putra

[Venkatraman Iyer]

<<<
If I may continue this discussion a little further, while I have some
references in front of me, I would suggest that there is a circularity
between spellings of Sanskrit words and their perceived etymologies.
For example, consider the variants putra/puttra.  It is obvious that
the variant puttra allowed the folk-etymology put+tra, where -put- is
said to be the name of a hell, from which the son protects the father
(pun-naamno narakaad yasmaat traayate pitaram suta.h).  On the other
hand, the reading putra allowed the derivation pu+tra.  Here the affix
tra (.s.tran in the U.naadisuutra) is added to the root puu.  But this
requires the shortening of the vowel of the root, which is explicitly
prescribed by the U.naadisuutra : puvo hrasvaz ca.  Thus, we have two
alternative etymologies, besides the fact that Panini considered this
word as underived, giving us no specific clue as to whether it should
be 'originally' putra or puttra.  In my opinion, the phonological
variation is in all likelihood the more primary fact, while the
etymologies are simply rationalizations, after the fact.
         Best,
                                Madhav Deshpande
 >>>

Dr. Fosse:
<<<
  -tra is a fairly normal Indo-European suffix also found in Greek
and Latin (-tro-). It is the zero stage of the suffix -ter/-tor + the
thematic vowel if I remember correctly. You can consult Burrow's The
Sanskrit Language for such details. If in doubt, never believe what
you read in popular literature, and be wary of folk etymologies. In
this case, the folk etymology is quite ancient. Thus the word skt.
putra = son was analysed as put + tra where tra was given
the meaning you give above ("put-releaser"). This lead Skt.
grammarians to assume that there was a Hell called "put", because
a son saves his father from hell through the performance of the
necessary rites. >>>

Prof. Witzel wrote:
 >And, of course etymology can be fun, if done scientifically
 >(identifying root, stem, meaning), -- but also, when we derive,
 >say, putra from *put+traa (Upanisads, from an imagined *put 'hell')
 >or  Bhairava from bhii + ru + vam as in Kashmiri Shivaism...

Given the long history of etymologizing the word, putra,
has a Dravidian origin been suggested? Tamil has
"putu"=new
"putalvan"=son, student
"putal"=bud

With regards,
V. Iyer


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