ii

li

16 JoURNAL n.e.s. (covrou) [Vor. XXIVILTWO SINHALESE .TERMS OF KINSHIP

MI_MIITU AND MI.MITI

By,, D. E. HBruAnercrl, M.A., P11. D.

Tsn terms of kinship in the Indo-European ianguages have been the-.ubject of a fascinating and detailed study by Delbriick'' ", made as earlyas 1889. The subsequent researches of various scholars, notably ofRivers and Kohler', have considerably enriched our- knorvledge. A. M.Hocart, an Archaeological Commissioner of Ceylon, publisheda in r9z8a comparative account of " The Indo-European Kinship System ",throwing much fresh light on the kinship terminology, and of specialvalue for the Sinhalese and Tamil terms of relationship.

Prior to Hocart, J. P. Lewis of the Ceylon Civil Servjce, had rvritten.to the Orientaiist+ on " On the Terms of Relationship in Sinhalese andTamil ". Mudaliyar A. M. Gunasekara had also published a Note on" The Sinhalese'lerms of Relationship " in the Ceylon Notes and Queries.--Royal Asiatic Society, Ceylon lJranchs.

trrawati Karwe, an Indian scholar, by examining the data found inthe Rg and the Atharva Veda-*, has made a very notervortliy contribution6on " Kinship Terminology and Kinship Usages in Rg Veda ancl AtharvaVeda ". His observations are of very great value even in the historictreatment of the terms of kinship obtaining in Sinhalese. Withoutentering into a discussion on Kinship Terminology in Sinhalese in general,.tr propose to discuss the history of the terms tnl-nowtu andmi-m,iti, foundin the epigraphical records of Ceylon and in Sinhalese literature, in thesense of 'grand-father, grand-parent or ancestor'.

The Old-Indian milydhan found in Vedic as well as classical Sanskrit,and meaning 'head, top, summit etc.' has given rise to a varietv of'forms in Middle-Indian. Pali has preservedi a mixture of stemi in-a and -n, asinmwddhatn,muddhana,mwddhani etc. and also the analogi-cal form mu.ddhdnam. It will be noticed that the conjunct consonants.-rdh- in m,tirdhan have been assimilated in the Pali forms withoutcerebralization. Although this type of form, e.g., muddkii, nmddhdno,sis found also in other Prakrits, they, especially the Jain Prakrits, havethe stems : muddha-, mwndha*, and mwmQhana- with the group of

r. Sae Abhandulgen der philologisch-historischen Klasse der KoniglichenSAchsischen GesellschaJt der Wissenschaften. r8E9.

2. See Cevlon Journai of Science G. Vol. I p. t7g.3 ib.pp. a7g-2o4.4. Orientalist Vol. I pp. 217-223, Voi. II pp. 64-69.5. Part II p. xix ff.6. Annals of tire Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute Vol. XX 1938-39 pp.

69 -9o, rog--r44, zr3-234.7. See PTS. Dictionary s.v. muddha2, and Geiger--Pali Literature and Langu-

age, "s

gz. r8. Geiger-ibid. gz.t note 3,

Pischel Grammzrtik der Prakrit SprachenSiddha Hemachandra VIII III..56.

No. ror-lq46l TWo sINHALESE TERris oli l{tNSHIl' 17

conjuncts cerebralizecl. $fost of the New-Indian Vernaculars seem tohave deveioped their equivalentse from the cerebralized {orms. Cf.Sindhi nw,tQ,h.w, Gujarati mo@i,, ,Marathi mrnn,Q, rnwnQhl, Oriya mu,nda,Assamese mu.r, Bengah mnr, Hindi rn[imr, Nepali mwr, Punjabi munQ,Lahntla tnundh.s

Sinhalese, holvever, has clrawn upon Pali, on account of thc over-wheiming influence that that language, or its prototype, had exertedon Sinhalese from verv early times. The stem mwddl,tana- in Pali hasgiven rise to muduna or tnttndr.nta, found in Sinhalese literature, as wellas in epigraphical recorcls, in the sense of 'head, top, summit etc.'e.g. :--di1,a-katti paltannutnd.u,na plin,ena tok 'until the top of the aqueductstone . appears (above ivater) ' Vessagiri Slab Inscription No. z,EpZ I 33'z-'a (roth c. ,+.o.); ra.i-paralt>ureh,i mundun-m(ill 'the mostpre-eminent in the royal dvnastv', Slab Inscription of Queen LilAvati,EpZ I t3ot'z (end of the rzth c.); twtta s&rorlta. niyarcisitt, an r&iG. mudwmbises aii 'by the effulgence of the nails of whose feet, the heads of otherkings, became anointed' Devanagala Rock Inscription, T).pZ III 3zr+(rzth c.) ; ilxundun no-frilt, the head (or the skull) dicl not crack,"DhpAGp 2712 (roth c.) ; desnehi mumdun the climax of the sermon,ib. 5g:'.

