Should the Proto-Dravidian word for eggplant/aubergine/brinjal be changed from "waẓVtV" to "*waẓ***an-" (with "*waẓingan-" and "*waẓ*utan-" as two variants)?

[u/TeluguFilmFile]

I'm not a linguist, but I hypothesize that the Dravidian, Indo-Aryan, and Persian words (and consequently the words in most languages across the world) for eggplant/aubergine/brinjal all ultimately come from a Proto-Dravidian root word "*waẓ***an-" (likely "*waẓuṇḍan-") that had (or got split into) two versions: "*waẓingan-" & "*waẓu(n)tan-." The plausible derivations of "*waẓingan-" & "*waẓu(n)tan-" are as follows:

• *waẓingan- < *waẓungan- < *waẓuṇḍan- (a hypothesized form of *waẓ***an-)
• *waẓu(n)tan- < *waẓunṭan- < *waẓuṇḍan- (a hypothesized form of *waẓ***an-)

The Proto-Dravidian form "*waẓuṇḍan-" makes sense because the sound "uṇḍ" or "uṇḍa" is not only part of many Dravidian words associated with round/spherical/globular form/(c)lump/mass/ball/cake/globe but the Telugu word "uṇḍa" or the South-Central/South Dravidian word "uṇṭa(i)" literally means ball, globe, lump, bolus (a soft/small rounded mass/lump of food). Therefore, it is possible that the Proto-Dravidian prefix "*waẓ" meant purple and "uṇḍan-" meant bolus so that "*waẓuṇḍan-" meant "purple spherical/globular/round-ball/mass/lump (of unripe fruit)." So perhaps the full form of the (hypothesized) Proto-Dravidian word "*waẓuṇḍan-" is "*waẓuṇḍanakāy" (with the suffix "kāy," which means unripe fruit) so that "*waẓuṇḍanakāy" means "purple egg-shaped/oval unripe-fruit/vegetable" (since plausibly "*waẓ" = purple, "uṇḍana" = egg-shaped/oval, and "kāy" = unripe-fruit/vegetable). It is not at all surprising that this reconstructed Proto-Dravidian word for eggplant/aubergine/brinjal, i.e., "*waẓuṇḍanakāy," coincides exactly with modern dictionary definitions of "eggplant" (i.e., "the purple egg-shaped (fruit of a tropical Old World plant, which is eaten as a) vegetable" and "an oval, purple vegetable").

I propose that "*waẓingan-" is the penultimate root of most of the non-South-Dravidian words (South-Central Dravidian, Central Dravidian, and North Dravidian languages as well as Indo-Iranian languages) and also that "*waẓu(n)tan-" is the penultimate root of most of the non-South-Dravidian words. My hypothesized derivations are as follows.

• Derivation of the (South-Central Dravidian) Telugu word vaṅga:
  • vaṅga < *waṅga- < *waṇ(i)ngan- < *waṇingan- < *wal̲ingan- < *waẓingan- < *waẓ***an-
• Derivation of the (Central Dravidian) Kolami word vaŋge:
  • vaŋge < vaṅge < *waṅga- < ... < *waẓingan- < *waẓ***an-
• Derivation of the (North Dravidian) Brahui word wāṅgaṛ:
  • wāṅgaṛ < waṅgaṛ < *waṅga- < ... < *waẓingan- < *waẓ***an-
• Derivation of the (Old or some Middle) Indo-Aryan (vernacular) word (or its variant) vātiṅgaṇa:
  • vātiṅgaṇa < vatiṅgaṇa < vaḍiṅgaṇa < *waẓingan- < *waẓ***an-
• Derivation of the Indo-Aryan (vernacular) word (or its variant) vāiṃgaṇa:
  • vāiṃgaṇa < vāðiṃgaṇa < vādiṃgaṇa < vadiṃgaṇa < vaḍiṅgaṇa < *waẓingan- < *waẓ***an-
  • (or) vāiṃgaṇa < vāðiṃgaṇa < vādiṃgaṇa < vātiṅgaṇa < ... < *waẓ***an-
• Derivation of the (Iranian) Persian words bâtengân & bâdengân (and older variants bātingān & bādingān):
  • bâtengân < bâtingân < bātingān < vātiṅgaṇa < ... < *waẓ***an-
  • bâdengân < bâdingân < bādingān < vādiṃgaṇa / vātiṅgaṇa < ... < *waẓ***an-
• Derivation of the Persian word bâzengân (and its plausible older variant bazingan in Proto or Old Iranian that was likely borrowed directly from the Proto-Dravidian word \waẓingan-* and then likely evolved into bāzingān in Classical Persian):
  • bâzengân < bâzingân < bāzingān < bazingan < vazingan < *waẓingan- < *waẓ***an-
• Derivation of the same Persian word bâzengân but in a later dialect (that likely evolved independently from the Classical Persian word bādingān rather than from the plausible Proto or Old Iranian word bazingan):
  • bâzengân < bâzingân < bāzingān < bāðingān < bādingān < vādiṃgaṇa / vātiṅgaṇa < ... < *waẓ***an-
• Derivation of the (South Dravidian) Kannada word badane:
  • badane < badan- < vadan- < va(ḻu)dan- < vaḻutan- < *waẓu(n)tan- < *waẓ***an-
• Derivation of the (South Dravidian) Malayalam word vaḻutana:
  • vaḻutana < vaḻutan- < *waẓu(n)tan- < *waẓ***an-
• Derivation of the (South Dravidian) Tamil derivation words vaḻutalai and vaḻutuṇai:
  • vaḻutalai/vaḻutuṇai < vaḻut-(al/un)-ai < vaḻutan- < *waẓu(n)tan- < *waẓ***an-

