pele- citadel, fortified place, village

From: S.Kalyanaraman
Message: 10360
Date: 2001-10-17

> DRAVIDIAN PLACE NAMES IN MAHARASHTRA> > F. C. Southworth
(University of Pennsylvania)> A study of the spatial distribution
of village names with the suffix> -vali/oli shows 90% or more of
them concentrated in the coastal > region known as Konkan. In the
remainder of the Marahi-speaking > area, the greatest concentration
is in the southern part of the> Desh, i.e. in the districts of
Kolhapur and Solapur. A number of > other suffixes of probable
Dravidian origin are also found in these > areas, though they are of
lower frequency of occurrence. Thus these> suffixes of Dravidian
origin are in a continuous distribution with > the Dravidian paLLi,
as well as with similar suffixes in the state > of Gujarat
(discussed in Sankalia's doctoral thesis, which is based > on early
inscriptions in Gujarat). Thus there can be little doubt > that
these areas were previously inhabited by speakers of some > Dravidian
language(s).

Many sites of the Sarasvati Sindhu (Indus Valley) Civilization are
fortified places.

Many place names such as Bana-wali, Ganweri-wala, Sadana-wala,
Lakhmir-wala are large sites. Are the place-name endings in -wala, -
wali Proto-Indo-Aryan? PIE? Munda? Dravidian?

It appears that Southworth's analysis is faulty and does not take
into account the possibility of convergence.

The place names of the Sarasvati Civilization: Bana-wali, and a
number of place names in Bahawalpur province ending with -wala are
also candidates for convergence.

Could also be convergent with IE: e.g. polis, pora, archi-pelago:
http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE392.html pel3-
Citadel, fortified high place. Oldest form perhaps *pel3- (but exact
laryngeal uncertain). Zero-grade form *p-. police, policy1, polis,
politic, polity; acropolis, cosmopolis, cosmopolite, megalopolis,
metropolis, necropolis, policlinic, propolis, from Greek polis, city
(phonological development unclear). (In Pokorny 1. pel- 798.)

The related links on IC: palli and proto drav:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianCivilization/message/7718

See 'Indo-Aryan' cognates at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianCivilization/message/7725

See Munda at:

The root may lie in Santali: pal = a herd or a flock; gai pal = a
herd of cows; bhid.i pal = a flock of sheep; pala = hoar frost, snow;
pal bhinjan = together, in a body; to combine, as herds of cattle;
company, party (Santali.lex.)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianCivilization/message/7720