Bengali: familiar terms

Discussion in 'Indo-Iranian Languages' started by Namarne, Nov 17, 2008.

  1. Namarne

    Namarne Senior Member

    Catalonia, Spain
    Spanish - Spain
    Hello again, :)

    In my text in English, I've already found some Bengali words adressed to relatives, like baba, dada, kakima, kaku...
    Now I find mashima and boudi. Could somebody tell me please what these words mean? :)
    The sentence is as follows:
    He referred to them as aunts and uncles; Mashima, he'd call them, or Kaku or Boudi.

    Thank you very much as always.
  2. lcfatima Senior Member

    In a teapot
    English USA
    mashima is aunt, I assume it is the "maasi" or "bua" of Hindi/Urdu who I think is the mother's sis, don't remember bigger or younger than your mom, but can be used to address any woman who will fall into the category of Auntie.

    boudi is sis in law who is married to one's big brother.

    I forgot to ask you, from which novel are these words?
  3. Illuminatus Senior Member

    Mumbai, India
    India, Hindi, English, Marathi
    Maasi is Mother's Sister, whereas Bua is Father's Sister.
    The sister can either be younger or elder.

    Icfatima, do you mean Boudi is the same as Bhabhi?
  4. capsi Junior Member

    Massi/Massima is mom's sister. whereas Pici is dad's sister.

    Baudi is sister-in-law, wife of elder brother.
  5. panjabigator

    panjabigator Senior Member

    غریب الوطن
    Am. English
    Do you ever hear <buaa> (or even <bhuaa> in Panjabi) in Pakistan or is this a very Hindi word?
  6. lcfatima Senior Member

    In a teapot
    English USA
    Yes, I really thought bua was the Pakistani version of who Indians call maasi because one calls a nanny or house keeper "bua" in the same way. I asked a few people about maasi (which to me sounded like the Indian word and bua I hear very regularly in Pakistan) and it turns out that some people do use the word "maasi" for both the relation and the cleaning lady, also. But bua is more common. I can't say for sure, but I believe it is always an unaspirated "b".

    Yesterday coincidentally I heard someone (Pakistani Urdu speaker) make a joke calling a woman a "maasi-e-musiibatein"
  7. BP. Senior Member

    the b in <bua> definitely unaspirated.

    I last heard the term as a toddler. That was in a Urdu-go household. You mean its the same in Panjabi ones too? Both bua and maasi are, nowadays in Pakistan, limited to female household help. Paternal and maternal aunts are <phhuppi> and <khaala> respectively. You can call or allude to in convo any woman a generation older by <khaala jaan>.

    Fatima, Maasi Museebati was a character on an old puppet show on PTV, an aunty trouble always followed in whose wake. The metaphore can simply be painted on any such character in real life.
  8. panjabigator

    panjabigator Senior Member

    غریب الوطن
    Am. English
    And in Panjabi, bua is aspirated: <bhuaa>.

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