Brahmin?

[mani at srirangam.esd.sgi.com]

In fact, north Indian acquaintances of mine have laughed
at me when I say "brahmin", with "a" as in "cat" and "min"
as in "inn", which is the typical way to say it in south
Indian English.  My Hindi-speaking friends prefer "braahmaN",
which is essentially the Hindi word pronounced as is, just
used in English conversation.

Which leads me to suspect that "brahmin" is just an 
anglicized form of brAhmaNa.

Mani