About the 7th or the Sth century A.D. there arose in Sinhalesea tendency" to drop the final, or even a medial, vowel in a word.Although in a vast majority of the instances, it is the final a that iselided, vowels other than a are also seen dropping off in a medial position.Cf . hindna 'sitting ' (EpZ IY 4z Ce-"--roth c.) f.or ktndina; hindud.'having seated ' (ib. ili 77 Dsz*-roth c.) for hinduad; s&m-jarua.n' offi-cers of state, gentlemen' (ib. IV r7g--about gth c.), sam-darwuan (ib.II 7 A's--roth c.) ; mal>arnouka ' His Majesty' (ib. I t5q A:-+--roth c.), ma.pururtuuh& id. (ib. III ro3 A3-4-9th c.).

Thrs mudwna a\d its nasalized form tnunduna gave rise to lnudnLt.,and mundma which are seLln in instances |Ike mundne 'on the head'EpZ I 44s (nthc.), and ntundnen' (from or) on the head' ib. I zzrs(rrth c.). The form rvith the medial d did not remain long in use,because the d was either hardened to a surd l, or the d with a vowel xtfollowing it, came into use again. This marks a very important phasein the behaviour of the vorvels in Sinhalese because the tendency towardsthe dropping of the hnal and medial vowels which arose in the 7th orthe Sth century, went on developing up to about the roth century whenit reached its climax, and it began to decline and disappear again from

9. Geiger--An Etymological Glossary of the Sinhalese Language s.v. ntuduna.R. L. Turner-A Comparative and Etymologicai Dictionary of the Nepali

I-anguage s,v.tnuy2, tmu,ndA2.

Bhisar]a Samgraha, ed. U. Tiwari,4th Edition p. 49: hiithina ke mutltda'theheads of etrephants'.

ro. Dhampil'A-Atuvl-Giitapadaya ed. Sir D. B. Jayatilaka, 1932.

The abbreviations of the names of Sinhalese texts etc. used in this Article, arethose found in a Dictionary of the Sinhalese Language, compiled under the auspiceso{ the Royal Asiatic Societv of Ce1'lon. l{y thanks are due to the Editors o{the Sinhalese Dictionary {or sorne of the reJerences appearing in this article.

I r. See Dr. S. Para.navitana, EPZ IV p. r5o.

r9r8 JoURNAL R.A.s. (cEYLoN) [Vor. X{XVII. No. ror--r946i 1'\,VO SINHALESE TERMS OF KINSHIP

,about the rrth century. Thus mwfrna andrnundna seem to have develop-ed into mutna, or continued as m,ud,uma or mundwna. Cf. P.Sk.

jtojana)5tod67x6. or yodunalyodnalyotna (e.g., ptilalup-nuuarata-rajagahd-nwaara sat yotnek The city of Rajagrha is at a distance-ofsevin yajanas from the city of Pataliputra, Sidat-Sangardva ed. SriDharmirama,'rg25 p. roo'-"; ; beduma 'division' );,bedmalbetma; etc.

By the time the iorm mwtna had evolved, it seems to have clevelope-d,

besides its original significance, the sense of 'a person on top o{ theiine of one's ancestry, a grand-father, or grand-parent or any earlierancestor'2. Some of the earliest Sinhalese books have preserved for us

this use of the word mutna. e.g., yano karunekin rnutnahata mahaludw inas much as (the bride-groom) is older than the (bride's) grand-father,DhpAGp ,92:;; sat-uana nowtna paaa rtp to the seventh ancestor, ib.38,o-so [trs1. of P. yaaa sattama ku,la-pariuatta) ; mutna grand-father,ib. gtt i:P. ayyan6); mohumwtn'a Katingw iaju, rlarasri duiing the timeof this (person's) grand-father, King Kalingu, Dhmpdp 27ore' evhu

