Query on the term *mistri*

[Jacob Baltuch]

>I do not know for certain. Given that French, Portuguese and Dutch were
>there in South India for considerable periods, it could have been from
>these languages also. I guess one has to dig.

French is out since the `s' of that word had ceased to be pronounced
long before the 18th century. One down, three to go.

>The word is most certainly from English...the English word "master"
>becamed transformed into "mEstrI"

And is it usual for English long `ah' (the vowel of `master') to
be borrowed as `E' in Telugu? Are there other examples of that?

>Another word of similar origin is "sOjiri"( from English soldier)..
>tyAgarAja had a disciple called "sOjiri sitAramiya" who got the name
>because he was very hefty appearancewise and reminded the locals of the
>British soldiers....

I'm curious why the long `I' in `mEstrI' and a short `i' in `sOjiri'?

Also what's with the `r's? Were there lots of Scots in India? :)