Tuesday, December 27, 2005

The original amma(mother) is abba....

Someone commented (I have lost that comment) on my "amma, ayya" post that Aramaic equivalent of Dravidian word 'appa' is 'abba'.

Amma was appa and appa was amma before:The present day usage of appa(father) and amma(mother) in Kannada and Tamil are in fact very recent. If we read Kannada works of ancient Kannada(Halegannada), the word used to denote father was 'amman(avar)' and mother 'abbe'. Though Kannadigas have changed since, Tuluvas have kept the words same. Tulu word for mother is 'abba' and father 'ammer'.

Now, it's easy for a person with matrifocal background like me to come up with a theory of matriarchal society changing to patriarchal one, just like other patriarchal anthropologists coming out theories like warlike people establishing everything, everywhere or attributing anything, anywhere to warlike people. And I'm going to do just that.

In the original Aramaic bible(I have not read one), it seems passages end with ...abba, father. The explanation given was 'abba' is akin to 'daddy'. And it's as if saying ...father, my loving daddy. Aha.. don't you think something amiss here? Inexplicable casualness in such a serious and sacred book like bible! I can explain it. The original prayer writer had only mother goddess in his/her mind. Therefore, abba. Later, somebody added father(Just like Shiva's phallus gaining over devi's yoni). Therefore, in the intermediate period between matriarchal to patriarchical society both father and mother had equal footing. Later it's father all the way, so much so that the original word for mother 'abba' came to identify with father.

Sometimes, I just surprise myself with my ability to re-write world history with just two words, father and mother.

10 comments:

சுபத்ரா said...

All ur assumptions cannot be true..

Manju Edangam said...

In one my later posts, I've mentioned that appe/abba for mother was a Jain influence and could be found in old Kannada texts when Jains were the ruling class in Karnataka. The region of Tuluvas had Jains as ruling class until recently and probably that's the reason common people adopted the usage.

சுபத்ரா said...

/In one my later posts/

First reply for this post..

/recently and probably that's the reason common people adopted the usage/

In that case, I should NOT be, "The ORIGINAL amma(mother) is abba"

/The present day usage of appa(father) and amma(mother) in Kannada and TAMIL are in fact very recent/

Is that so? How will u prove this?

STOP UR FALSE PROPAGANDA.. ATLEAST STOP WITH UR IMAGINARY STORIES ON KANNADA.. DONT GO BEYOND IT TO TAMIL.

It'd be a favour for us!
Thank U!


Manju Edangam said...

It'd be a favour for us!

Who are these "us"? And why do you claim to represent them?

சுபத்ரா said...

FYI, I have written so many words above that. Kindly note them too..

Manju Edangam said...

Sorry, I fail to detect your sense of humour and sense of sarcasm in those seemingly misunderstood, inane and over the top comments.

சுபத்ரா said...

I am very sorry for that. But I just request u to prove what u have blogged here.

/The present day usage of appa(father) and amma(mother) in Kannada and Tamil are in fact very recent./

As u have mentioned "Tamil" also here, is there any proof for what u have said above...that the usage of 'AMMA'(mother) is recent?

Manju Edangam said...

What did you feel when you read this post? I'm curious about the reasons behind your irrational emotional outbursts. Your protestations were like those of a person learning his/her adopted status for the first time (based on some filmy scenes).

சுபத்ரா said...

It is vain talking to u. God bless u

Manju Edangam said...

Hmmm... you could have talked about your fears.
- The fears that forced you to write that tentative first comment which I felt totally out of sync with the tone of the post(All ur assumptions cannot be true..).

- The fears that reinforced your confused understanding by my bona fide response(In that case, I should NOT be, "The ORIGINAL amma(mother) is abba").

- The fears that you made you to write aggressive but comical(First reply for this post..) and childish(ATLEAST STOP WITH UR IMAGINARY STORIES ON KANNADA.. DONT GO BEYOND IT TO TAMIL) repartee.

- The fears that made you to lose the ability for connecting the order of my posts(Is that so? How will u prove this?) and draw your conclusions.

- The fears that made you to invoke mob mindset (It'd be a favour for us!)