The Taprobanian (1.1885/1886(1887))

22

THE TAPROBANIAN.

[October, 1885.

Kuko is S. kukka “puppy,” and probably origin-
ally was the name of a small breed of dogs, now
lost sight of; confer Greek kuon ; if we read
ku(h)on it would be only a soft form of Kukan,
which would be a Dravidian nominative from ku
“ to cry out,” kuko being a Pali one. AV as the
kuon different from the kunidion, as seems pro-
bable ? if so the latter would compare with our
halo as a second class of dog ; kunidion being
Latin canis, evidently may be assumed the form
of dog best known to the West. There are two
South Indian forms of dog, the “ pariah,” allied,
when well bred, to the colley in shape of bone ;
and the Paligar, a short-haired dog between a
greyhound and a lurcher. It is most probable
this, the hunting dog, is the balo, kunidion, and
canis; the kuko, or house dog, now made a pet
term for a puppy, being the kuon. Dr. Gray
was, I think, the last zoologist, in his synopsis of
the dog family, P. Z. S. London, to keep up the
fallacy of Ceylon having any special breed of dogs,
the Ceylon pariah being the ordinary cur of the old
world ; or a link between it and the greyhound,
if the Palig'ar dog, now nearly extinct in Ceylon, is
intended. The S. bala or balo is undoubtedly the
Tam, nayr, which in Ceylon is nari, jackal. Tam.
sunankan from Sans, sunakha of course connects
with kunidion, and Tam. suran shows us a link
between kuka(n) and ku(h)on, the r having a
tendancy to melt out; confer Tam. sukkaduthal,
“to dog.” The Sinhalese still speaks of Dina
bala, now unknown, but a large and savage breed,
which is said to be the breed that inhabits the
hells of torture; the paintings on temples show a
liver-brown or brindled dog, a form of mastiff
not unlike some German breeds of boar-hound,
or like the spotted carriage dogs in shape though
the latter are about one-third the size. Dina here
is not Maha Dina or China, but is no doubt the
ancient kingdom whose capital was Dina-patti or
China-patti, 25 miles or so south-west of Jalan-
dhara. No doubt it was one of this breed of Dina
bala that Sopheites gave Alexander, and which
conquered a lion and an elephant; and as mastiffs
will not stand the climate of Ceylon, it is not
surprising the breed is extinct here. Among
Eastern Province Vaeddas kukka, kikki, dog
and bitch, is the only word I have met in use.
Kaeta, allied to kotawa, is the word used for
dog, almost to the exclusion of kukka among the
Sinhalese of the Velasse district.
Buffalo, wal-mannya.
Man-nya can only be from Mana, the Sinh, name
of Yama, who is here the form Cupid or Man-

mathan, a corruption of Mana Nathan, Yama not
distinguished from Kama. Mannya is evidently
for Man-iya, vahan of Mana. Bailey cites Hodgson
for Miri menjik, which must be from menuj,
and perhaps ek, a male inflection allied to eka
one. It is, therefore, not immediately related
to our word. Wai is “ wild” when applied to
animals, and always in Elu or Sinhalese denotes
there is also a tame variety. It comes from the
Elu root for a “wild” a “ waste,” whence wana a
tatsama variant, seen in S. and Sans. The use of
the word wal in such compounds is so positive,
we may deduce the Vaeddas used to have tame
buffaloes, as people of the Vaedda country still
do, training them for hunting with, riding on, and
milk purposes, but not eating them.
Elk, gawara.
'This word denotes the Vaedda was anciently
one of the races that herded or hunted the
gawara or bos frontalis (bison) of India. Sinhalese
geri is derived from it. It is possible they once
had herds of these noble cattle even in Ceylon,
but more likely that the Sambur elk was substi-
tuted for the sacrifices, in which the gaura figured
wherever it could be got in North India, and the
valleys towards South China and Burma. Old
German uri, as from (gh)uri is evidently from
the same root as geri, the urns replacing the
gawara in the West.
Deer, kabara botah.
I leave Bailey’s spelling, as the sound may
correctly7 convey an old botach, rather than bota
as it would be written in Sinhalese. S. kabara is
still in use and means “ spotted.” Botah seems
from the root whence Latin bestia, Eng. beast,
French bete, and in classical writings S. pothaka
is the young of any beast, as if colloquial
paetiya. Elu or S. pothal a jackal, seems also
to be connected with botah. I expect the real
root to be s/pa or Vba “ to bring birth,” some-
what like animal “ that which has life.”
Pig, hota-baraya.
This r is always rough, hence Bailey’s wrong
spelling of the sound. Confer Goyi ang-baru-
wa, horn-bearer or ox, and hota baraya is evidently
snout-bearer. S. hota, snout, is rapidly pass-
ins' out of use, an indecorous term that has
arisen somewhat like it in sound, having made it
vulgar. Hondu-baraya is also sometimes met
with.
Leopard, polaetcha and mita botah.
This I conclude is Pol “ Saturn,” and a form of
achcha “ bear.” The leopard is a symbol of
Saturn locally; and the confusion of feline and