mutnd Kalinglt,rajwhis grand-father, King Kalingu, rb. z75o; de-mwtnanslrrTnas rrtaka ailhi gala havtng immersed the two grand-parents in thehuge lake of joy, ib. 275'o ; e-sanda Kal'ingu hwnara rnauw-piyanudwruitnanudu ai)nd,a tinen the prince Kalingu having saluted (his) parentsand grand-parents, ib. 276' ', mwtna grand-father ( :P. ayyakar.n),BoVG-p t37;';mutnd, keren anya ariyE heaat mwtndgE pi'ye the one_otherthan (br next to) the grand-falher, i.e., the grand-father's father, MRdp24t:s-2o ( :P. aYYakato Paro).

Mutna has been used in the feminine gender either as mutna ttself ,or as mutnu (DhpAGp 8r8), or as mitna. e.g., rnutna tcinri sitti havingstood in the place of-the grand-mother, DhpAGp 19728'2e (:trsl. ofP. ayyakaya tkane thataa); mutna abiyesa! to tLe proximity of (or near)the giand-mother, ib. 1e$z:, r98+ (:trsl. of-P. ayyakaya santikaryt);mwtia hd aTong with the grand-mother, '3JAGp 55" (:P. ayyakaya).

In course of time, tnutna and tnitna seem to have developed inlo mwttaand mitta by the assimilation of the consonants, e.g., rajagahd-nwuaratnahd-dhana-sitano topa dennag7 rnwttanwvo-ya The great banker in thecity of Rajagaha is the grand-{ather of you two, SdhRv 22.628'2e (:trsl.of-P. rajagaha-nagare pana ao dkana-setthi nama ayyako); sat-muttanparaml>arayehi in the iine of ancestry up to the seventh ancestor, PjvZ$8so-j' ; -sat-mutteka patan from the seventh ancestor, ib. 28gzo ;

sat-mu,ttak mululleki throughout seven generations, lb. 297t"; SdhRv632.5 (mwttaqtuuan-uahansege) ; Pjv 54+ (mwtta); JCaSn p. ?33 ver.714 (rnala-muttagE:P. ayyakassa) ; SdhRk 267"s (muttanwaan, hd) ; Mln'4t5i t (muttanw uu\; Sngs 3r'o (mwttaniyanta) ; SdhRv 656t' (m'ut-

taliiyatt); PPJ (DBJ) r9' (mtrttnniyo-yo\ ; SdhRk 52" (multa4iyLtn

atata).

Mwttd. world have fallen into line with numerous other forms endingin -ttd Trke: diya-kotta ' orie who is like a banner of victory (in the

rz. This has an interesting parallel in the modern useof the wordtnudunatosignify 'the buli tied nearest to the celtral post on the threshing floor and at thefre.-aa of the row of oxen yoked togerher'.

13. JAGp-Jataka Atuvi GAtapadaya, edited bv Sir D. B. Jayatilaka, 1943'

battle-field) , kulu-potta. 'worker ih bamboo, basket-maker', etc.,and a new stem mottu-'4 seems to have been made of it. Thatis the stem that is preserved in instances hke:-e-tema matami-mtttw va,nnEya. He will become my great grand-father, DjSir z8'i ;hat-mutw-paramparaaa seven generations of ancestors. Mwtta mayeither be the form historically developed trorn mwtna, or it may be thiNominative .singular or an oblique form lrom later ntwt,-, and equal tomtttuud*. Ct. mutten korana-lad,a (:mulwuen) maCe of pearls, Ttrifp (ed.D. Vacissara. 1933) p. r59'8-'e (trsl of P.mwttamaye). ^

In the Sinhalese literary works beionging mostly to the polonnaruvaand the Dambadeniya periods, and rarely earlier, one notices a formmwtun. one mav even wonder whether it-is an obiique plural form fromthe stem mwtu-, made subsequentiv into a fresh st-em,^as is sometimesnoticed in Sinhalese. Judging from the contexts in which the lvordmwtun occurs,, it is quite likely that the final -n in mwtwn forms part ofthe stem, and does not belong to a case termination.

