Thursday, February 15, 2007

Beautiful names Part 2

Like the vi- series in part 1, we have ni- words like Niroopa, Niranjana, Nirguna etc. This prefix negates the meaning of the root word. Hence the above three words could mean formless, beyond-desires and characterless(?!). These words has positive annotation to mean someone or something who is not restricted by the forms, desires and the behaviour; something that had transcended or overcome these qualities.

su is the prefix to indicate auspiciousness, goodness and prosperity. suguna - good or pure charactor, swagatham - agatham is to inviting someone, swagatham adds a wellness to it to become 'wel'come. swarna is auspicious or nice color, usually this word is used for gold.

Anirudh is a quite common name we hear these days. I was curious to know the depth of the name. Happen to read a book about Krishna, the flute guy. Krishna's grandson is Anirudh and Anirudh is the only survivor of Krishna's community. Rodhah is to block or stop something. Nirodhah is to imprison and stop the flow, and hence Nirodh is the right word for condom. Anirudh is someone who cannot be imprisoned and in this context, the one who didn't let the dynasty flow to stop.

Such etymological analysis helps us to understand the words better and also throws some light on the language/word creators. We will be able to extrapolate the ancient life style, social values, ideas and ideologies. That is a Science by its own with the name Semantics.

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