day-light'), sula (Kan. sule='a harlot'), pulli (Kan. puli, Ta., Te., Mal., Tu. pili-'a tiger'), pavo (Kan. pāvu, Te. pamu, Ta. pana snake'), kolitta (Kan. Ta. kolli, Mal., Te, kolavi= 'a firebrand'), alta (Kan. atte, Ta. atter mother-in-law, father's sister' ), ammā (Kan., Ta. amma, Te., Mal. ame='mother'), jhadi (Kan. jadi 'a long con. tinued fine small rain') and others
Among those identified apparently as Darvioian, some caution is required. We may not be sure who is the borrower and who borrowed. We can have two criteria for deciding this question: I, Chronology, i.e. from when the word is attested in Indo-Aryan or Indo-Dravidian, 2. If a particular word is productive, i.e., numerous derivatives of that word are formed in a language, we can take that word to be belonging to that language. By applying these criteria we can decide the alleged Dravidian sources. The Etymological Dictionary of Dravidian Languages by Burrow and Emeneu of U.S.A. also may help us to a great extent to determine this.
Next is the Munda source. Some work in this field is done by F.B. J. Kuiper in his "Proto-Munda words in Sanskrit", Amsterdam, 1948. Similarly, Przyluski and Sylvain Levi1 have done some work on preAryan and pre-Dravidian, Chatterji in this connection says as follows: "The new method inaugurated by J. Przyluski in the study of IA borrowings from Kōl, by comparing forms in the Austro-Asiatic and Austro-nesian languages, has led to some sure results in this most obscure branch of IA etymology".2
7. Lastly, numerous foreign tribes from early times, Ksatrapas, Yavanas, Sakas, Hūnas, Chinese, etc. have migrated and settled in India. Their contact might have influenced the Indian languages. But this remains a guess.
1.
"Pre-Aryan and Pre-Dravidian in India", Sylvain Levi, translated by Bagchi. 2. See Chatterji, Origin & Development of Bengali Language, Calcutta, 1926.
3.
We can investigate Hemacandra's Desi collection from another point of view also. It will be worthwhile studying what percentage of Desi words are inherited by different NIA. languages, how much is common between them, which particular language has inherited most and which least, We can prapare a sort of statistical study how much is the common inheritance and how much is peculiar to various languages and this can throw considerable light on the regional source of Desi words.