Q1.
Does this word sound familiar to a word we use for money today in India?
Answer
Yes. The word in question is rūpa — the symbol punched on to ancient coins — and it is the ancestor of the word we use every day: rupee (rupaya).
rūpa (a punched symbol / form) → rūpya (stamped silver) → rupaya / rupee
The other coin word in the same paragraph has survived too. The ancient coins were called kārṣhāpaṇas or paṇas, and:
- Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam still say paṇaṁ for money;
- Kannada says haṇa.
Why it happens: words for money outlive the money itself. The coins vanished centuries ago, but because people kept using the name in daily speech, it passed from one generation of currency to the next.