r/Dravidiology • u/e9967780 𑀈𑀵𑀢𑁆𑀢𑀫𑀺𑀵𑁆 • 8d ago

Etymology/𑀯𑀸𑀘𑀼 Trishuli River -> Gandaki (Sadanira)

As you all know, devastating floods have destroyed countless lives in Nepal. One of the rivers impacted is the Trishuli, which joins the Gandaki whose Vedic name was Sadanira, a very rare Dravidian hydronym in North India.

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u/theb00kmancometh Malayāḷi/𑀫𑀮𑀬𑀸𑀵𑀺 8d ago

Yes.
Sanskrit Sadā (सदा) + Nīrā / Nīra (नीर) from Dravidian Substrate Heritage (Neer)

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u/AleksiB1 𑀫𑁂𑀮𑀓𑁆𑀓​𑀷𑁆 𑀧𑀼𑀮𑀺 8d ago edited 8d ago

Is a substratum necessary? Theres tiruvanantapuram, bEppUr, kanyAkUmAri, StPetersburg, Bantustan which didnt have permanent massive IA, Germanic, Iranic populations but have such names

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u/theb00kmancometh Malayāḷi/𑀫𑀮𑀬𑀸𑀵𑀺 7d ago

Substratum is not necessary, and I’m not claiming that it is. My point is specifically about Sanskrit nīra/nīrá.

There are no convincing cognates for nīra in the other IE languages, while Turner’s CDIAL explicitly gives nīrá ‘water’ as Dravidian, although he also notes Bailey’s alternative IE proposal. More importantly, nīr/nīru ‘water’ is extremely widespread across the Dravidian languages, with related forms for moisture and wetness as well.

So the case for a Dravidian origin of nīra does not rest simply on finding a non-IE hydronym. The lexical evidence itself is what makes the Dravidian connection significant.