ہلی
Brahui
Alternative forms
- اُلِّی (ullī)
Etymology
Uncertain. Several hypotheses have been put forth:
- Burrow proposes a relation to Tamil இவுளி (ivuḷi, “horse”).[1][2] The Tamil initial ivu- is difficult to reconcile with Brahui (h)u-, and no such contraction is attested in other cognate sets. Krishnamurti does not mention this etymology in his work, perhaps considering it too unlikely.[3]
- Emeneau instead derives it from Proto-Dravidian *uḷ- by connecting it with Tamil உளை (uḷai, “mane of horse or lion, man's hair”), proposing that the Brahui term etymologically means "that which possesses/is characterised by a mane", i.e. a horse.[4] However, this means cognates are only found in Tamil and Malayalam, despite the implied pan-Dravidian age of the term if we suppose descent in both Tamil-Malayalam and Brahui.
- Bray originally suggested a connection to Tamil குதிரை (kutirai, “horse”), from Proto-Dravidian *kutiray, but later scholars (Burrow, Emeneau, McAlpin) have rejected this etymology.
Noun
ہُلِّی (hullī)
Declension
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | ہُلِّی (hullī) | ہُلِّیک (hullīk) |
| genitive | ہُلِّینا (hullīnā) | ہُلِّیتا (hullītā) |
| dative | ہُلِّیکِ (hullīk-i) | ہُلِّیتیکِ (hullītek-i) |
| objective | ہُلِّیۓ (hullī-ye) | ہُلِّیتے (hullīte) |
| instrumental | ہُلِّیئَٹ (hullīaṭ) | ہُلِّیتیئَٹ (hullīteaṭ) |
| comitative | ہُلِّیتو (hullīto) | ہُلِّیتیتو (hullīteto) |
| ablative | ہُلِّیئان (hullīān) | ہُلِّیتیئان (hullīteān) |
| locative | ہُلِّیٹی (hullīṭī) | ہُلِّیتیٹی (hullīteṭī) |
| lative | ہُلِّیئای (hullīāī) | ہُلِّیتیئای (hullīteāī) |
| adessive | ہُلِّیئِس (hullīis) ہُلِّیئِسک (hullīisk) |
ہُلِّیتیک (hullītek) |
| terminative | ہُلِّیئِسْکا (hullīiskā) | ہُلِّیتیکا (hullītekā) |
Multisyllabic noun ending in long vowel ī or ū.
Example: ہُلّی (hullī)
References
- ^ Burrow, T. (1972), “The primitive Dravidian word for the horse”, in International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics, volume 1, number 1, pages 18-25
- ^ Burrow, T.; Emeneau, M. B. (1984), “500”, in A Dravidian etymological dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, →ISBN.
- ^ Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju (2003), The Dravidian Languages (Cambridge Language Surveys), Cambridge University Press, →ISBN.
- ^ Emeneau, M. B. (1997), “Brahui Etymologies and Phonetic Developments: New Items”, in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London[1], volume 60, number 3, pages 440–447
Further reading
- Bray, Denys (1934), “hullī”, in The Brahui Language[2], Calcutta, India: Superintendent Government Printing, Part II: The Brāhūī Problem; Part III: Etymological Vocabulary, page 140
- Ali, Liaquat; Kobayashi, Masato (2024), “hullī”, in Brahui Texts: Glossed and Translated Short Stories and Folktales[3], Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, page 707