8/7/2019 About the Word Hela - Chandre Dharmawaradana

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What is the correct usage,

orin words likeheLAbasa?

The " correct" usage of a word or a language is ultimately dictated by the majority

usage prevalent in the language. However, even then one should look at what the

learned have said to find out what is the "accepted way".

This note is written in the hope that those interested in the Sinhala language would

have some comments on the following. What is said below are merely my personal

views, and hence they are an invitation for discussion and correction.

Let me at the outset say that many years ago I leaned towards the form , buttoday I use the form !We find that bothMooddhaja (Linguals) Layanna , , and the danthaja ( dentals)layanna are used by modern writers who use various forms like:, , , , , and also , , etc., but fortunately,noone writes ""as far as I know !!!What can we say about this? It is usually said that one should look at the source

languages and the etymology of the words to understand their correct spelling.

Unfortunately, modern Sanskrit uses only the danthaja form , and hence oneneeds to go to Old Sanskrit to resolve the problem -- that is, now one has to look at

various forms of old Prakrit, Pali, Elu and renderings of early Sanskrit. It is not

enough to look at what some dictionary says because dictionary writers may not

have spent enough time thinking about it! We need a closer look at the etymology or

"Nishpanna".

1. One view is that the word "Hela" came from the word "Sinhala", derived fromSinha, "" and "", or "slayer", harking back to the story of Sinhabahu andVijaya (irrespective of the historicity or not of the story, if a belief exists, that is a

sufficient anthroplogical basis ). If the origin of the word is indeed from "Lion

slayer", the danthaja form would be expected. Thus the sinhalese form (but not

the Elu) should be , and hence, hela is an abbriviation of.This suggests that the danthaja form "", should be used.

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2. On the other hand, since the Elu and Pali forms are . Thissuggests that the moordhaja form should be used. The Elu (and Pali) form may

have arisen from Si (=Lion), haLa, i.e, or "helooo", and again seems tohark back to the story of slaying the lion. In "heloo" the Moordhaja is theaccepted standard from.

3. Another view is that the word hela has NOT originated from or ,but fromLanka. In Parkrit ( Pali, Sanskrit), words where agaathraakshara

(consonant) like L or R is the begining letter, it is common to add apraanakashar

(vowel) like e, ior at least an he or ha or hibefore the consonant. Thus rahath is

found as arhath or arhantin the source languages. The word welamba (mare)

becomes elamba in prakrit colloquial forms.

This same rule is also mentioned in the Tamil grammar Tolkappian, and soLanka

Ilankai,,but I don't think it is mentioned in theSidath Sangara. However, withinthis view,Lanka becomesElanka, or Helanka. The shortening ofHelankaHela,is,according to this view, the origin of Hela. Thus, it is quite ironic that Ilankai Ilan Eelam comes from the same etymological roots. [ In fact, many so-called

original Tamil words turn out to have roots in old (Rig Veda) Sanskrit - a fact

ignored or inadequately researched by some modern writers interested in pushing

ethnicities. See the incorrect Tamil etymology in, e.g., footnote 359 of Kathigesu

Indrapala's The evolution of an ethnic identity ].

We should note thatLanka is the oldest recorded name given to this island. Dr.

Susantha Goonatilleke's recent book has a detailed discussion of the origin of the

name of Sri Lanka. The form does not occur anywahere as far as we know.Both Pali and Sanskrit forms use the danthja layanna.

It should also be added that at one time Prof. D. V. A. S. Amarasekera (Colomo

University maths Prof.) claimed that hela had some thing to do with the Greek

"Hela". That has no foundation at all.

These arguments, based on the origin ofHella from Lanka, also suggest that the

correct way to writeHela is with a danthaja L, i.e., .4. The word "damila", written "" is I think unequivocally accepted to haveoriginated from ( ), where a hard letter D, , is found in the sourcelanguage. Then it is custormary to replace the hard D with a moordhaja in the Elu form and, subsequently in Sinhala. Hence these arguments show thatdamila, or demala, should be written as "" or "", if one wants to be pickyabout and .Summary

Hence, most of the arguments seem to favour the danthaja layanna in writing hela,

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i.e., , and similarly has a danthaja laynna. On the other hand, ""has to have a moordhaja layanna. Or, should we follow modern sanskrit and just

use the danthaja layanna everywhere?

Prof. Chandre Dharmawaradana

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