INDOLOGY FAQ

[Jean-Luc Chevillard]

I would be interested in having comments
on the Tamil form: வாரணாசி [vāraṇāci].

See the Tamil Lexicon (p. 3610)

வாரணாசி vāraṇāci, n. < Vāraṇasī. Benares, situate between the rivers 
Varaṇā and Asī; காசி. வாரணாசியோர் மறையோம்பாளன் (மணி. 13, 3).

See also another entry (p.3609), which gives a different spelling.

வாரணசி vāraṇaci, n. < vāraṇasī. See வாரணாசி. (யாழ். அக.)

The authority quoted by the Tamil Lexicon for the spelling vāraṇāci is 
the Maṇimēkalai
and comes from the chapter that tells the story of ஆபுததிரன்.

-- Jean-Luc Chevillard (Paris)


Le 2/15/2010 6:42 AM, Gary Tubb a écrit :
> I am tempted to add, in the section on mispronunciations, an entry on 
> "vaaraaNasii" (as the name of the city), with a note to the effect 
> that, for the same reasons as given for "mahaabhaarata" and 
> "raamaayaNa," the third syllable in this name is the least appropriate 
> place to apply a stress accent.  But I have been struck over the years 
> by the frequency with which many people I respect as experts on 
> Banaras habitually lengthen and stress the vowel in the third 
> syllable---so much so that I wonder whether they might be following 
> some local tradition unknown to me, despite the official spelling of 
> the name.  Are they?  Is there any good reason to make the third "a" 
> vowel in "Varanasi" long?
>
> ---
> Gary Tubb, Professor and Chair
> Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations
> The University of Chicago
>