425. Etymology of Tulu word: Buḍedi (wife)

A very common word to designate wife in Tulu language is buḍedi. Even though in Tulu it is a quite a commonplace word, strangely enough, you do not find corresponding words in other sister Dravidian languages. The available clues to the etymology and possible origin of this Tulu word, deserves a pertinent discussion.

Simple etymology: housewife

The etymology of the word buḍedi, can be simply be explained as:

 būḍu+di, where būḍu means house and the suffix di refers to woman.

Thus the word buḍedi refers to the woman in charge of the house. Because of the existence of numerous homonyms (and consequent puns) in Tulu, some of you may get a penchant for alternate, somewhat humorous or cynical explanations for the word, but I prefer this simple and straightforward etymology, especially because traditionally the status of a wife has been treated with absolute respect in our culture. Tulu Lexicon is silent on the etymology of this word, buḍedi.

Analogous word/s in other sister Dravidian languages

On second thoughts, you may find words in Kannada and other languages with similar shades of meanings. For example: maḍadi (Kannada), maḍandai (Tamil), maḍanti (Telugu), maḍanda (Malayalam), as has been pointed out by Prof G. Venkatasubbaiah in his “Igo Kannada” (2016, combined volume, p.519).

The maḍadi and a related group of Dravidian words appear to have a different etymology than the Tulu word , buḍedi.

Nepali influence in Tulu shrine architecture. (Location Hiriadka, Udupi)

Nepali influence on Tulu/Kannada

It is interesting to note that Nepali language has a word for wife akin to the Tulu word buḍedi.

Buḍi (Nepali) =wife, woman (compare buḍedi ,wife, in Tulu).

In fact, many Nepalis are not aware of the origin and etymology of the word buḍi. Some of them consider it  as Hindi word buḍi which means a senior or aged woman. In Nepali, husband and wife as well as lovers are referred to as buḍa and buḍi.  Thus the exact origin of the Nepali word buḍi is difficult to decipher at present and until further studies on this. However, for the present we can consider that the Nepali word buḍi travelled to Tulunadu along with migrants and established itself here in the form of buḍedi, wherein the suffix -di reflects a Dravidian feminine gender.

According to historical interpretations Kadamba rulers around 5^th - 6^th century CE,  brought Brahmins from Ahichatra to conduct religious rites in temples of Kadamba region. Along with the Brahmins Neyers accompanied them as assistants and they migrated and settled in parts of Tulunadu and Kerala.

It can be seen that Nepali style of temple architecture has deeply influenced the Tulu - Kerala style of architecture used in construction of shrines and temples. Similarly, it has been suggested that coastal style of house construction involving pyramidal roofs has also been considered as an influence from the Nepali and Tibet architecture.

Ancient words
On overall analysis, the words like buḍi (Nepali) and buḍedi (Tulu) appear to be ancient words that have obscure etymologies. There is apparently a related word in Bengali, known as bouḍi. However, this  word in Bengali is used now as an equivalent of Hindi bhabhi or the sister in law.
Apparently some of these ancient words during the course of historical time have evolved independently as per the requirement of the language adopted.

Readers having more insights into such words may kindly share your thoughts with us.

R

Reference:
On Tulu word KanDani: https://tulu-research.blogspot.com/2017/02/379-tulu-tamil-mutual-influence-kandani.html