Balcony.
The word 'Balcony' is believed to be of Italian origin (1610s), from Italian word 'balcone', which again has its roots in a Germanic source (perhaps Langobardic *balko- "beam," cognate with Old English balca "beam, ridge.
Let us try to understand the Tamil perspective.
In the olden times King and Queens used to be entertained by various artists exhibiting their skills in various art forms. It could be 'karali paitru' (katate), varatha-natiyam ('v' of 'varatha' was replaced by 'b' after Sanskrit words intruded into Tamil language), drama, music, etc.
Whenever the King (along with his council of ministers) was entertained by the artists, the open gallery used to be filled by male audience, nonetheless queens, ( maids) were made to sit safely in a closed chambers on either side of the auditorium. These closed chambers used to have holes created on the walls in order to have visibility to see what happens outside being in the closed chambers. It is thru these holes queens and others female attendants used to witness the act / play, at the same time people in open auditorium cannot see anyone (be it the queens or other female attendants).
The word hole in Tamil are called 'kannam' (this word is same in Telugu too). For holes (the plural form) the word in Tamil is 'kannamgal' and for 'several holes' the word used was 'pala kannam' (pala in Tamil means 'several' which in Telugu is 'palu'). Consequently for the closed chambers with lot of holes, they called it as 'pala-kanni' (wall with lot of holes). This word 'pala-kanni' has become 'balcony' in English traveling thru various Europian countires.
Pala Kanni ---- Balcony.
The word 'Balcony' is believed to be of Italian origin (1610s), from Italian word 'balcone', which again has its roots in a Germanic source (perhaps Langobardic *balko- "beam," cognate with Old English balca "beam, ridge.
Let us try to understand the Tamil perspective.
In the olden times King and Queens used to be entertained by various artists exhibiting their skills in various art forms. It could be 'karali paitru' (katate), varatha-natiyam ('v' of 'varatha' was replaced by 'b' after Sanskrit words intruded into Tamil language), drama, music, etc.
Whenever the King (along with his council of ministers) was entertained by the artists, the open gallery used to be filled by male audience, nonetheless queens, ( maids) were made to sit safely in a closed chambers on either side of the auditorium. These closed chambers used to have holes created on the walls in order to have visibility to see what happens outside being in the closed chambers. It is thru these holes queens and others female attendants used to witness the act / play, at the same time people in open auditorium cannot see anyone (be it the queens or other female attendants).
The word hole in Tamil are called 'kannam' (this word is same in Telugu too). For holes (the plural form) the word in Tamil is 'kannamgal' and for 'several holes' the word used was 'pala kannam' (pala in Tamil means 'several' which in Telugu is 'palu'). Consequently for the closed chambers with lot of holes, they called it as 'pala-kanni' (wall with lot of holes). This word 'pala-kanni' has become 'balcony' in English traveling thru various Europian countires.
Pala Kanni ---- Balcony.
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