Brahman or Brahmin

[pp001460 at interramp.com]

Lance Nelson writes:


>My South Indian BrAhmaNa friends and teachers, when speaking English, use 
>the word "Brahmin."  I've never heard it used in a derogatory sense, has
>anyone?  The -min ending is handy when one is writing in English about 
>VedAnta, to avoid confusion with the term "Brahman" (ultimate Reality).
>
>Thanks to all who have responded on this question (I don't think it has 
>become a debate), which was prompted by a copy editor at a well-known 
>academic press who wanted to change my Brahmin-s to _brAhmin_: lower 
>case, italics, with a macron over the a.  Hmmmmmm. 


I have also found this to be true (I work in Orissa).  I am not a classical 
indologist or scholar of Sanskrit, so I can not join the conversation at that 
level.  But I study living tradition and practice in Orissa, and have 
done much of my work in collaboration with an Oriya anthropologist who lives 
and teaches in Orissa.  He uses the pronunication `Brahmin' to refer to 
himself and others of the set of (sub)castes; when he transliterates or 
writes articles in English I have seen the use of both forms, interchangably 
as far as I can tell.  I have several of his publications with me to refer 
to.  

I have not known the `Brahmin' pronunciation to be used in a derogatory sense 
but that could vary with locality and language group, as for example the 
implications of the epithet `babu', in various social contexts.

In my own work, I have vacillated between use of the two forms, and I have 
enjoyed this discussion regarding the various reasons scholars choose one 
form or another, and what they understand by each.

Nancy C. Much