Hamsa: new book

[Allen W Thrasher]

Various questions about the meaning of hamsa and various compounds of it have come up on Indology through the years.  The Library of Congress New Delhi office has just notified subscribers to the Cooperative Acquisitions Program (CAP) that a new book on the zoology of the family Anatidae has just come out:

  Title: Ducks, Geese and Swans of India : their status and Distribution
Personal Name: by Asad R. Rahmani and M. Zafar-ul Islam
Place of Publication: New Delhi
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year of Publications: 2008
Description: (pagination, size etc.) 364 p.
Language: English
Price (Local currency):  Rs.1300.00 less 26% = $20.46
LCCN: I-E-2009-311729

I am asking the office to route our copy of the book to me and will report if it has anything to say about names in Indian languages or the like.

Unfortunately, this will not deal with flamingos, called rajahamsa at least in some modern languages.


Allen

Allen W. Thrasher, Ph.D.
Senior Reference Librarian
Team Coordinator
South Asia Team, Asian Division
Library of Congress, Jefferson Building 150
101 Independence Ave., S.E.
Washington, DC 20540-4810
tel. 202-707-3732; fax 202-707-1724; athr at loc.gov
The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Library of Congress.