Tamil Heritage

[Swaminathan Madhuresan]

> Even the common fruit vendor uses only "phalam" for fruit.
> And since word by word comparisons between languages is
> beyond my capabilities, I cannot in anyway contest this claim.

Skt. 'phalam', used extensively, has origins in Tamil/Dravidian.
phalam < ta. 'pazam' (fruit, ripe fruit, very aged person) is formed
from the tamil verb, 'pazu'.

Cologne Online Tamil Lexicon:
pazu-ttal pazu-ttal 01 1. to ripen, grow ripe, as fruits, grain; 2. to
grow mature, arrive at perfection, as in knowledge, science, piety; 3. to
become old; 4. to become fit, as for salvation; 5. to be trained; to become
experienced; 6. to suppurate, come to a head, as a boil; 7. to melt, as
heart; 8. to change colour by age, as ivory, horn, grain; to become pale or
yellowish, as the body by disease; to be discoloured, as the teeth; 9. to
become successful; 10. to prosper; 11. to abound; 12. to become flabby and
weak, as the abdomen of a woman after child-birth for want of stimulants;
13. to take a fine, brilliant colour, as gold, red-hot iron; 14. to become
flexible, pliant

Persons with deep understanding of both Tamil and Dravidian are
indeed rare. Sanskritists work from dictionaries like DED, but
when their knowledge of Tamil texts is solid, lot more sanskrit words
can be shown to be tamil/dravidian etymologically.

Best,
SM




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