Sacred Language
There are three varieties of sacred language in use among the Todas. There is the kwarzam the word or clause used in prayer and other sacred formulæ; secondly, there are certain words and phrases peculiar to the ti dairy; and thirdly, there are certain words called by the Todas, teu language, which are only used in the legends of the gods.
The kwarzam is used especially for the names of gods, persons or objects used in the first portions of the prayers. It is also used in the magical formulæ and in the funeral laments, but it may be that the last use is only due to an extension of the strict meaning of the term. When I began to collect the prayers, I hoped that the kwarzam might turn out to belong to some ancient and otherwise forgotten language, but their general nature is evidently the same as that of other Toda words. The kwarzam arises either by a slight modification of a name in ordinary use or as a phrase recording some historical or mythical incident.
I give here a short list of kwarzam which, with a few exceptions, have not occurred elsewhere. The following are the kwarzam of the Tarthar clans:—
The Nòdrsol, Nòdrstharkûtthars; the Karsol, Kârstharkunnadrpêdr; the Panol, Pandârpeshdthvaimokh; the Taradrol, Pülkudutharpeithar; the Keradrol, Kerâdrtharkerâdrkûtan; the Kanòdrsol, Munantharpinnantho; the Kwòdrdoniol, Adutharathiars; the Pämol, Pämûtharkathar; the Melgarsol, Narzthar. The kwarzam of the Kuudrol is Ivikanmokhkûtmeilteu (see p. [101]), but the other Teivali clans have no such special names.
The only one of the above, of which the meaning is quite [[615]]clear, is that of Pan, in which case the kwarzam gives the names of the two kudr of the clan (see p. [652]). The latter part of the kwarzam of the Keradrol means a horn or son of Keradr, and is also the name of a man, and with further knowledge there is little doubt that the other kwarzam would be found to have some meaning.
The following are the kwarzam of the buffaloes of the different clans:—
Nòdrs, karûdchîrkünâkh; Kars, inâtvidshti inâtvan;[9] Pan and Taradr, Mutchôthvanmodethokvan; Keradr, miniapîr mâvelkar; Kanòdrs, Tîrztashkkarzikunp; Kwòdrdoni and Nidrsi, Keitankeikar; Päm, Arzomolkutchi; Melgars, Narzulnnatülnnâkh; Kuudr and Pedrkars, Kishvettarskvan; Piedr, Kûzherikwelvpurserthunm; Kusharf, Nulkarsîrnazhuv; Keradr, Nelppârsîrkudeipar; Kulhem, Pelthrîrkan.
The kwarzam of the Keradr buffaloes refers to the tradition of their creation (see p. [192]), and here again with further knowledge there is little doubt that most of the kwarzam would be found to have a definite meaning, probably derived from legends concerning the buffaloes or the villages to which they belong.
The second kind of sacred language, in use at the ti dairies, has been already considered. Every kind of dairy vessel or other object used in the dairy ceremonial has a name at the ti different from that used in the house or village dairy. These different names have been given in describing the dairy ceremonial, but I have not hitherto referred to certain other differences of language, especially in verbal forms. Different words are used in the two kinds of dairy for the verb ‘to drink’; thus, when a village dairyman orders another to drink buttermilk, he says “Maj ûn!” while at the ti the palol says “Kaizhvat!” This latter formula is interesting in that kaizh is not the usual ti word for buttermilk (mòr) and only occurs, as far as I can ascertain, in conjunction with the verb vat. A village dairyman uses the verb part, pray, while at the ti, the verb pôhvetnört is used. Thus the question “have you prayed?” would be “partikudricha?” at the village and “pôhvetnörtikudricha?” at the ti. Similarly [[616]]different forms of the verb ‘to milk’ are used. “We have milked” at the village would be “îrkartkudrvispimi” often shortened into îrkartspimi, while at the ti “karvukkudrivispimi” would be said; “we have not milked” would be “îrkarami” at the village and “îrkarpûkhami” at the ti.
There are certain verbs used at the ti dairy which may only be pronounced by ordinary people in the third person. A good example is the verb nört, and it will be noticed that the names of ceremonies in which this verb is used have always been given in the third person, irnörtiti, and never in the first person plural as in the case of most other ceremonies.
About the third kind of sacred language, I know very little. It will have been noticed that the words and sentences which are used in the legends of [Chapter IX] are unlike those which occur elsewhere, and I was especially told that certain words only occurred in the stories of the gods. A special instance given was that of the words “tar tûrzhoḍthrska” (see p. [201]), where tar[10] was said to be the teu word for ‘man.’ The words kwudrpedrshai and kaipedrshai in the same legend were given as other examples of teu language.