Karve 1943-1944: 71 has remarked on the uses of mātṛ and ambā for both natural mother and step-mother in the Mahābhārata
Karve, Irawati. 1943-1944. “Kinship Terms and the Family Organization as Found in the Critical Edition of the Mahābhārata.” Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute 5: 61-148..
It is probably worth noting that the Nāṭyaśāstra’s chapter 19.21–29, which lists stereotypically acceptable terms of address for women, does not include mātṛ. It does include ambā, but only to address an elderly lady (vṛddhā).
Best
Somadeva Vasudeva
On May 23, 2013, at 6:04 AM, Howard Resnick <hr@IVS.EDU> wrote:
> Do we know the history of the Hindu custom of addressing women as mAtA or mAtAji?
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