[INDOLOGY] mAtAjI
Richard Salomon
rsalomon at u.washington.edu
Fri May 24 16:45:44 UTC 2013
Getting back to Indology and India(the detourwas my fault!): Skt. tata
works the same way: originally "dad," butalso used by a father to
address his son.
RS
On 5/23/2013 12:27 PM, Luis Gonzalez-Reimann wrote:
> on 5/23/2013 10:30 AM Andrew Ollett wrote:
>> calling a younger person "mama" or "papa" is very common in latin
>> american communities, at least in new york.
>
> This is very common in Mexico, where it is often used in the
> diminutive: "mamita," "papito."
>
> Luis González-Reimann
> _____
>
>>
>> On Thu, May 23, 2013 at 7:12 PM, Richard Salomon
>> <rsalomon at u.washington.edu <mailto: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 casesfrom 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>
>>> <mailto:suresh.kolichala at gmail.com>
>>> *To:* Howard Resnick <hr at ivs.edu> <mailto:hr at ivs.edu>
>>> *Cc:* Indology List <indology at list.indology.info>
>>> <mailto: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
>>> <mailto: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 <mailto: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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--
----------------------
Richard Salomon
Department of Asian Languages and Literature
University of Washington, Box 353521
Seattle WA 98195-3521
USA
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