Proto-South Dravidian : *araça-
Meaning : king
Tamil : aracan_, araican_, araiyan_
Tamil meaning : king, sovereign, prince
Tamil derivates : araci queen; aracu, araicu kingliness, king, kingdom, government; arai politics; ara-man_ai king's palace (also araṇman_ai royal place, mansion, with araṇ defence, fortress, castle < Skt. śaraṇa-)
Malayalam : aracan, araśan, arayan
Malayalam meaning : king
Malayalam derivates : aracam, aracu royalty, constitution; ara-mana king's house, palace, court
Kannada : arasa (in cpds. ara-), arasu
Kannada meaning : king, lord
Kannada derivates : arasi, arasati queen; ara-mane royal dwelling, palace, court, government
Kodagu : aramane
Kodagu meaning : palace
Tulu : arasu, arase
Tulu meaning : king, monarch
Tulu derivates : aramane, arantaḍè palace, royal residence
Notes : Since it is hard to suppose that Tam. araci < Skt. rājñī-, one has to assume a back-formation in South Dravidian itself (where the formant -i was indeed used to produce female gender), for *araçi- as well as the abstract noun *araç[u]. The compound *ara-manai, in the light of the archaic Tamil form, should be traced back to *araṇ-manai and then to Skt. śaraṇa-. Cf. also Tel. arusu (the borrowing may date back to the period of SDR-Telugu unity).
Number in DED : 0201
