The lexical variants presented in the note below are arranged according to their frequency of occurrence in the survey data-from most frequent to least frequent.

‘Sponge gourd’ is a species of vine native to the tropical regions of northern Africa and Asia. It produces a fruit that has a smooth outer texture and a cylindrical shape resembling that of a cucumber. The tender fruit is used for culinary purposes while the dried fruit serves as a natural exfoliating scrubber for bathing.

The use of the following words was recorded in Maharashtra for the concept of ‘sponge gourd’: ɡʰosaḷe, ɡilke, copḍa doḍka, parosa doḍka, ɡəlɡəle, tel doḍka, tup doḍke, turəi, ṭiprikəy, čikni turəi, dudʰi doḍka, təwəša, šibi, satputa, hərsule, ṭeṇḍuḷe, širaḷə, etc. A detailed description of the usage of these words according to the geographical regions is given below.

The word ɡʰosaḷe was predominantly noted in western Maharashtra and Konkan region as well as in Ahmednagar district of Marathwada region. It was reported infrequently in Beed, Osmanabad, Latur, Aurangabad, Nashik, and Buldhana districts. Phonetic variations like ɡʰosawḷə, ɡʰosaḷə, ɡʰosaḷe, ɡʰwasaḷe, ɡʰosaḷa, ɡʰosala, ɡʰosaḷu, ɡʰosawi, ɡʰosale, ɡʰošaḷe, ɡʰosaḷi, ɡosawḷa, ɡʰosawla, ɡosawḷi, ɡošeḷa, ɡosawḷe, etc. were noted for this word.

The word ɡilke was primarily reported in Khandesh. Further, it was also noted in specific districts like Nashik, Palghar, Aurangabad, Jalna, Amravati, and Buldhana. Its use was recorded sporadically in Ahmednagar, Solapur, Yavatmal, Parbhani, Nagpur, Akola, and Bhandara districts. ɡilkə, ɡilka, ɡilki, ɡəlka, ɡəlko, ɡəlkə, ɡilke, ɡilko, ɡilkiya etc. phonetic variations were recorded for this word. In middle-western India, especially in Madhya Pradesh, the word gilki is used for this vegetable. Its influence is noted in this variation of the word.

The word copḍa doḍka was primarily observed in the Adiwasi community of Palghar and Nashik districts. Further, it was also reported in Aurangabad, Nanded, Jalna, Hingoli, Buldhana, Amravati, Akola, Washim, Wardha, Nagpur, Yavatmal, and Gadchiroli districts. Phonetic variations of this word include čopḍa doḍka, sopḍa doḍka, copḍə doḍkə, copḍə, čopḍe doḍke, čopḍi turəi, copḷa doḍka, copḍa bʰopḷa, copḍi tori etc. The use of the adjectives like čopḍa (smooth) and čikna (glossy) was noted for this vegetable because of its mottled and smooth external appearance.

The word parosa doḍka was widely reported in Ratnagiri, Kolhapur, Solapur, Beed, Latur, Nanded, Hingoli, Parbhani, Jalna, and Aurangabad districts. However, its attestation was rare in Sindhudurg, Ahmednagar, Osmanabad, Buldhana, Akola, Washim, and Amravati districts. For this word parusə, parosa, paroši, paroše, parəwsa, parusa, parši, parosa bʰopḷa, parosə, pʰarsi doḍka, parsa etc. were noted as the phonetic variants.

The word ɡəlɡəle was noted in Nagpur, Bhandara, Gondiya, Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, and Amravati districts. Its phonetic variations include ɡəlɡəle, ɡəlɡəla, ɡəlɡələ, ɡəlɡəli, ɡilɡila, ɡəlɡəlya etc.

The word tel doḍka was noted in Yavatmal, Wardha, Nagpur, Chandrapur, and Gadchiroli districts. Similar to the case of tup doḍke, the word tel (oil) is used. For this word teli doḍka, telik doḍka, telya doḍka, etc. phonetic variants were noted.

The word tup doḍke was noted only in Nanded and Latur districts. Since the vegetable has a greasy appearance, the use of the word tup (ghee) is observed.

The word turəi was mainly observed in the Adiwasi community of Gondiya and Gadchiroli districts. While it was noted infrequently in Banjara community of Yavatmal, Nanded, and Washim districts and in Muslim community of Solapur and Beed districts. In the rest of Maharashtra, this word was observed scarcely in Amravati, Nagpur, Osmanabad, Latur, and Aurangabad districts. The phonetic variations of this word include torəi, ture, turəḷi, tori, turəi, turi, torya, etc. The word tori is used in the Hindi-speaking regions of northern India. Hence, its influence is noted for this variation of the word.

The word ṭiprikəy was elicited from Kannada-Marathi bilinguals in Solapur and Osmanabad districts. Among them, members of the Lingayat, Harijan, Buddhist, Mahar, Matang, and Chambhar communities reported it the most. While its use was also observed infrequently in Dhangar, Maratha, and Koli communities. For this word, phonetic variations like ṭiprike, tiprike, tripike, ṭiprika, ṭipri, tiprikəy, ṭiprikəy, etc. were noted. ‘Sponge gourd’ is referred to as ṭiprikay in Karnataka. Consequently, this regional variation was recorded in the areas neighboring the state borders.

The word čikni turəi was attested infrequently in Aurangabad, Jalgaon, Nandurbar, Washim, Amravati, Nagpur, and Bhandara districts. The upper coat of the sponge gourd is smooth, consequently, the use of the adjectives čikna/čikni (glossy) is observed to refer to this vegetable. čikno ɡilko, čikni, čikni turə, čikni turəi, čikna ɡiḷkə, cikni turəi, cikna toṭke, čikən tori, čikkən doḍka etc. were documented as the phonetic variants of this word.

The word dudʰi doḍka was noted in Mahar and Matang communities of Kolhapur, Wardha, and Yavatmal districts. Its phonetic variations include dud doḍka, dudi doḍke, etc.

The word təwša was recorded sporadically in Sindhudurg district. təwša, towəši, ṭəwsa, etc. were noted as its phonetic variations.

The word šibi was noted in the Baple village of Alibaug taluka in Raigad district, while the word satputa was reported by members of the Katkari community in Raigad district.

doḍka Since the sponge gourd belongs to the gourd family of vegetables, it was noted that dodka (ridged gourd) is often used to refer to the sponge gourd. However, dodka is rarely used independently. Its usage was primarily observed in conjunction with an adjective, to highlight the vegetable’s specific characteristic or quality. In this context, ɡawran, sərkari, ɡoḍ, ləmbe, ləmba, paṇḍʰra, nərəm, sadʰa, dew, bəɡər širyaca, etc. adjectives were reported. These words were broadly noted in Marathwada and Vidarbha regions.