The Word aalu ( ആല് ) & Connected Toponyms

Aalu (ആല് ) according to Malayalam lexicon compiled by Srikanteswaram G Padmanabha Pilla published by Sahitya Pravarthaka Sahakarana Sangham,1983 edition, means water (ജലം).  Aalam (ആലം) means water, sea, and rain. Etymology of these words are not available. Both words are on page 269 of the book.

Their etymology is rooted in the Proto Dravidian language family, where they share common ancestor with "sea" "salt" and "to wash".

Etymology of Aalam (ആലം)

The word aalam is a classic Dravidian word that originally referred to salt water or maritime areas.

° Dravidian root: Derived from the proto-south Dravidian root "al" which specifically meant "sea"  or "salt water" 

°Cognates in sister languages:

• Tamil: Alam (ஆலம்) അളം means a salt pan, maritime tract or sea itself.

Tulu: "Alle" refers to sides or flanks, but the root "al" remains associated with liquid agitation.

° Semantic Evolution: In Malayalam this root evolved to mean "ocean" or "rain" (as water from the sea), and it also appears in the compound Malayalam (Mala + Aalam) where aalam is interpreted by some scholars as region or habitate. But in the same source page number 244 അളം means salt pan, wet land or sea coast. Again ആഴം means depth. The Tulu word for depth is "ala"  (ಅಲ). One of the ancient human bands who possibly saw the land in the depth below, might be Tulu people, they ofcourse had seen the Arabian sea in the depth.  According to Philip Lake the British geologist who was in the Archeological Survey of India the sea reached upto the foot of Western Ghats around BCE 2300. So, a view from the height could offer a narrow strip of land boardering the foot of the hills. Coastal land was formed through ages to give a shape that we see today. And the mountains we see other than the Western Ghats were the first to emerge as islets after the recession of the sea. Malayalam was the old name of modern day Kerala and the name is quite natural when we connect the other languages with their evolutionary habitate. Thus we have English in England, French in France, Greek in Greece and coming to Indian subcontinent Marathi in Maratha and Bengali in Bengal. Kerala is a politico literary term  conceived by nationalist literarians in the wake of freedom movement and connected it to coconut palm, native to Central Indo Pacific region. In the digital age when they found that Kerala is a town in Kunar Province of Afghanistan they changed the name in the wink of an eye to Keralam.

Etymology of Aalu

Aalu in the sense of water is not common in modern Malayalam.  But its etymology is closely linked to the action of water.  It likely stems from Proto Dravidian root "alai" meaning to wash or rinse.  It is also the source of Alakkuka (അലക്കുക): To wash clothes by beating them in water, or alambuka (അലമ്പുക) to rinse or shake in the water.

The same words are found in the Unangam Tunuu language of Aleutian Islands.  In the context of Aleutian islands, water and sea are central to their way of life, much like the coastal history of Kerala. While these similarities are often viewed as linguistic coincidences, they may help to study the pattern of the first wave of Out of Africa migration.

To study the migration of early human bands out of Africa, we have to focus on the Southern Coastal Route also known as the Beachcomber Express.  According to this small groups of Homo Sapiens migrated from East Africa, hugging the coastlines of the Indian Ocean towards South Asia and eventually reaching the Pacific Rim.

The linguistic similarity between Malayalam and Unangam Tunuu of Aleutian people align with the fringe but notable theories that explore a shared coastal culture or ancient genetic links between Dravidian speakers and early Pacific populations.

Key Evidence for Out of Africa Migration 

Around 60000 to 70000 years ago humans crossed Bab-el-Mandeb strait into the Arabian Peninsula. Sea levels must have been low during these period for humans to cross from Bab-el-Mandeb. They likely followed the coast because it provided stable resources like fish and shell-fish during fluctuating climates.

Genetic Markers 

Studies of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) trace the spread of haplo groups like M and N (derived from African L3) along the Indian coastline.  Some researchers specifically link Dravidian speakers to early migrations from the Horn of Africa, citing shared genetic markers and similar burial practices (megaliths) All non-Africans derived from L3. Macro-Haplogroup M,  often called the Eurasian Eve is the primary marker for South Indians.  It is found in over sixty percent of the population.

Indian Specific Sub-clades

Sub-clades like M2, M6, M3 are considered indigenous to India and are among the oldest in the world with ages estimated between 60000 

and 75000 years.

African Link M1 : While most M lineages are Asian, the M1 sub-clad is found in East Africa: Ethiopia and Somalia.  The debate is whether M1 is a lineage that never left Africa or very early a back migration from Asia.

Haplogroup R : A major branch of macro haplogroup N, which also descended from the African L3.  Sub-clades like R5 are specifically prevalent in South India.

Y-Chromosome (Paternal) Markers

Paternal markers help trace the migration of male specific lineages 

across the same coastal route. Haplogroup C- M130 is one of the most significant markers for early migration It is found in South Indian tribal groups (like Piramalai Kallar and Paniya) and is linked to the first wave of humans who left Africa and travelled along the coast towards Australia.

Haplogroup H(M69) is considered most indigenous South Asian paternal lineage.  It is found at high frequencies (25 to 30%) among Dravidian speakers and is thought to have branched off from the early African migrant stock shortly after their arrival in India.

Haplogroup L (M20 ) Highly concentrated in South India especially Karnataka, is often associated with the early agriculturaliststs of Indus valley but has roots in the Pleistocene settlers who.migrated from the west.

Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)

System 

Beyond haplogroups specific immune system genes show surprising overlaps.  Studies have found shared HLA alleles ( such as A03011 and B3501 between South Indian groups like Nadar and the African group like Fulani, suggesting a deep rooted genetic relationship that predates more recent migrations.

  Linguistic Fossil Words 

Some scholars use lexical comparisons to trace these paths.

For example The word aalu and aalam for water and sea are sometimes used to argue for prehistoric coastal migration.  Linguistic substrate that survived in isolated pockets Aleutian islands or the Kerala coast.  R5 are specifically prevalent in South India. 

Dravidian and African Nilo-Saharan Languages 

Linguists like Lilias Homburger and later Clyde Winters have argued deep genetic relationship between Dravidian and various African Language families, including Nilo-Saharan and Niger-Congo.

The primary comparison centres on the Proto-Dravidian root "nir" which is found in almost all South Indian languages.

• Dravidian: In Malayalam and Tamil, Nir (നീര്/நீர்) means water 

• In several Nilo-Saharan (Nubian) dialects the word for water or rain is "er" or "n-er". Researchers suggest that nasal prefix "n-" was a common class marker in early Nilo-Saharan making "n-er" and "nir" potential cognates. This root is so stable that it is even compared to Greek nero (water) to argue for the ancient wide reaching substrate.

The Dravidian standard word for river is Aaru (ആറ്) both in Malayalam and Tamil.

In some Eastern Sudanic (Nilo-Saharan) languages, the root for river or flow is "ar" or "aru'

These lexical parallels support Southern Coastal Route hypothesis. If early human bands moved from East Africa to India, and then followed the "Kelp Highway" along the Pacific Rim to the Aleutian islands they would have carried a core "coastal  vocabulary". The presence of "Aalu, and Aalam" in Malayalam and Unangam Tunuu languages suggests those words may be linguistic fossils of the ancient maritime journey.

There are about more than seventy place names having aal, and aalam as prefix. This will be detailed in the next post.