[INDOLOGY] Brahmin Priestesses

[Suresh Kolichala]

Dear Whitney,

If we are looking for all possible combinations that could derive *t*
*ēvanti *in Tamil purely based on possible sound transformations, then here
are the possibilities.

1. Word-initial t- in Tamil could be derived from:  t-, d-, dh-, sth-, sn-
and c.
2. Word medial -v- in Tamil could be derived from: p, b, m, v
3. Final suffix -nti could be arrived at from: -nti, -ndi, -ntya, -ndya

If I feed these possibilities to my program it generates the following
combinations:

tēmanti, dēmanti, dhēmanti, sēmanti, ṣēmanti, śēmanti, snēmanti, sthēmanti,
cēmanti, tāmanti, dāmanti, dhāmanti, sāmanti, ṣāmanti, śāmanti, snāmanti,
sthāmanti, cāmanti, tēmandi, dēmandi, dhēmandi, sēmandi, ṣēmandi, śēmandi,
snēmandi, sthēmandi, cēmandi, tāmandi, dāmandi, dhāmandi, sāmandi, ṣāmandi,
śāmandi, snāmandi, sthāmandi, cāmandi, tēmantya, dēmantya, dhēmantya,
sēmantya, ṣēmantya, śēmantya, snēmantya, sthēmantya, cēmantya, tāmantya,
dāmantya, dhāmantya, sāmantya, ṣāmantya, śāmantya, snāmantya, sthāmantya,
cāmantya, tēmandya, dēmandya, dhēmandya, sēmandya, ṣēmandya, śēmandya,
snēmandya, sthēmandya, cēmandya, tāmandya, dāmandya, dhāmandya, sāmandya,
ṣāmandya, śāmandya, snāmandya, sthāmandya, cāmandya, tēvanti, dēvanti,
dhēvanti, sēvanti, ṣēvanti, śēvanti, snēvanti, sthēvanti, cēvanti, tāvanti,
dāvanti, dhāvanti, sāvanti, ṣāvanti, śāvanti, snāvanti, sthāvanti, cāvanti,
tēvandi, dēvandi, dhēvandi, sēvandi, ṣēvandi, śēvandi, snēvandi, sthēvandi,
cēvandi, tāvandi, dāvandi, dhāvandi, sāvandi, ṣāvandi, śāvandi, snāvandi,
sthāvandi, cāvandi, tēvantya, dēvantya, dhēvantya, sēvantya, ṣēvantya,
śēvantya, snēvantya, sthēvantya, cēvantya, tāvantya, dāvantya, dhāvantya,
sāvantya, ṣāvantya, śāvantya, snāvantya, sthāvantya, cāvantya, tēvandya,
dēvandya, dhēvandya, sēvandya, ṣēvandya, śēvandya, snēvandya, sthēvandya,
cēvandya, tāvandya, dāvandya, dhāvandya, sāvandya, ṣāvandya, śāvandya,
snāvandya, sthāvandya, cāvandya, tēpanti, dēpanti, dhēpanti, sēpanti,
ṣēpanti, śēpanti, snēpanti, sthēpanti, cēpanti, tāpanti, dāpanti, dhāpanti,
sāpanti, ṣāpanti, śāpanti, snāpanti, sthāpanti, cāpanti, tēpandi, dēpandi,
dhēpandi, sēpandi, ṣēpandi, śēpandi, snēpandi, sthēpandi, cēpandi, tāpandi,
dāpandi, dhāpandi, sāpandi, ṣāpandi, śāpandi, snāpandi, sthāpandi, cāpandi,
tēpantya, dēpantya, dhēpantya, sēpantya, ṣēpantya, śēpantya, snēpantya,
sthēpantya, cēpantya, tāpantya, dāpantya, dhāpantya, sāpantya, ṣāpantya,
śāpantya, snāpantya, sthāpantya, cāpantya, tēpandya, dēpandya, dhēpandya,
sēpandya, ṣēpandya, śēpandya, snēpandya, sthēpandya, cēpandya, tāpandya,
dāpandya, dhāpandya, sāpandya, ṣāpandya, śāpandya, snāpandya, sthāpandya,
cāpandya, tēbanti, dēbanti, dhēbanti, sēbanti, ṣēbanti, śēbanti, snēbanti,
sthēbanti, cēbanti, tābanti, dābanti, dhābanti, sābanti, ṣābanti, śābanti,
snābanti, sthābanti, cābanti, tēbandi, dēbandi, dhēbandi, sēbandi, ṣēbandi,
śēbandi, snēbandi, sthēbandi, cēbandi, tābandi, dābandi, dhābandi, sābandi,
ṣābandi, śābandi, snābandi, sthābandi, cābandi, tēbantya, dēbantya,
dhēbantya, sēbantya, ṣēbantya, śēbantya, snēbantya, sthēbantya, cēbantya,
tābantya, dābantya, dhābantya, sābantya, ṣābantya, śābantya, snābantya,
sthābantya, cābantya, tēbandya, dēbandya, dhēbandya, sēbandya, ṣēbandya,
śēbandya, snēbandya, sthēbandya, cēbandya, tābandya, dābandya, dhābandya,
sābandya, ṣābandya, śābandya, snābandya, sthābandya, cābandya.

For your laughs only!

Regards,
Suresh.

PS: I still think *c/sV̄mantī* 'Indian rose' is the most plausible
candidate, as it reasonably explains the variant spellings of *tēvanti *and
*tāvanti*.
PPS: I totally agree with you that "a barren woman of the gods" doesn't
make much sense at all.


On Thu, Nov 14, 2013 at 1:44 PM, Whitney Cox <wmcox at uchicago.edu> wrote:

> Equally, and by a set of sound changes essentially identical to those
> described by Palaniappan, the second element in tēvantikai could be
> referred to -vandyā ('praiseworthy').  Skt. Devavandyā, I find, occurs in
> list of 1008 names of the Gāyatrī mantra: this slightly obscure place
> notwithstanding, it also makes better sense semantically: "she who is to be
> praised by the gods" rather than "a barren woman of [?] the gods", thus "a
> divine barren woman".
>
>
>


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.indology.info/pipermail/indology/attachments/20131114/bc6b59b9/attachment.htm>