Original Father of Dravidian Speakers - VIII

 Original Dravidian : 

mother: aayi 

Now found mostly among central Indian Dravidian tribes and Marathis and Konkanis. Among Marathis and Konkanis it could be Dravidian maternal lineages or Dravidian substrate. Its usage among some of the Kannada castes is due to Maratha influence in northern Karnataka region. Ironically, the term which was lost but reappeared because of non-Dravidian speakers.

So, the equivalent should be 'aaya' for father. Now observed only in Telugu as 'nayana'(my father).

Dravidian mixed with Harappan:

mother: amma, appa

father: appa, amma

Dravidian+Harappan mixed with Prakrits:

father: accha, ayya (equivalent to 'arya')

Others:

avva: most likely derived from 'amma'

akka, anna: result of consanguineous marriages

Original father of Dravidian Speakers - VII

Maybe 'appa' became derogatory word in Malayalam not because of Nair tradition of 'Sambandham', where 'appa' was a ritual father and not a biological father. The reason could be very silly. A dish common in Tulu and Malayalam region is called 'appam', a rice pancake puffed in the middle and the tapering sides, in southern Malayalam region, whereas, 'aapa' in Malabar region (or only in Kasaragod). In my opinion, when southern Malayalis for some weird reason turned 'aapa' into 'appam', children started making fun of 'appa' and 'appa' and father appa went out of favour.

The creation of a taboo on kinship terms can be very quick. It appears grandmothers of Tulu region no longer like to be addressed as 'grandmother' in local lingo. In Tulu, traditionally, it's either 'dodda' or 'ajji'. However, in its place they are making their grandchildren to call them 'ammamma'.  The other day, my mother said that her friend admonished her for allowing her grandchild to call her 'ajji'. So, it appears once a new kinship term appears, there would be  an active and concerted effort to make the old term obsolete by making it derogatory. In fact, making it derogatory is necessary for suppressing it. If I extrapolate this 'ammamma' in Tulu region to 'appa' in Malayalam region, I would say appa was used widely in Malayalam region once upon a time.

Original Father of Dravidian Speakers - Va

I don't think 'appe' and 'appUppa' has anything to do with matrilineal bond between Tuluvas and Malayalis. Since the word 'abbe' is also observed in literary Kannada (mostly Jain) and in the personal names of many Kannada Jain queens, that shows Jain influence in Kannada, Tulu and Malayala regions. Since Tulu region was under Jain rulers until 20th century, 'appe' probaby became a common term. Whereas, in Kannada region by 12th century all Jain ruling classes have vanished thus the elite word 'abbe' didn't become part of common parlance. I don't think there were any Jain rulers in Kerala region (not sure of the Tamil kings of the past), however, the influence could have been there as merchant classes generally patronized Jinaism.

Original Father of Dravidian Speakers - V

Now my daughter calls her maternal grandfather 'appa' as she can't pronounce 'appUppa.. The word  appuppa literally means father's father thus I guess the usage for a mother's father is strange. Another intriguing factor we need to observe is the structure of the terms used for maternal grandparents.

mother's father -> appUppa
mother's mother -> ammUmma
Compare them with paternal grandparents
father's father -> achchachcha
father's mother -> achchamma

If maternal grandparents followed the similar structure as that of paternal grandparents then,
mother's father should have been ammappa
mother's mother -> ammamma

So, it clearly shows that pre-words appa and amma in maternal grandparents didn't mean post-words appa and amma. We probably need to hark back on the Tulu-Malayali shared cultural background to understand this.

In Tulu (as I have discussed elsewhere), the word for mother is 'appe' and father 'amme'. Thus it's very clear that maternally Tuluva-s and Malayali-s were connected before, thus the antique word for mother has been retained in Malayalam as 'appUppa'. What about the second word which obviously meant 'father' as in many Dravidian languages. It's still a mystery why appa is father in other Dravidian languages and mother in Tulu. The difference is in parallel to matrilineal and patrilineal distinctions of Tuluva-Malayalis on the one hand and the rest of the Dravidians on the other.