Mutwn kwlen kom the grand-mother's famiiv (or Jine), DhpAGpr98:' 1:9. matamaha-kulato) ; mwtwn ."-il Sanda" miha rajjurwvanta {othe great. king_Sanda who was,the grand-father, Thtp tq5i; d,aruz,angEmwtun-m'ittangE ratata ge?ta gos having taken the chilclien i'o tne countrvof their grand-parents, Ruts 3o7:s13o8'; mE daruao mwtwn-mittaklangata yamhayi- ekaan kiyati These ihildren say constantly .Let

usgo to our grand-father and grand-mother', SanRv 22gsa-'ry ; mutwn-kanoata for the grand-fathership, Ib. 264"+: Rahu,la kumdrayo mwtwnr aj j at'rua an,andwnanab au a mwt piy atlan kavu,rwn b av at nodanizi Althoughprince- Rahuia could recognize the king (r,vho was his) grand-fathJr,he did not know who his father was, Pjv 2gero-rr ; b'u,iu kenakuntaytwlwn aana p'in -riti having merits (sufficient) for becoming the grancl-father of a Buddha, 1b. to4zz ; eka mutun' rajakugE of" one "single

ancestor (who is) a king, 1b. 264":; E kwmarayo d.e-n-tavpil,an ha mwtwn-m'iltan,

_arind.a that prince, having saluted his parents and grand-parents,

lpl(U) 9gor"; topa mutwn qd, Dharrnaioka maha-rajakw {he Great KingDharmaS6ka who is your grand-father, SclhRk 3166; mwtwnhu grand-parents, Siy Mld r5o.

Mwtutt. is, in ali probability, a backward formation from mwtna, duelargety to analogy. Pritma (longing, wish:Sk. prarth,ana) : pcitwm..:ptikma (proceeding, progress:Sk. prakrama): pcikum ..: tikma (oveicoming:Sk. akrama) : tikwrn'.'. cikta (stepped upon, trampled, DhuAGpr93B:P. akkanta, Sk. dkranta) : rikut (id. ib. zoTzo) ..: hikta (trained,discipiined, ib. 75'". 11e:6, r8r'2, 243\4:P. sikkhitu, Sk. iiksita : hikwt(id. ib. t2sz) :: nauatna (turning back, ceasing, ib.7g"a:p. niaattana, Sk.ttiaartana) : nal)a.tun (1b. 5z*) :: mutna: mwtun.

. Refore attempting an explanati on f.ar mi- in tn|-rnwtu,, it will be interest-lng to examine holv these terms of relationship have been framed in

14. There are numerous examples of similar instances in Sinhalese, which owe theirexistence to. analogy. !.g., 6rinduma>bcindma>btimnta>bcimi.; pinuma>pinma>pimm-a2piml. The,plurai as s'ell as the stem-Jorms oI brindwd.a and. pinumashould have beenbdndum and pi.nwrn; but, on account of the developments outlinedabove, analogical forms bcim'i dnd p'imi. have come into existence.

20 .IOURNAL R.A's. (cEYLoN)

Vedic and Classical Sanskrit and in Pali. In all those languages, one's

relaiionship rvith the grancl-father or _great-grand-father or remoter

ancestors, is expressed in terms of the Jather.'s

Karwe observes'6 : "In Rg Vecla no inclependent terms are found

f";-th; generztions beyond tf,e first ascendant male' The term . pity

iiath"r) Is qunlified by adjectives like fratna (ancient) ,- mahat 1btg. otJi""ti ir. Atlial (sreat)'to r1'enotc ancestors. Different gods conceived as

lni.Jtott "r" .tjl.d by such phrases. ln later mylhology the creator

;;fi;i.;iv receives the appeliat ion f>itamaha lgrand-fat!"t) '- ' 'The;;p;;;;i;r pitu5pita is also'used in both rhe tRg and Athar'al Vedas'

It'cloes r'ro[ ho*.o'.r. *.un ' father's father ' oi ' grand-father "

butr."*t io be appiied even to more remote ancestors. It seems to be used

;;; ;y;;yi'for maha-p'itA etc- ancl means ' an ancestor' in general'

ltena pituk pitarah ye pitd-maha ye auiuiiwruraantariksatn"3,e akiiyanti- prthiulmwta d-ttano tebhvah pitybh'yo n'amasd a1d!em1

lAu. r9-z-+97

(Thev that are our father's fathers, that are our grand-fathers, that'z

"ri...,l the wide atmosphere, they that dwell on earth and heaven'

to those fathers we PaY homage).

