Query Details
| Query Subject: |
ETYMOLOGY OF THE GREEK WORD 'PALEO'
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| Author: | A.S. Sundar |
| Submitter Email: | click here to access email |
| Query: |
The word "paleo-" used in English is a learned borrowing from Greek "palaio" meaning "old". The following words in English are compound words formed with the above word. The list is not exhaustive. Paleethnology, paleobiology, paleobotany, paleocene, paleography, paleogene, paleogeography, paleography, paleology etc. This word " paleo" is seen in a no of words belonging to Tamil language, considered to be one of the oldest languages of the world. The Tamil words relating to the word "paleo" and their meanings are furnished below. " Palaia" means " old" "Palaia choru" means "old rice" "Palaiaaroo" means "old river" The similarity between the two words is striking. To find ou whether this word was borrowed by Tamil from Greek or vice-versa, we may scrutinise the root of this word in both the languages. In Tamil "palu" is a verb which means to "ripe". A ripe fruit is called "palam" in Tamil.From the word "palam" the word "palutha" is derived. This word "palutha" means ripe old,thus denoting old age. "Palaia" is a extended form of "palutha". The opposite of "palaia" is "puthia" which means "new".This pattern of "opposites words" formation is the characteristic of Tamil language. In spoken Tamil "old" is refered as "palasu". The absence of such comparable words in Greek leads one to safely conclude that the word "paleo" used widely in English, has Tamil roots.The word might have reached Greek language from Tamil during their trade contacts with the Tamil nations circa 4 century B.C. Evidence of trade between the two peoples is available in early Tamil literature. Comments and suggestions welcome. A.S.Sundar Etymologis Subject-Language: Greek; Code: GRK |