Whatever be the reasons behind appe-amme dichotomy between partilineal and matrilineal Dravidians, we can confidently say that appUppa is a throwback to Tuluva-Malayali shared history (observed in many cultural aspects even today) of the past. That still leaves me to explain the construction appe+appa.

In my opinion, 'appa' came to Malayali society as a honorific (just like achcha) likely from Tamil region. We need to note that 'ajja', Kannada equivalent of 'achcha', is a term for grandfather in Karnataka. It is possible that both 'appa' and 'achcha' that came as honorifics in Dravidian society replaced the original term for father in Dravidian lands.

I suppose the original maternal grandfather and grandmother
appe+appa -> appEppa -> appUppa
appe+amma -> appEmma -> ammUmma ( a case of over correction in later centuries)

Original Father of Dravidian Speakers - IV

I think it is "ata".

My daughter and my niece both started with 'ata'. One of my relatives also confirmed the same about their infant son. 'Ata' has survived only among Tamil Muslims among Dravidian speakers.  But Dravidian Muslims generally have Turkish identity thus it's possible that they adopted Turkic word for father. Nevertheless, since it's natural for babies in Dravidian region - my niece in Mumbai-Maharashtra, my daughter in Hyderabad-Andhra Pradesh and my relative in Kasaragod-Kerala/Tulu region - to call 'ata' than any other term starting from 'a', I suppose it could be a native term for Tamil Muslims too.

The original father of Dravidian speakers - III

The degradation of appa among Hindu Malayalees:
I was puzzled by Malayalee Hindu vulgarization of terms denoting father like "appa" and "tanda"(formal). In my previous post, I have speculated that it could be a late development as grandfather is still called appoppa (appa's appa). Probably, we can get further insight into this phenomenon if we compare matrilineal system practiced by Tuluvas and Malayalees and also Malayalees living amongst Tuluvas.

There were few fundamental differences in Tulu and Malayalee matrilineal system. In my opinion, because of older existence, Tulu matrilineal system might be closer to the original system.

o In Tulu matrilineal system, wife could go and stay at her in-laws' place(patrilocal) or husband could live with his in-laws(matrilocal). Generally, wife lived with her husband's family. But husband living with his wife's family was not uncommon(In any case, husband and wife would stay together).
In Malayalee matrilineal system, husband and wife stayed in their respective matrifocal joint family houses(Tharavadu).

I came across this information in a book on "Aliyasantana Kattu"(lit. Nephew progeny law) dealing with matrilineal laws in Indian legal system as applied to Tulu/Malayalee societies. However, I am not sure if there was any kind of generalization for legal clarity. At least, Malayalee communites in Tulu regions, practiced matrilineal system similar to Tuluvas. More over, Malayalee matrilineal system reads like Nair matrilineal system and I am not sure if other matrilineal communities also had the similar traditions in the past. Anyway, I take Malayalees in Tulu region is an exception as they might have followed the rule of the land.

In my opinion, Tuluva matrilineal system is close to the original as both seniormost male(Yajamana) and seniormost female(Yajamanti) in a family could be the head of the family. However, among Malaylees this was the exclusive right of the seniormost male(known as Karnavan)(according to the book there were few exceptions). Also, Karnavan officiated the religious ceremonies in a Tharavadu, but, the seniormost female had this privilege among Tulu region Malayalees(I am not sure about Tuluvas in this respect). Therefore, Malayalee matrilineal system probably lost some of the female rights.

Therefore, I think, Malayalees, a branch of Tulu tribes, might have diverged from the original matrilineal system probably in the early centuries of last millennium. A strong feature of the new system was exclusion of father from a child's life.