In this passage the worcls pitw;pitar, pitamaha and t'itar are used

,r4o.ru*orirlv t"o denote onceitots' In Rg Veda and Atharva Veda'

iir."*tia p;ir k used in plural to denote 'ancestors or manes' in

seneral. The word l5ilr was uscd not only for all males oI the father's

E.".."11o", but also lor'those belonging to generations beyond the father.

i" . .lt"l.r way the words for soi una grand-son were the same. It;;"id ino, upp.u. that the word pitr wis not used^ by.extension of

-.u"l"S fot Jti ancestors, but primirily meant ' any's male beyond the

speaker's generation'.

In later times the connotation of the word became more definite,but the plural was always used to denote dead ancestors'

In Atharva Veda the device of qualifying the word piirby the adjective

*iiit:,t given up, and new wordi are ioined for grand-{ather and 51reat-

*irn.f-f^in.t. ti'is simply by making a compos.ite^word from ihe

ial..iir. and the noun that tlie new w6rd is coined. Thus we have the

;;';; iiii-i,onn, prapita-maha, tata-mah.a and. pr.a-tata-maha' -lhe

-L""l"g of these'r,vordi is however not quite fixed. In some contexts

thev apDear to mean' ancestors' in general, while in others they mean

a.n"itify' grand-father' and'great-grand-father''

r "-t*"-.- .*

.i'q"iii'i"S i;; ,"r*, pitA and.ndtd by suih adjectives as fr.alna, waha or mahi,

,if i""^"irg'' old' or "ancient'. No ieal kinslrlp term for lhe second ascendant

].""r"iiorr"i. available. nn"i" t"r*. are .first coiied in the Atharva Veda. The

i;;;;;;';r;;1i=n"J... ...au" to a d iff erentiation in di flerenr . gencra rions. .esta blish-

;;;;;; nr.lg.orrp oJ taboos. Another {actor which contributed to this distinctioni.*ifl"-nr.*:tf.-of it" culf of ancestors."-Annals o{ the Bhandarkar Oriental

Researi lnstitute' Vol. XX P.:r8.16. Annals of the Bh. Or. Res. Institute, VoI XX p 7z'

t7. ib. p. 73.18. ib. p. 7,1.

No. ror-19461 TWO SINHALESE TERMS OT I{INSHIP

I.

.).

2

In gg Veda'e there t o+y one terrn to denote a male in the ascendingline and that is pity. In Atharva Veda we have four words and thougithere is still some confusion in some places as regards the exact ancestormeant, on the whole the terms have acquired h fixed meaning, whichremained the same throughout later Sanskrit literature. The Atharva-vedic,terms are : (r) pitr and tata (father), (z) pitamaha"and, tatdmaha(grand-father), and Q) prapitamaha and pritatamaha (great-grand-father).

In classical Sanskrit too, 'father' is chiefly pi.ta or tata. althotghthere are several other words having the same connotation ; 'fathei'sIa.ther. or 'paternal grand-fath"I' Ir pitomaha (lit. the great father),f|trfit( (father's father), or dryaka (the honourable or resiectable one)' jhis father or one's- paternal great-grand-father is prapitamaha. Tireterm. for ' grand-father ' when used in the plural, as pitarirahdh, indicatesall the earlier ancestors.

In Pali, the ' father ' is pita, and ' his father ' is pita-maha or maha_?itA Qft; _'the great father') or ayyaha; and the .great grand_father'is t'a-pita-maha or payyaka. The'earlier ancestors aie all ieferred to aspita-maha,zo usually in the plural.,

. In. Jiterary Sinhalese, as apart from ordinary usage, the .father,is piya. The idea of 'grand-father' has been"expreised in a varietyof rvays :--

'mcihrivi 'the great father ' (DhpAGp 8r7), or mrihti_pivE ic1.(1b..- zzg.z) goge-sponding t9 P. rnaho-pita. Maha_fin anclp.ttd-maha.of Pali and Sanskrit would hlve given riie to theinherited lorms *md-pi1,a

!QI. DhpAGp ilf ;na-l)iydmorher,sfather) and *pi.ya-m.a, which would ha.'e

"r,..ri.,illy causedsome con{usion with ma-pi1ta (ib. 8B!,, ro$32, 22521, i13,z1 andp{,a-ma meaningJ 'parents'. That woulcl expliin whJ, ihosetwo forms did not survive, in the sense of .grand_faiher ,.

