Language of Harappan Civilization; funerary pottery eviden

[S.Kalyanaraman]

"C.R. Selvakumar" <selvakum at VALLUVAR.UWATERLOO.CA> wrote:> 
>     It may be interesting to note that the *trefoil* seen in
>     the Harappan pictures could mean, 'mU', meaning three,
>     if the language is more like proto tamil/dravidian.
>     The word 'mU' means 'three' but it also means 'old,
>     chief, elder, wise'... > A Blackbuck is called 'marai' in >Tamil...In
tamil 'mari, maRai' mean die. maarakam >(Ta.) means >death.Considering that
motifs are in funerary urns etc., >these may have >some significance...

Sounds like Kuwi, Kurux and Gadaba might have almos retained the old
sound-bites of the Harappan linguistic area! Let us listen to some lexemes:

The old man of the statuette, has put on the upper garment: Kond.a: porpa- =
to cover the body with a garment, put on an upper garment. [There is another
imagery on another tablet: to uproot; Ka. porpu = to uproot].

When the phoneme for number three mu_ is used before double consonants, it
becomes mu in Tamil (e.g. mummai). But, Ta. mu_ppar = elders in age; Ma.
mu_ppu = old age; Te. muppu = old age. Another ancient form ca. 3000 BCE could
be with Kuwi. du_ti = old; Kond.a du_ten = old man. Together with this
duplicative phoneme, Br. has mutukn = old, old thing; Kod.agu has mudike = old
man; Ka. has muduka, muduku = old man; Ma. muttan, mutukkan = old man; Ta.
mu_tu = elderliness. [Note the homonym semantics: du. = hollow in ground at
burning place where yre is built; du.e = burial ground (Kota); dukke =
obsequies (Gadaba); du_ki = graveyard, crematory (Kond.a)].

On the op.cit. image, the horns on the antelope are emphatic; so are the fish;
and water closeby. marag = horn, antler (Kurux.); maru_ka = a kind of deer
(Skt.) [Can death be semant. connected with 'weeping'? If so, marki = to weep
(Ka.)] mra_u = eel (Kui); Ta. mural = needlefish; Skt. murala. Ta. ma_ri =
water, rain (Ta.); ma_ri = rain (Skt.); Malt. mehare = to be damp.

We look forward to Prof. Witzel's notes on the ancient urns and peacocks...

Regards, Kalyanaraman



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