New Post
Search
Help
ArchivesRe: Mirabai?
in reply to a message by তন্ময় ভট
I think the bay can be used for both males and females, I know an Indian guy and some people put the -bay after his surname, meaning "brother", didnt know you can use the same term for ladies... interesting from the linuistig point of view.
1
Replies
Actually, it is probably not the same term: can't be more specific without knowing which Indian language you are talking about (With more than 14 languages and over a couple of hundred mutually unintelligible dialects, it is a bit difficult: thus in some languages bAi means elder sister, not mother).
The problem is that many of these languages have two phonemes a b- and a bh- which differ in aspiration (i.e. not b- followed by -h- but b- with breathing out). Voiced aspirated consonants are missing in most Latin and Germanic languages I know, so they both become b- in English.
With that intro, the Sanskrit bhrAtR (cognate with brother, of course) gave rise to bhAi in many modern languages. I think this is the word you are talking about.
The problem is that many of these languages have two phonemes a b- and a bh- which differ in aspiration (i.e. not b- followed by -h- but b- with breathing out). Voiced aspirated consonants are missing in most Latin and Germanic languages I know, so they both become b- in English.
With that intro, the Sanskrit bhrAtR (cognate with brother, of course) gave rise to bhAi in many modern languages. I think this is the word you are talking about.
1