Milal:,t:?il!_.'-the aged father' (Dhmpdp 2753"), and mritu_fiya id. (SdhRv 226.6). These two do- nbt se'em !o l.rave foundfavour.

Mutnd or mwttii 'the one o1 top of the line of one,s ancestry _so far as one's knowledge goes'. This is the commoiestexpression in classical literature.

[Vor. X{XVII.

I

(Itf

il

Jlt q. the idea of 'great grand-father' was expressecl i., usL as fne lclea oil great grand-Iather ' lvas expressed in Sanskritand Pali, in terms of 'the grand-father', in Sinhalese too, tlie sameprocedure seems to have been. adopted. X[i-muttd meaning ,greatgrancl-father ' is mihi-mwtta, or in latir language rnohw mwtfil-'[t. theone on tol of this (or that) one'--mihi -relerring to mwtna in theenumeration of ancestors, as : fil-o ' father ' , *iUa , grand-father ,.

19. ib. p. 75.

-.:'o cl'. ' ydaa sattamd pitdrna.ha-yugd" ti ettha pitu pi.t(i pi.tdmaho. pitdrnahassavlifiy Oill*.h11ugam: yigarlxti_aiuppamdmamuwicati,.'abniapli_i";t'akri-o" rrto*.';,:i::, ,pana pttdmaho

. e.u_a pitdmahayugatn ; toto uddham sabhe pi pubLa purisA'Ptratnaha-,qaha4eneua gahirii- cuam ydua sattavno puriso.,.,..bigha-Nii51a commcn-tary Vol. I p. rr-3.

22 JouIiNAL R'A.s. (cDYLoN) IVor. XX$VII. 1{o. ror-r9461 TWO SINHALESE TERMS OF KINSHIP 23

n'ti-muttd ' 'great grand-father', etc. Cf' mwt'ut't' mi-mutun ci (of) thegrand-fathetl gteai grand-father, etc., JAGp /'5 (trsl. of ,P. ayyaka-

int,yakanam\ ; ml-mutun-kamata for " the great grand-{athership,iS.ifrn" 264'i : mE mE aastw mutum mt-mwtwn dduo satotakalta such and

such riches belong to the grand-father, great grand-father, etc', ib'6o9"+-.s ; ntutatn, tnt-mwtun rris kala dhanaya the wealth hoarded bythe erand-father and great grand-father, Pjr, 296'+ ' ml-mutnE th'egreat"grand-father, X{Rup (Sn) z4r'o (:P. paltyakoi ; mt-muttan-uuo id',balt.r 1Sn; tt5 1 P. ltapitamalto)'. e-!ema mala mi-mulu uatttt?-va' He

will be my great grand-father, DlSir z8's. Mo occutrtng even in modernSinhalese, in expressions 71ke mtr-ta ' to or for this ', mt-langa ' next tothis', etc., is {ouncl in literature and also in epigraphical records fromprettv early times. ML itsell goes back to the earlier form mihi ioundin *ritings"between about the Sth and rzth centuries. e .g., mihi sam'uata

ltu.na 'should this command be infringed', Kataragama Inscriptions,EpZ ITI 223 (.tz'tt (roth c_.). While commenting on mihi, Pt. S.

Plranavitani observes : " Utttl the locative singular of ma 'this'(P. ima), is the prototype of the modern mr, fowd in such words as

mi-Ianga etc.' (EpZ III p. zzt). As has.been observed by D-.. Parana-vitana, mtr is g,enirally used in the iocative sense. But the locative inSinhalese develops sometimes the genitive value aiso. e.g., ,tuma dundanti. anusas the good consequences of the alms given by oneself, DhpAGpzzoT'8', putuaE ata the arm of the chair. Simllarly mihi could haveconveyed a genitive seuse, r'is. 'o{ this one'-i.e., of the grand-father-