For Malayalees in Tulu regions, father is appa and uncle is acca(This, I think is very important point along with appoppa). However, for other Malayalees appa meant nothing in the new system as he was not present. The vulgarization of appa(along with tanda) could have been deliberate or subconscious effort to put uncle(acca) into appa's place. Though I am not sure if this was one way to prevent any kind of matrilineal conflicts by securing full respect for the uncle and despise for the father. However, moving into modern times father has been reinstated but his lable has been changed permanently .

It would be really interesting to know how families turned into complete matrifocal in Kerala society.

Reference:
1. Aliyasantana law by M. V. Shanker Bhat.

Update 4-Nov-2006:
I found this article on the web which gives a detailed account of Nair kinship system. Hmmm... all my arguments without much understanding or background are wrong. But I am not sure if accan is a Sanskrit word meaning "lord". This again goes back to arya <-> ajja argument. Many linguists do not subscribe to the view that Dravidian ajja(which is accan in Tamil/Malayalam) is tatbhava(or Prakrit) form of arya. Again, why some Malayali communities use it for uncle?

The original father of Dravidian speakers-II

Though I have speculated that aya(looks like most of these words had unstressed original forms) could be the original father, it is difficult to overlook apa. Unfortunately apa is the universal father
accroding to this database.

Borean (approx.) : HVPV
Meaning : father
Eurasiatic : *aṗV
Afroasiatic : *ʔab-
Sino-Caucasian : *ʔŭṗV́
Austric : PAA *bʔa / *ba, Tai *bo, PAN *aba 'father'
Amerind (misc.) : *ipa 'man' (R 456)
African (misc.) : Bantu *-bààbá 'father'.
Reference : ND 5; GE 28 *papa (+ NS).

Now let us consider 'aya'
Proto-Dravidian : *ája-
Meaning : an elder relative (father's brother; grandfather; father)
Proto-South Dravidian: *ajja-
Proto-Telugu : *ajja
Proto-Kolami-Gadba : *aja-
Proto-Gondi-Kui : *V̄j-

"aya" could be observed in only Dravidian languages.

Let us consider 'ata'
Borean (approx.) : HVTV
Meaning : elder male relative, father
Eurasiatic : *ʔVṭV (cf. also *tajV)
Afroasiatic : *tVy- (?) (cf. also *ʔad- ˜ *daʔ- )
Sino-Caucasian : NC *dājV
Austric : *tá
Amerind (misc.) : ? *taq 'maternal uncle' (R 804) [+ A]
African (misc.) : Bantu *-tààtá 'father'.

Just like apa, ata is also universal father.

Let us consider 'aja' or 'aca' or 'azz'
Eurasiatic: *ʔacwV
Meaning: father, ancestor
Altaic: *ăčV
Uralic: *äćä (cf. also *ićä; *iśV)
Dravidian: *áǯǯ-
Eskimo-Aleut: *acaɣ
References: ND 797 *Hać̣/c̣^[i] 'father, ancestor'. Cf. also Ur. *ćečä 'uncle' - probably just reduplicated, but Dolg. ND 2145 *seǯA compares it with Kartv. *śiʒ́e- 'son-in-law' (+ some ECush.).

More Eastern but conspicuously absent from Indo-European. However, the linguists there believe this could not possibly be an equivalent of 'arya'.
Courtesy : Starling database.

It should be noted here that only Hindu malayalees use(South of Kasaragod) 'aca' for father at present. In Karnataka, aja is grandfather. As I have mentioned previously both apa and tand (formal word for father) have become derogatory in Kerala. Curiously, grandfather in Malayalam is appoppa( apa's apa) and father's sister is appacci(apa's woman) though common sense tells us that those should be accocca or acchacci. Probably, this tells us the vulgarization of apa that part of Hindu society could be quite new and this could be further seen in the fact that Christians and Malayalee Hindus in North(mostly living amongs Tulu/Kannada speakers) still call their fathers apa.

