ಜನ್ನವಿರ

Old Kannada

Alternative forms

• ಜನ್ನವರ (jannavara)

Etymology

Borrowed from Prakrit जण्णोववीय (jaṇṇovavīya), which is from Sanskrit यज्ञोपवीत (yajñopavīta). The term displays the following formal anomalies:

• The vowel /o/, which is present in both Prakrit जण्णोववीय (jaṇṇovavīya) and its Sanskrit ancestor, is absent in this term.
• This term contains /r/ which cannot have directly arisen from either the Prakrit or the Sanskrit terms as it is absent in both of them
• The retroflexed ṇ has been de-retroflexed to n.

All of these unusual changes can be explained as being the result of the influence of ಜನ್ನದಾರ (jannadāra), which was a synonym of this term. As ಜನ್ನದಾರ (jannadāra) was calqued from Sanskrit यज्ञोपवीत (yajñopavīta), it was formed from ಜನ್ನ (janna, “yajna”) and ದಾರ (dāra, “thread”) and thus did not contain /o/ (which was present in Sanskrit as a result of vowel sandhi). The other two abnormal developments are also a result of the influence of ಜನ್ನದಾರ (jannadāra).

Noun

ಜನ್ನವಿರ (jannavira)

1. (Hinduism) a sacred thread worn over the left shoulder and under the right arm by Brahmin men and boys

Descendants

• Kannada: ಜನಿವಾರ (janivāra), ಜನಿಬಾರ (janibāra), ಜನ್ನಿವಾರ (jannivāra), ಜೆನಿವಾರ (jenivāra)

References

• Dr. P. V. Narayana, editor (2007), “ಜನ್ನವಿ(ವ)ರ”, in ಹಳಗನ್ನಡ ಪದಸಂಪದ [haḷagannaḍa padasampada, Halagannada Padasampada]‎^[1] (in Kannada), Kannada Sahitya Parishattu