LOANWORDS IN SANSKRIT 379 The connection between Munda and Mon-Khmer, etc., as members of a larger Austro-Asiatic family, has normally been assumed by those who have investigated this section of the Sanskrit vocabulary. Such etymologies are in some cases only available from Austro-Asiatic languages outside India* For instance one of the words for elephant mentioned above, mdtanga- has been explained as Austro-Asiatic for ' animal with a hand ' (cf. hastin-), but the forms with which it may be com- pared (tang 4 hand maintong ' elephant ') are quoted not from India but from the Malay peninsula* The same is the case with Skt. angand 1 women ' which is explained as containing a com- mon Austro-Asiatic word for woman with prefix an - : cf. Khmer kan, Mon k’ha , etc., with prefix a-, Bahnar akan , with prefix en~ f Nicobar enkdna , The bird known in Sanskrit as kulinga- fork-tailed strike ') has apparently an Austro- Asiatic name (Khasi khltn ‘ kite, eagle Khmer khlen , Stieng klin ' kite '), but forms are not quoted from Munda. Common Austro-Asiatic words may have ceased to be current in Munda, or not known through defective documentation, and conse- quently etymologies based on languages outside India may be consistent with Sanskrit having acquired the words in India, In some cases the source of a word is definitely to be sought out- side India, e.g. in the case of imported plants. Such is the case with lavanga- 4 cloves where the origin of the plant as well as the name (Javanese lawan , etc.) is to be sought in Indonesia. The following is a short list of words for which, with reason- able plausibility, a Munda, or more widely, Austro-Asiatic source has been claimed : aldbu ' bottle-gourd ' : cf. Malay labu, labo, Khmer Ibow, Batak labu , etc. unduru - 1 rat f : with prefix un- ; cf. Khmer kandor with dif- ferent prefix, Savara guntur- ' rat further Savara ondreri- ‘ rat kadall * banana ' : cf. Sakai telui, kelui, Nicobar talui, Khmer tut taloi , Palaong kloai ‘ plantain ' ; Savara kin-ten- f banana karpasa- 4 cotton ’ (> Gk. Kapnacros) : cf, Malayan kapas t etc. An unprefixed form appears in Grail pag t bag , Stieng patic, which may be reflected in Ta. panci, Ka. panji 1 cotton and possibly in Skt. pica id jamb ala- * mud ’ : cf. Santal jobg, etc., 4 damp Kharia
