No. 47.— 1896.] place names in the vannt. 205 



Keni = in Jaffna a well, here a tank 



Nfravi = a well, a tank 



Odai = a channel, a tank 



Kuli = a hole, pit, a tank 



Yil = villu, a pond 



Talvu = depth, water, a tank 



Of these words, as regards popularity kulam is easily first. 

 Out of 555 names of tanks and villages I have counted 332, 

 or about three-fifths, ending in kulam, whereas there are 

 only 24 madus, 7 moddais, 4 kenis, 3 odais, and the same 

 number of vils, and a solitary tdlvu* 



There are shades of difference in the meaning of these 

 words, no doubt, but why a tank is generally called a kulam, 

 but sometimes a madu\ or a keni, I am not able to say. 

 There does not appear to be any difference in the appearance 

 of a kulam, a madu, or a keni : they all have bunds, and are 

 artificial. A keni in Jaffna means a large well walled 

 completely on three sides and with a sloping path leading 

 down to it on the other, but in the Varmi it simply means 

 an ordinary tank with a band, and is indistinguishable from 

 a kulam. A vil or villu is a natural pond, and therefore 

 has no bund. 



Just as the affix is nearly always some word denoting a 

 tank, the village or tank usually takes the first part of its 

 name from some tree or plant.J These are the most con- 

 spicuous objects everywhere, and on or near the tank bunds 

 the finest specimens, of the different varieties of trees are 

 generally to be found. Consequently, in naming the tank 

 the first thing thought of is some tree with which it is 

 especially connected in the minds of the cultivators ; hence 

 the greater number of tanks, and therefore of villages, are 

 called after trees. Of these, though it is not indigenous to 

 the country, by far the most popular is the tamarind. I have 

 counted nearly forty villages and tanks called after this tree, 



* I have come across one kuli, but cannot recall the name. This 

 termination is more common in the Mannar District, 

 f Some of the largest tanks are called mandus. 

 % See Appendix. 



