خلنگ

Brahui

Etymology 1

A highly polysemous verb resulting from the conflation of several sources:

The first set of senses is inherited from Proto-Dravidian *kol- (“to strike”). Cognate with Tamil கொல் (kol).^[1]
The sense of "lift cattle" is inherited from Proto-Dravidian *kaḷ- (“to steal”). Cognate with Tamil கள் (kaḷ, “to steal”).^[2]
The sense of "uproot" is inherited from Proto-Dravidian *kaḷ- (“to pluck, uproot, gather”), which is formally identical to the previous etymon and thus may not be a separate reconstruction. Cognate with Tamil கள் (kaḷ, “to weed”).^[3]

McAlpin proposes several Elamite cognates for the various senses of this verb:

Speculative Elamite cognates.

He relates the "strike" and "kill" sense to Achaemenid Elamite (hal-pi-iš /⁠halpiš⁠/, “he slew, had killed, hit, struck”), (hal-ba /⁠halba⁠/, “died, dead”).^[4] He claims to split the "strike" and "kill" senses on the basis of only "strike" having the imperative form خَڷ (xał) but this does not seem supported by the literature, and he provides some of the same Elamite cognates for both anyways.
He relates the "lift cattle" sense to Old Elamite (ha-al-ma-h /⁠halmah⁠/, “I made disappear”), etc.^[5]
He relates the "uproot" sense to New Elamite (hi-ul-li-in /⁠hillin⁠/, “plunder, booty”).^[6]
The "pitch a tent" sense is related to Middle Elamite (hu-ul-ba-h /⁠hulbah⁠/, “I erected”)^[7]
The "traverse" sense is related to Achaemenid Elamite (hal-sa-ba /⁠halsaba⁠/, “to drive to pasture”)^[8]

Verb

خَلِّنْگ (xalliṅg)

to strike
1. to kill
2. to apply gently
3. to fire (a gun), throw (a stone), etc.
to lift cattle
to uproot, gather (vegetables, etc.)
to pitch (a tent)
1. to plant (a tree)
to traverse (a road)
to invest^[9]
to begin^[9]

Derived terms

خَڷ (xał, “pain”)

References

^ Burrow, T., Emeneau, M. B. (1984) “2132”, in A Dravidian etymological dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, →ISBN.
^ Burrow, T., Emeneau, M. B. (1984) “1372”, in A Dravidian etymological dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, →ISBN.
^ Burrow, T., Emeneau, M. B. (1984) “1373”, in A Dravidian etymological dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, →ISBN.
^ McAlpin, David (2022) “*xal”, in “Modern colloquial eastern Elamite”, in Al-Burz, volume 14, number 1, page 76 of 64–123
^ McAlpin, David (2022) “*xaɬ”, in “Modern colloquial eastern Elamite”, in Al-Burz, volume 14, number 1, page 77 of 64–123
^ McAlpin, David (2022) “*xel”, in “Modern colloquial eastern Elamite”, in Al-Burz, volume 14, number 1, page 77 of 64–123
^ McAlpin, David (2022) “*xol”, in “Modern colloquial eastern Elamite”, in Al-Burz, volume 14, number 1, page 77 of 64–123
^ McAlpin, David (2022) “*xal”, in “Modern colloquial eastern Elamite”, in Al-Burz, volume 14, number 1, page 76 of 64–123
↑ ^9.0 ^9.1 Ali, Liaquat, Kobayashi, Masato (2024) “xall-ing”, in Brahui Texts: Glossed and Translated Short Stories and Folktales‎, Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, page 732

Etymology 2

Inherited from Proto-Dravidian . Cognate with Tamil குலுங்கு (kuluṅku). (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

McAlpin relates it to Achaemenid Elamite (ip-ši-iš /⁠ipšiš⁠/, “they feared”), etc. which he claims are metathesised causatives from earlier *huš-p-.^[1]

Verb

خُلِنْگ (xuliṅg)

to fear, be afraid

Derived terms

خُلِیس (xulīs, “fear”)
خُلْکُن (xulkun, “soft”)
خُلِیفِنْگ (xulīfiṅg, “to scare”)

References

^ McAlpin, David (2022) “*xuɬ”, in “Modern colloquial eastern Elamite”, in Al-Burz, volume 14, number 1, page 77 of 64–123

Etymology 3

Inherited from Proto-Dravidian . Cognate with Tamil குளி (kuḷi, “to pierce”), Tulu ಕುಳಿಪುನಿ (kuḷipuni, “to sting”). (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)