[INDOLOGY] mAtAjI

[Andrew Ollett]

calling a younger person "mama" or "papa" is very common in latin american
communities, at least in new york.

prakrit māmi (whatever its connection to hindi māmā/māmī) is taught by
hemacandra (8.2.195 māmi halā hale sakhyā vā) as a term of address for a
female friend.


On Thu, May 23, 2013 at 7:12 PM, Richard Salomon
<rsalomon at u.washington.edu>wrote:

>  On the other hand, this usage is not *exclusively *South Asian. For
> instance, in Yiddish a little girl is referred to/addressed as "mamele" =
> "little mother." I would imagine there are (many?) other such cases from
> other languages/cultures.
>
> Rich Salomon
>
>  On 5/23/2013 9:53 AM, Dipak Bhattacharya wrote:
>
> Perhaps this is not pan-Southasian. In my school days a Sikh batchmate
> asked me why Bengali fathers called their daughters or girls of their
> daughter's age 'Ma!'
> Calling a young woman 'Ma' is of course an honour as well as sign of
> responsibility of protection. This is characteristic of Bengali Muslims
> too. I have pleasant experience of that. Long ago travelling for a night in
> the Madras Mail I got an 'Instant ticket'. An 'Instant ticket' at that time
> assured entry without the guarantee of a berth. A Muslim gentleman watched
> us checking from berth to berth and at last assured my daughter on his own,
> 'For mother there will be no problem of a berth'. To me he said, 'Why! Your
> daughter is not my daughter?'
> There is a famous story about Shvaji that a Muslim young woman was
> captured by his men and brought before him. Shivaji told her,
> 'If my mother were like you I would have been a handsome man.' That
> guaranteed protection.
> Best
> DB
>
>
>   ------------------------------
>  *From:* Suresh Kolichala <suresh.kolichala at gmail.com><suresh.kolichala at gmail.com>
> *To:* Howard Resnick <hr at ivs.edu> <hr at ivs.edu>
> *Cc:* Indology List <indology at list.indology.info><indology at list.indology.info>
> *Sent:* Thursday, 23 May 2013 7:28 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [INDOLOGY] mAtAjI
>
> This phenomenon is pan-South Asian. It is very common to address women as
> 'mother' 'maa/amma/aayi' and men as 'father' 'baapu, ayya, appa'. It is
> also common across linguistic families to address sons and daughters
> endearingly as 'mother' and 'father'.
>
>  Suresh.
>
> On Thu, May 23, 2013 at 9:31 AM, Howard Resnick <hr at ivs.edu> wrote:
>
> Thank you, Matthew, for raising these key questions. Gaudiya [Bengali]
> Vaishnava communities, expanding around the world, typically follow and
> teach this "rule" of addressing women as 'mother.'  Are they merely
> propagating a Bengali Hindu custom? Or does it include Bengali Muslims? Is
> the custom, to any degree, pan-Hindu? pan-South Asian?
>         Thanks to Jonathan and Somadeva for their information.
>
> Howard
>
>
> On May 23, 2013, at 4:33 AM, Matthew Kapstein <mkapstei at UCHICAGO.EDU>
> wrote:
>
> > This thread included the comment that in Bengal men address even their
> daughters as Ma, and so far as I know this is indeed the case.
> >
> > Two questions:
> >
> > Is this so widespread outside of Bengal?
> > Among Bengalis, is the use confined to Hindus or is it current among
> Muslims as well?
> >
> > Both of these questions, of course, are pertinent to the issue of
> whether or not this should be
> > considered 'Hindu' usage?
> >
> > Matthew Kapstein
> > Directeur d'études,
> > Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes
> >
> > Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies,
> > The University of Chicago
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
> >
>
>
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> --
> ----------------------
>
> Richard Salomon
> Department of Asian Languages and Literature
> University of Washington, Box 353521
> Seattle WA 98195-3521
> USA
>
>
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