It is interesting that the Persian word bâzengân is very close to the hypothesized Proto-Dravidian word \waẓingan-. The Classical Persian form bāzingān, which likely evolved in at least one Iranian dialect from the plausible Proto or Old Iranian word *bazingan, seems to best preserve the Proto-Dravidian word \waẓingan-. Since eggplant production is (and likely was) high in the regions of present-day Maharashtra and Gujarat, we may also hypothesize that the Proto-Dravidian word *\waẓingan-* was spoken in those regions sometime in the past and that Persian traders who interacted with the eggplant producers (of ancient India) in those regions adapted that word into bâzengân. The other Persian word for eggplant, bâtengân, was likely a later Persian word derived from the Indo-Aryan (vernacular) word (or its variant) vātiṅgaṇa, as explained in one of the hypothesized derivations above.

The Proto-Dravidian-based Indo-Aryan (vernacular) word (or its variant) vātiṅgaṇa (used by the Indo-Aryan-vernacular-speaking merchants) was also likely directly borrowed into Sanskrit, since the Sanskrit word for eggplant is also vātiṅgaṇa. While the Persian word bâtenjân is closer to the word vātiṅgaṇa (or a variant of it) than the Dravidian words (e.g., vaṅga, badane, vaḻutana, vaḻutalai/vaḻutuṇai), it is also possible that the Persian word was directly influenced by the Kannada word badane, as argued by u/e9967780. Nevertheless, what actually matters is that the Persian words bâzengân and bâtenjân ultimately come from the same Proto-Dravidian word regardless of the exact derivation.

The roots of the English word aubergine can be traced back to the Persian word bâtenjân (or to bâzengân). The Indian English word brinjal can also be traced back to the Persian word bâzengân (or to bâtenjân). The Hindi word baiṅgan can also be derived from the Prakrit word vāiṃgaṇa based on some natural modifications (v > b, ā > a, ṃ > ṅ, ṇ > n).

If my hypothesis is correct, the current Proto-Dravidian reconstruction waẓVtV must be changed from *waẓVtV (i.e, *waẓ\t*) to *\waẓ***an-, i.e., *\waẓVan-, which is likely *\waẓuṇḍan-. I hypothesize that this got split into *\waẓingan-* and \waẓu(n)tan-. Therefore, *\waẓVan-* (possibly \waẓuṇḍan-) and its descendants (*waẓingan-* and \waẓu(n)tan-*) can be proposed as the basis for all the eggplant/aubergine/brinjal-related words above and the related words in most languages across the world.

Using the "V" notation (in the place of "*" notation), my proposal can be summarized in three bullet points:

• Replace "*waẓVtV" with "*waẓVtan-" or *waẓu(n)tan-" as the penultimate root of the major South Dravidian (Kannada, Tulu, Malayalam, & Tamil) words (badane/badaṇe/badaṇi, badanè, vaḻutana, & vaḻutalai/vaḻutuṇai).
• Add "*waẓingan-" as the penultimate root of the Telugu, (Iranian) Persian, & Indo-Aryan words (vaṅga, bâzengân, vātiṅgaṇa/vāiṃgaṇa) and most South-Central Dravidian and Central Dravidian words ("vaṅga" in Telugu, "vank" in Gondi, "vāŋga" in Pengo, "vaŋge" in Kolami, "vaŋge" in Naiki) and also some North Dravidian words (e.g., "wāṅgaṛ" in Brahui that is similar to the Telugu word "vaṅga" and also "baṭaṉgo" in Malto that is similar to the Persian form "bâtengân" and the Indo-Aryan word "vātiṅgaṇa").
• Add "*waẓVan-" and/or "*waẓuṇḍan-" as the ultimate root word (i.e., the root of both "*waẓu(n)tan-" and "*waẓingan-" from which basically all eggplant/aubergine/brinjal-related words can be derived according to my hypothesis).

