I have been contemplating on the possible links between specific words in multiple languages.
One such word was the tamil word dharani தரணி . Which literally means the earth. I liked this word, more than the usual பூமி ( Bhoomi) , which clearly is a Sanskrit word, and is found in many Upanishads and Vedas. I thought தரணி is the form of pure tamil that I would prefer to use in Tamil.
That is until I realized that there is this Hindi word धरती ( Dharthi) , denoting the earth. Made me think - did this Hindi word originate from Tamil?
Until, again, I was on a rather unconnected research of the Sanskrit word धर्मः ( Dharmaha) , which really, coarsely translated , meant "righteousness", amongst many other meanings. I mean it, when I say " coarsely translated", for, I find that for many Sanskrit words, there are no equivalent English words. Languages and culture being Siamese twins, it is quite possible that many words may not find the right equivalent, when translated into another language.
The interesting part comes now. I tried to dig a little deeper, etymologically , into this word Dharmaha. I discovered that the the dhatu (root) explanation for धर्मः is धरती इति धर्मः Dharati iti Dharmaha, ie, that which HOLDS or bears is dharmaha.. the word धर Dhara in sanskrit means "holds" or "bears".
The earth bears/ holds us all.. so the Tamil and Hindi equivalents do make snese now... So, I concluded that the common root for this word, across multiple languages (ધરતી Dharti in Gujarati and Marathi, ধরণী Dharani in Bengali, etc.)
The more I realize these commonalities, the more I am convinced that the Aryan-Dravidian theory is hogwash.
One such word was the tamil word dharani தரணி . Which literally means the earth. I liked this word, more than the usual பூமி ( Bhoomi) , which clearly is a Sanskrit word, and is found in many Upanishads and Vedas. I thought தரணி is the form of pure tamil that I would prefer to use in Tamil.
That is until I realized that there is this Hindi word धरती ( Dharthi) , denoting the earth. Made me think - did this Hindi word originate from Tamil?
Until, again, I was on a rather unconnected research of the Sanskrit word धर्मः ( Dharmaha) , which really, coarsely translated , meant "righteousness", amongst many other meanings. I mean it, when I say " coarsely translated", for, I find that for many Sanskrit words, there are no equivalent English words. Languages and culture being Siamese twins, it is quite possible that many words may not find the right equivalent, when translated into another language.
The interesting part comes now. I tried to dig a little deeper, etymologically , into this word Dharmaha. I discovered that the the dhatu (root) explanation for धर्मः is धरती इति धर्मः Dharati iti Dharmaha, ie, that which HOLDS or bears is dharmaha.. the word धर Dhara in sanskrit means "holds" or "bears".
The earth bears/ holds us all.. so the Tamil and Hindi equivalents do make snese now... So, I concluded that the common root for this word, across multiple languages (ધરતી Dharti in Gujarati and Marathi, ধরণী Dharani in Bengali, etc.)
The more I realize these commonalities, the more I am convinced that the Aryan-Dravidian theory is hogwash.
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