Elu

Eḷu, also Hela or Helu, is a Middle Indo-Aryan language or Prakrit of the 3rd century BCE. It is ancestral to the Sinhalese and Dhivehi languages.

For other uses, see Elu (disambiguation).
Eḷu
Helu
RegionSri Lanka
EraEvolved into Sinhalese and Dhivehi
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
GlottologNone

R. C. Childers, in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, states:

[Elu] is the name by which is known an ancient form of the Sinhala language from which the modern vernacular of Ceylon is immediately received, and to which the latter bears is of the same relation that the English of today bears to Anglo-Saxon...The name Elu is no other than Sinhala much succeeded, standing for an older form, Hĕla or Hĕlu, which occurs in some ancient works, and this again for a still older, Sĕla, which brings us back to the Pali Sîhala.[1]

The Pali scholar Thomas William Rhys Davids refers to Eḷu as "the Prakrit of Ceylon".[2]

The Hela Havula are a modern Sri Lankan literary organization that advocate the use of Eḷu terms over Sanskritisms. Eḷu is often referred to by modern Sinhalese as amisra, Sinhalese for "unmixed".

A feature of Eḷu is its preference for short vowels, loss of aspiration and the reduction of compound consonants found frequently in other Prakrits such as Pali.

Eḷu in comparison with Pali and Sanskrit

Being a Prakrit, Eḷu is closely related to other Prakrits such as Pali. Indeed, a very large proportion of Eḷu word-stems are identical in form to Pali. The connections were sufficiently well known that technical terms from Pali and Sanskrit were easily converted into Eḷu by a set of conventional phonological transformations. Because of the prevalence of these transformations, it is not always possible to tell whether a given Eḷu word is a part of the old Prakrit lexicon, or a transformed borrowing from Sanskrit.

Vowels and diphthongs
  • Sanskrit ai and au always monophthongize to Eḷu e and o, respectively
Examples: maitrī → met, auṣadha → osada
  • Sanskrit avi becomes Eḷu e (i.e. avi → ai → e)
Example: sthavira → thera

Sound changes
  • Initial ca in Sanskrit and Pali becomes s or h
Examples: canda → sanda, handa
  • P if not omitted becomes v
Examples: rūpa → ruva, dīpa → diva
  • The Sanskrit sibilants ś, ṣ, and s merge as Eḷu s
Examples: śaraṇa → saraṇa, doṣa → dosa
  • The Sanskrit kti becomes ti or vi
Examples: bhakti → bätiya, shakti → saviya

Compound consonants

At the beginning of a word only a single consonant can remain

Examples: dharma → dahama
Examples: prāna → pana

In the middle of a word no group may exceed one consonant

Examples: artha → aruta
Examples: danta → data
Caption:List of Elu words with their Sanskrit and Pali equivalents
EluSanskritPaliEnglish
äsaakṣiakkhieye
adaraādararespect
agaagraaggaend, chief, principal
ahasaākāśaākāsasky
akosaākrōśaakkosainsult, abuse
akmanaākramanaakkamanaattack
aksumaakṣamaintolerance, impatience
akuraakṣaraakkharaletter of the alphabet
anadaānandaānandabliss
arutaarthaatthameaning
asunaāsanaāsanaseat
atahastahattahand
atunaantraantaintestine
bambubrahmabrahmaBrahma
bamburābarbarabarbarian
bamunābrāhmaṇababhanaBrahman
basabhāṣābhāsālanguage
bimabhūmibhūmiland
bubulabudbudabubbulabubble
bodunabhōjanabhojanafood
bodubauddhabauddhaBuddhist
bōsatbōdhisattvabōdhisattaBodhisattva
dahama, damdharmadhammaDharma
datadantadantatooth
dälajālajālaNet (device)
devoladevālayadevālayatemple
diga, digudīrghadīghalong
divajihvājivhātongue
diviyajīvitajīvitalife
dudana, dujanadurjanadujjanawicked, malicious
dujanādurjanayāwicked person
dukataduṣkṛtawicked deed
dulabadurlabhadullabharare
dumadhūmadhūmasmoke
dupadhūpadhūpaincense
gamagrāmagāmavillage
gatagātragattabody
gatakuragātrākṣaraconsonant
kanakarṇakannaear
karuvākāraperson
ketakṣetrakhettafield
kiḍakrīḍāsport
kilakīlākīlāsport
kinukṛṣṇadark
kilukliṣṭakiliṭṭhadirty
kiluTukliṣṭakiliṭṭhadirty
kirikṣīrakhīramilk
kumarākumārakakumārason, prince
kumarikumārikumārigirl, princess
kurirukrūrakurūracruel
lakalaṅkālankaSri Lanka
lassanalakṣaṇalakkhanabeautiful
lovalōkalōkaworld
magamārgamaggaway
magulamaṅgalamaṅgalamarriage
maturamantramantaincantation
mädamadhyama, madhyamajjhamiddle
miturāmitramittafriend
mugalanmoggallanamogallana
mudumṛdumudusoft
muwamukhamukhamouth
mäduramandiramandirapalace
mulamūlamūlaorigin
näbanābhinābhinavel
nävanaukānāvāship
nētranettaeye
nidananidhānanidhānatreasure
nimalanirmalanimmalapure
nipananiṣpannaproduction
nivananirvāṇanibbanaNirvana
nuvaranagaranagaracity
pabalaprabalapabalamighty
pamanapramānapamānaamount
parapuraparamparāgeneration
pänayapraśnapanhaproblem, question
pavapāpapāpasin
pavasapipāsapipāsamthirst
paranapurāṇapurānaold
parusaparuṣapharusaharsh
pasanaprasannapasannapleasant
pāsalapāṭhaśālāpāṭasālāschool
pavarunaprakaraṇatreatise
pätumaprārthanāwish, hope
pedesapradēśacountry
pemaprēmapemalove
pidumapūjāpūjāoffering
pinapunyapunyamerit
pokunapuṣkariṇīpokkhariṇīpond
posonpūrva-śravaṇapubba-savana(name of a month)
potapustakapottakabook
punpūra, pūrṇapunnafull
pupapuṣpapupphaflower
putāputraputtason
puvapūrvapubbaformer, prior
puvatapravṛttipavattinews
radarājanrājāking
rakusārākṣasarakkhasademon
ratu, ratraktakarattared
räsaraśmirasmiray
räyarātrirattinight
rukavṛkṣarukkhatree
ruvarūparūpashape, form
sangamitsanghamitrasangamitta
sandacandracandamoon
sämuniśākyamunisakyamuni
senasenaarmy
sidurachidrchiddahole, gap, space
siruraśarīrasarīrabody
soyurā, sohowurāsahōdarasodariyabrother
sondurusundarasundarabeautiful
supinasvapnasupinadream
supunsampūrṇasampunnacomplete
tedatejamagnificence
tavasātāpasahermit
tisulatriśūlaTrishula (trident)
uturauttarauttarānorth
väkiyavākyaSentence
vesakvaiṣākhaVisakhaVesak
vesesviśeṣavisesaspecial
viyaranavyākaranagrammar
yakāyakṣayakkhayaksha
yaturayantrayantamachine
yivajīvajīvalife

References
  1. Henry Yule; A. C. Burnell; William Crooke (2006), A glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases, Asian Educational Services, p. 344, ISBN 0-7007-0321-7
  2. Rhys Davids, Thomas William (2007). Buddhist India. T. W. Press. ISBN 978-1406756326.

See also
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