non-elite CT names (Re: Telugu history)

Raveen Satkurunathan tawady at YAHOO.COM
Fri Mar 17 23:14:43 UTC 2000


On Fri, 17 Mar 2000 10:12:26 -0800, Periannan Chandrasekaran
<perichandra at YAHOO.COM> wrote:

>
>one may survey the rich  cast of the great CT epic "cilappatikAram":
>
>the hero and heroine who are scions of rich businessmen: kOvalan2 & kaNNaki
>
>Their fathers: mAcAttuvAn2 (great merchant), mAnAykan2 (great leader?)
>The courtesan: mAtavi (the name of a domestic creeper/vine)
>Her female friend (of mAtavi): vAcavadattai
>The milkmaids at madurai suburb: mAtari, aiyai
>(= "great consort of king" ?given name )jain monk:
>
>The Jain monk guiding the hero/heroine: kavunti
>
>Brahmins:
>The brahmin friend of kaNNaki: tEvanti
>The brahmin messenger sent by mAtavi to kOvalan2: kOcikamANi (kaucikan2?)
>The brahmnin visitor from pUmpuhAr at madurai: mADalan2
>Brahmin names mentioned:
>kIrantai (a tamil name), parAcaran2, vArttikan2, kArttikai, takkiNan2 (dakSiNa)
>
>The "elite":
>Coza: karikAl vaLavan2
>The paNdiyan emperor/empress: ceziyan2 (hereditary title),  kOp perun tEvi
>Chera: ceGkuTTuvan2
>Chera chieftains: azumpil vEL, villavan2 kOtai

>Brahmin names are evidently Sanskrit. But it is difficult to detect any
>differences among the non-brahmin names.
>
>P.Chandrasekaran
>


The survey needs to be complete including all possible CT literature and
evaluated with respect "refined Tamil"  (Chen Thamizh) versus "unrefined Tamil"
names.

I will be surprised that if "unrefined names" such as Kuppan, Suppan, Karupaih,
Muniyandi etc., did not exist then, that some how it is a post CT development.
Because these names are primordial and describe a person in very basic terms
versus the flowery highly descriptive names of the CT elite. ( Will be good topic
for a masters thesis to a student of Tamil:-))





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