Everything is in a name
When I heard sad news of the death of Kalasuri Arisen Ahubudu, first
thing came to my mind was his contribution to Sri Lankan Onomastics. The
word Onomastics itself looks funny as a name, but it elaborates the
naming process or more broadly the area of study of naming. Arisen
Ahubudu set a new trend in naming Sri Lankan kids. Whenever an
interesting yet meaningful name is heard, we never think twice to
enquire whether that name was given by Ahubudu. He was turned into the
nation’s unofficial naming body. This week’s Metalanguage will be
dedicated to Kalasuri Ahubudu and will further discuss on the cultural
importance of personal names in a country.
Ahubudu was a person with many talents. He was a skilled writer,
orator, scholar, playwright, teacher, linguist, author, lyricist and
poet. Lyrics he composed for the Sinhala movie ‘Sandeshaya’ were so much
live and he proved that though his vision towards Sinhala language seems
rigid, it is yet bubbly and illustrious. He achieved fame through his
profound knowledge of the Sinhala language and literary work. He used
many languages as Sinhala, English, Tamil, Pali, Sanskrit, Greek, Latin
and Malayalam. He was among the few true lovers of Sinhalese language
and a prominent figure and a leader of ‘Hela Havula’ movement.
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Ariesen
Ahubudu |
As I know by my personal experience, it is very hard to be a fan of
the language unless you have a true passion for it. First in line, you
should have to have courage to survive in the up tides because you will
apparently find each and every one who speaks the language may discuss,
argue or criticize on your ideas. One of the Sinhala professors was half
jokingly telling me once that I may not under scrutiny of vigilant
Sinhala reader anymore as I am writing to an English newspaper. What he
implied there was how difficult it can be when you write on Sinhala in
Sinhala for a Sinhala readership. But, Ahubudu not only survived his
vision, he infused it to the ordinary Sinhala society and made them
depend on him in their most important events such as naming their most
precious things! He was fully into the language it. He researched,
observed and presented the interesting elements of Sinhala language.
Some Sinhala derivations which he invented caught the attention of many
and surprisingly entered into the vernacular. But, he was much known
among the common people due to his vast popularity as a naming body.
Shakespeare once asked, “What is in a name?” The answer to this
age-old question depends on the particular culture from which it is
framed: among many cultures a name tells a lot about the individual that
it signifies, the language from which it is drawn, and the society that
ascribes it. A name may indicate the linguistic structures and
phonological processes found in the language, the position of the name’s
bearer in society, and the collective history and life experiences of
the people surrounding the individual.
Names, as words by which reality is known and spoken of, are the most
meaningful lexicon in the vocabulary of any language, and they are an
important part of the language inventory as they not only name the
environment, but also store all the distinctions about the fauna and
flora.
This description would be strong enough to identify how important the
process of naming. Apart from personal names, Ahubudu was amazingly
successful in naming government and private institutions. My personal
favourites are those ‘payas’. Names such as ‘Sethsiripaya’ and
‘Visumpaya’ are melodious, meaningful and astrologically auspicious at
the same time.
His departure will create black hole in Onomastics in Sri Lanka.
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