The Sumerian civilization flourished between 3500 and 2000 BC in the Mesopotamia region of northern Africa and Asia Minor, between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. The Sumerican lexicon has been rebuilt by John A.Halloran, and version 3 is now available on the internet. During the period 3400 to 1800BC, the Sumerian language was considered the spoken and written language in what is now southern Iraq.
Some of the words in Halloran’s Sumerian lexicon have equivalents in Tulu and other Dravidan languages.
Indeed, the origin of the word Tulu has long been debated. It is thought to represent something associated with water. 1.Tuluku (verb) in Kannada means to swish, oscillate, or overflow (like water). 2.Tuluve in Tulu also means soft fruit, and specifically refers to ripened soft watery jack fruits.
The Sumerian lexicon includes the following entries:
1.tul = a public fountain, a cistern, a lowland, or a well.
Tu=to wash, to bathe.
(i.e. water-related activity)
2.Tu-lu = to loosen or limpen.
(Numbers 1, 2,… are displayed for relevant comparisons)
During Sumerian civilization, Ur or Uru (=city) was a major city. Uru or Ooru (village or township) has entered nearly all Dravidan languages, including Tulu. Perhaps the name of the once-famous Sumerian city was later extended to all civilised settlements. It is now a common suffix in the majority of place names in southern India. Mangalur,Bengalur,Mundkur,Arialur,Trichur,Gudur, and other places.
In Sanskrit, the suffix -ur may have evolved into -pur or -pura. Jaipur, Udaipur, Mathura, Nagpur, Shivpura, and other cities.
Other Sumerian/Dravidian words with the same sounding verb -ur can also be found. Tulu, Kannada (Uri- is to burn) and other Dravidian languages have words that sound similar to Sumerian Uru (2) (= firewood.). Similarly, Uru (3) (=to till or grow) in Sumerian has Urpini/Ulpini (Tulu), Ulu (=to till) in Kannada.
Ia or I (=five) was one of the Sumerian numbers that meant “five.”
In Tulu, it is ain, and in Kannada, it is aidu.
In Tulu and Kannada, Sig (=sun burnt clay tiles) is equivalent to Sike or seke (=sunny sultriness) and Sigadi (=fire place/oven).
There could be more words like this in Sumerian and Tulu/Kannada/Dravidian.
The analogy is used here to suggest that some early Tulu, Kannada, and other Dravidian tribes may have migrated to India from the Sumerian region.
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