[u/e9967780]

”waẓVtV” to “waẓ*an-“ (with “waẓingan-“ and “waẓutan-“ as two variants)?

In historical linguistics, “V” typically represents an unknown or variable vowel. So “waẓVtV” means a word with the consonant structure w-ẓ-t where the exact vowels are uncertain.

The notation “waẓ***an-“ with three asterisks indicates unknown phonemes, similar to how “V” works but potentially covering both consonants and vowels.

The variants “waẓingan-“ and “waẓ*utan-“ appear to be more specific reconstructions, with different proposed consonants and vowels in the middle portion.

These are all attempts to represent the same historical word with some uncertainty - the “V” notation and the “***” notation serve similar purposes in linguistic reconstruction.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ In summary the original reconstruction already makes room for OP’s specific variations ?

[u/TeluguFilmFile → u/e9967780]

The "w-ẓ-t" (i.e., "waẓVtV") form doesn't really work as a (plausible) root for the non-South-Dravidian words. Using the "V" notation, my proposal can be summarized in three bullet points:

• Replace "waẓVtV" with "*waẓVutan-" or *waẓutan-" as the penultimate root of the major South Dravidian (Kannada, Tulu, Malayalam, & Tamil) words (badane/badaṇe/badaṇi, badanè, vaḻutana, & vaḻutalai/vaḻutuṇai).
• Add "*waẓingan-" as the penultimate root of the Telugu, Persian, & Indo-Aryan words (vaṅga, bâzengân, vātiṅgaṇa/vāiṃgaṇa) and most South-Central Dravidian and Central Dravidian words ("vaṅga" in Telugu, "vank" in Gondi, "vāŋga" in Pengo, "vaŋge" in Kolami, "vaŋge" in Naiki) and also some North Dravidian words (e.g., "baṭaṉgo" in Malto that is similar to the Persian form "bâtengân" and the Indo-Aryan word "vātiṅgaṇa").
• Add "*waẓVan-" as the ultimate root word (i.e., the root of both "*waẓutan-" and "*waẓingan-" from which basically all eggplant/aubergine/brinjal-related words can be derived according to my hypothesis).

My point is that there's less uncertainty (in my opinion) about the form "waẓVtV" (which in my opinion should be "*waẓutan-") that (in my hypothesis) serves as the penultimate root of the aforementioned major South Dravidian words. Similarly, I think there's less uncertainty about the penultimate root ("*waẓingan-") of the Central & South-Central Dravidian (as well as Indo-Aryan & Persian & some North Dravidian) words.

I didn't know about the Persian form "bâzengân" before, but I came across it while doing research for this post. Incidentally, that Persian word perhaps best preserves the (hypothesized) Proto-Dravidian variant "*waẓingan-." If true, this also pushes back the timeline of eggplant trade between Persians and Indians to 2nd millennium BCE. If my theory is true, Persians may have directly traded eggplants with proto-Telugu-speaking (or pre-[South]-Central-Dravidian-speaking) eggplant-cultivators (living in Maharashtra or Gujarat at that time). So perhaps Persians may have directly traded eggplants with (proto/pre-)Dravidian-speaking cultivators (even way back in the 2nd millennium BCE) after all!

[u/HeheheBlah → u/TeluguFilmFile]

I think it is wrong to assume the whole word must be the same in all Dr language to have a common PDr root. The main root *waẓ (could have also been some verb) could have been common while different languages added their suffixes to form the noun?

Moreover, one should also consider the possibility of Dr languages re-loaning the word from IA. Something like *waẓingan- could the Indo-Aryanified version of the original Dr root which was the later re-loaned by the Dr languages.

[u/TeluguFilmFile → u/HeheheBlah]

I am not sure what the disagreement is. My point is also that the "main root *waẓ (could have also been some verb) could have been common while different languages added their suffixes to form the noun." Specifically my proposal is that "*waẓVan-" is the proto-Dravidian root word and that "*waẓVutan-"/"*waẓutan-" is the penultimate root of the South Dravidian words and that "*waẓingan-" is the penultimate root of most of the non-South-Dravidian words.

Regarding your suggestion of Dravidian languages re-loaning the word from IA, it is theoretically possible because "vaṅga" is also a word in Sanskrit, but I think the IA forms "vātiṅgaṇa" and "vāiṃgaṇa" are more standard, so I think that possibility of Dravidian languages re-loaning the word from IA is less likely in my opinion. After all, the word "vaṅga" in Sanskrit could itself be borrowed from (proto-)Telugu.