Again, I speculated that many of the relationship terms show incestuous past. But this does not look like the case. In my opinion, ammavan (amma + avan) in Malayalam is amma's man probably indicating the old brother-sister marital relationships. But more rational explanation could be that masculine and feminine gender "in relative of" relationships represent blood relationships and not marital relationships.
eg.
amma -> ammavan (amma's brother avan -> he -> man)
apa -> appacci ( appa's sister acci -> woman, previously honorific "lady" also, similar is the case with anna and anni where 'anni' was lady, a honorific)
ata -> atte ( ata -> father ; atte -> father's sister)
Of course, there are too many exceptions to make this a rule.

We can make two interesting observations in the above cases;
1. grandfather in Malayalam is appoppa (apa's apa)
2. amma's brother in Malayalam is ammavan but in Kannada maava; the initial 'a' is lost.

Based on these we can construct another lost father in non-Tamil, Malayalam Dravidian languages and that is 'ata'.

Starling database considers 'tata' is an independet word for grandfather or father. I consider grandfather is primary and father is secondary here.

If the present day Malayalam appoppa show the oldest way of calling ones grandfather; then we can be sure that;
ata father gave rise to atata which became tata( ammavan -> maava) and this could be found among most of the other Dravidian languages too.

So we have a universal father apa -> widely used.
Another universal father ata -> almost extinct(except for Tamil muslim communities, as a reader commented)
Eastern father aca -> Only Malayalees
Exclusive Dravidian father aya -> almost extinct (except for few rural communities in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu).

I will stop it here since I have confused myself enough.

The original father of Dravidian speakers

Who is he? Is it Na(ya)na as the Telugus call their father? Or is it Ayya? Is it Appa? Is it Amme? Is it Acca?

Looks like the oldest form is Ayya. Telugu nana is bit surprising. And why majority Malayalee Hindus consider appa as derogatory? In fact, the Malayalee Hindus of Kasaragod always called their fathers appa (they were surrounded by Tuluvas who called their father amme) and for Kasaragod Malayalees acca was uncle! But Malayalee Christians use both appa and acca(ya). Many Malayalee muslims use abba, which definetely points towards Arabic influence.

I wonder if all of them are cognates. Is there some kind of metathesis on work in addressing terms of ones relatives?

eg. amma - mama
anna - nana (I thought this is in fact real Telugu father but another blogger thinks it should be nayana)
annayya - nayana (this is bit complicated, I just wanted to fit the curve)
atta - tata - dada
akka - kaka
acca - caca
appa - papa
abba - baba

The original amma(mother) is abba....

Someone commented (I have lost that comment) on my "amma, ayya" post that Aramaic equivalent of Dravidian word 'appa' is 'abba'.

Amma was appa and appa was amma before:The present day usage of appa(father) and amma(mother) in Kannada and Tamil are in fact very recent. If we read Kannada works of ancient Kannada(Halegannada), the word used to denote father was 'amman(avar)' and mother 'abbe'. Though Kannadigas have changed since, Tuluvas have kept the words same. Tulu word for mother is 'abba' and father 'ammer'.

Now, it's easy for a person with matrifocal background like me to come up with a theory of matriarchal society changing to patriarchal one, just like other patriarchal anthropologists coming out theories like warlike people establishing everything, everywhere or attributing anything, anywhere to warlike people. And I'm going to do just that.

In the original Aramaic bible(I have not read one), it seems passages end with ...abba, father. The explanation given was 'abba' is akin to 'daddy'. And it's as if saying ...father, my loving daddy. Aha.. don't you think something amiss here? Inexplicable casualness in such a serious and sacred book like bible! I can explain it. The original prayer writer had only mother goddess in his/her mind. Therefore, abba. Later, somebody added father(Just like Shiva's phallus gaining over devi's yoni). Therefore, in the intermediate period between matriarchal to patriarchical society both father and mother had equal footing. Later it's father all the way, so much so that the original word for mother 'abba' came to identify with father.

Sometimes, I just surprise myself with my ability to re-write world history with just two words, father and mother.