An interesting parallel is found in the terms denoting ' a grand-son'-One's son is daiu-, grand-son is munwburu- and great grand-son is

m-t-munubwrw-. Even the seventh grand-son is referred to as the hat

munuburu*. Cf. daru mwnumburu mi-mwnurnburw parafuru dsin rn a

line of succession as son, grand-son, great grand-son etc., DhpAGp rzrr-a(trsl. of P. putta natta panatta santdna ttasena); mr-munuburo_ greatgrand-children, Sdhv 156'2. One might compare with interest also theiernrs denoting ' a day prertious to or later than a particular date'e.g., he-ta 'tomorrorv;, -anik-da or anid-dd 'the next da.'y,^the- dayaiier tomorrow', in anik-da 'the r.rext day after that '. Similarly,

\tA is ' yesterday ', pereyi-dd ot pereui-dd ' the former day, the daybefore yesterday' , palam'u-da 'the previous day .', r,ta palam.u-dd ' theday prior to tiat ', lta palamu-d,a ' the day prior to that ', etc. InSirihalese, niladhnrit,d is-'any kind of officer'. I{is 'Deputy or theoffrcer next to him' is referred to as -t-langa-niladhariya', or as mt-

Ianga-nilad,hdriyd, or mE-langa-toi,ladhariya. The officer next to himir Jtitt r.-langa-niladhariya c:i mt-langa- ot 'm4-langa-niladlt'driya. Thus1- or m'*', aciording as ihe case is, refers always to the one imrnediatelypreceding. Hence mr-mwttd is 'the ancestor next before the grand-father '.

If I may acld another expianation, thqugh not so. convincing. as theabove, I may connectmr, ofmt-tnutw with Pali, Sanskrit mahita 'honour-ed, respected '. Although \\,-e are not {amiliar with such a use in literatureor in epigraphical records, mt. u'ould be a possible inherited form fromp. su. itin;iq and such words as Pa].'i av'aka and payjtr1ft67, and Sanskritaryaha rvouid lend some support to such a theor5r.

Mutw and mr-mutw have, -especiaily in the epigraphical records, also

the variant forms miti- and mt-miti (spert mi-miti). e.g., mini- meawlamaha-faha- karanwyelti sanit' hanail, miii-tnaha-raa'hu,'tne great king,his grand-father -who had _decided upon the building of the gieat monu-ment Min'imeuwla-miltipaha, Slab

-Inscription Nol r of Manlnao vt,trpz r zzz"'(rrth c.).; pere twtna mimiti maha-radun pciuitaw tisri d.iyeki

aiyar:,ul' the disputes in respect of the water of the Tissa t""r., *rrllriirisroyal ancestors (or great-grand-father) formerly supplied, v"ssagiii Ins-criptions No. z A, EpZ I 33.3 (roth c.).

Miti needs some explanation. It may be the stem form of rnittaorcrrrring- in expres,sions like ntu/un"- mill,, meaning , un""rtors'.llrrt the fact that miila means generaily ' the grancl-mot1", , does ,,otmake that theor5' very {easible

very.often nominal stems in Sinharese undergo various changes ofvowels in_being declined-especialiy in the Instruriental u"a tn"lo?uu""cases, and such case-forms five riie to fresh stems. cf. d.ika ,sorrow,

Phpf9P,+", 49'.",. 237'i.and ib. 5re (rlik'hi), zte'o (dikin), for duk:a_ p.>K- auRRnaln. ,R ' rree

"

tb. zg:s, _gg's (rik'hi). 222\o, 238,s (rikin) tromrttha -P. ruhklta. Sk. ulAsn : Ct ha'ni)Ji O'hpeCp' Z"o;r, SSii,'' "r5,uand ha.muyehi lb. z5'3 from ham4---p. to**ukho', sk.'iammukha.Une mrght wonder r,r.hether in like manner, mulutr, or mulna has givenrise to miti besides mutw.

Taddhita suffrxes constitute another factor tending to modifv thesubstantival forms in Sinhalese. Sometimes . tor*'-oy -;;;;?g.

u:,o*ql.t. change by the addition oI a Svartha Taddhita srim",-*itto"ttne.strghtest change of meaning. Thus naru, goru and kadalu give rise totr'titi-, geti* and kcidtili respeciively and

'con"vey the same ti.""i"g *before.

certain words also admit of variant forms of .rvords which are very$*:"1t,1",,_b" :Iql"li.{, 1.s., fwt and pit. Thus in ,o*" .".n *uy,atong the lrncs indicated above, muru seems to have given rise to mitiin Sinhalese, and that miti, in ltr tr.n has been ur"a"". "ri--iti afterthe manner of. mi-mutu.