Tamil Studies, or Essays on the History of the Tamil People, Language, Religion and Literature c19.78

c19.78

(7) Sanskrit words when adopted are so far distorted by the Dravidian Malayalis that it would be difficult to discover their correct forms:—chite is ‘jata’; chattam, ‘srarddham’; kotamba, ‘godhuma’; chetu, ‘Sakatam’; chirta, ‘Sridevi’; vakkanam, ‘vyakyanam’; veli, ‘bali’; so forth. It cannot be ascertained on what principle mesham becomes medam and vesham as vezham, which in Tamil means an ‘elephant’. The unnatural partiality of the Kerala people to Sanskrit has induced them to derive some pure Dravidian words from Sanskrit ; பச்சில or பசுமை இலை (green leaf) is derived from Sanskrit patram; மடு or மட்டு (honey) from Sanskrit madhu; மை from Sanskrit mashi &c.