Names
The usual Malayalam name for the group is Tekkumbhagar. This is generally translated into English as "Southist", or sometimes "Southerner" or "Suddhist". The term Knanaya derives from the name of Thomas of Cana. However, the ultimate derivation of Thomas' epithet Cana is not clear. It may refer to the town of Cana, mentioned in the Bible, or to the land of Canaan. Alternately, it may be a corruption of a Syriac term for merchant (KnÄyil in Malayam). However, scholar Richard M. Swiderski states that none of these etymologies are convincing.
Read more about this topic: Knanaya Christians
Famous quotes containing the word names:
“If goodness were only a theory, it were a pity it should be lost to the world. There are a number of things, the idea of which is a clear gain to the mind. Let people, for instance, rail at friendship, genius, freedom, as long as they will—the very names of these despised qualities are better than anything else that could be substituted for them, and embalm even the most envenomed satire against them.”
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830)
“If marriages were made by putting all the men’s names into one sack and the women’s names into another, and having them taken out by a blindfolded child like lottery numbers, there would be just as high a percentage of happy marriages as we have here in England.... If you can tell me of any trustworthy method of selecting a wife, I shall be happy to make use of it.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“Holding myself the humblest of all whose names were before the convention, I feel in especial need of the assistance of all.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)