Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c28.s8.t6.4

c28.s8.t6.4

Cf. LT *tuṟu*, *tuṟu-kal* 'stone for closing the *tūmpu* (outlet) of a channel' (*Apitāṉa*. 1217); *tuṟukal* id. (*TL* ); *tūmpiṉil putainta kallum* 'stone buried in the *tūmpu*' (*Vivēka*. 61). The expression ***tuṟukay*** (*\* *tuṟukai*) is not attested elsewhere. This is probably a verbal noun formed from the stem *tūṟu*/*tuṟu* 'to enter (a hole)' + *kay* (*-kai* in LT), the nominal suffix, to yield the meaning 'a narrow opening', which is interpreted in the present context as 'the vent (in a sluice)'.