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eḷamūgā

eḷamūga

masc nom pl of eḷamūga (noun); masc instr sg of eḷamūga (noun); masc abl sg of eḷamūga (noun); masc voc sg of eḷamūga (noun); …

1. drooling fool; drivelling idiot; lit. drool dumb

Built from

• eḷa — root · drool, slobber
  Expressive root; the concrete image is saliva flow, marking foolishness in folk imagery.
• mūga — stem · dumb, mute
  From √mū (be silent); cognate with Latin mutus and English mute. Absence of speech signals lack of wisdom.

Analysis. eḷa (drool) + mūga (dumb, speechless); a person rendered foolish by drooling or lacking speech through stupidity.

Etymology. eḷa is onomatopoetic or expressive (compare Sanskrit eḍaka 'he-goat', animals known for drooling); mūga from mūka (dumb, mute, from √mū, to be silent — cognate with English 'mute', Latin mutus). The compound pairs a physical sign of imbecility with silence.

Meanings from the Digital Pāḷi Dictionary; morphology and etymology by Claude.

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