< Reconstruction:Proto-Dravidian
Reconstruction:Proto-Dravidian/mayil-
Proto-Dravidian
Etymology
Krishnamurti (2003: 37) prefers *may-Vr- for “peacock”.
Possibly a Wanderwort; compare, for instance, Santali ᱢᱟᱨᱟᱜ (marak’), Proto-Mon-Khmer *mraik (“peacock”), whence Mon မြာ် (pəràik) (< Old Mon mrek, mreṅ) and Khmer មោរៈ (moorĕəʾ). Similar words in Southeast Asia, such as Malay merak and Acehnese meurak (< Proto-Chamic *əmraːk), are early loans in Austronesian languages from Proto-Mon-Khmer.
Noun
*mayil-
- peacock
Descendants
- Southern Dravidian:
- Tamil-Kannada:
- Kannada: ಮಯ್ಲ (mayla), ಮಯ್ಲು (maylu)
- Tamil-Malayalam:
- Malayalam: മയില് (mayil)
- Tamil: மயில் (mayil), மஞ்ஞை (maññai)
- Tamil-Kannada:
- → Sanskrit: मयूर (mayū́ra, “peacock”)
- Newar: मुयुर (muyura)
- Hindi: मोर (mor)
- Brahui: مور (mōr)
- Nepali: मयूर (mayūr)
- Khmer: មយូរ (mɔyuu)
- Old Assamese: মৈৰা (moira)
- Assamese: ম’ৰা (móra)
- Thai: มยูร (má yuun)
- Tibetan: རྨ་བྱ (rma bya) (only the first element)
References
- Thomas Burrow; Murray Barnson Emeneau (1984), “mayil”, in A Dravidian etymological dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Clarendon Press
- Bhadriraju Krishnamurti (2003) The Dravidian Languages, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN
- Mayrhofer, Manfred (1996) Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan] (in German), volume II, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, page 317
- Thurgood, Graham (1999) From Ancient Cham to Modern Dialects: Two Thousand Years of Language Contact and Change, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, page 350.