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ArchivesRe: The meaning of Parina, an Asian feminine given name.
in reply to a message by তন্ময় ভট্টাচার্য্য
I apologize. I asked a friend from India and they said it sounded like I was saying "fairy" in Hindi. When I typed this into a few databases on names, it seemed to corroborate.
The Japanese Mayumi and the Tagalog Mayumi may not be related, but I do know that Filipino language and naming is greatly influenced by the Spanish, Chinese and Japanese cultures. It has to do with it's position on trade routes and colonization by Spain. I would be more convinced that a Filipino name was influenced by a Japanese name than I would be that a Japanese name was influenced by anything other than Japanese language.
Mayumi is an established name in both languages, and pronounced the same with slightly less stress in Tagalog. Even though it means "gentle" in Tagalog... the people I know in the Philippines consider it both a Japanese and a Filipina name.
I don't think Asian names are more prone than others to assimilation. Honestly, I would assume that countries which use Romance languages to be the most likely to assimilate names from place to place, simply because they can easily combine or trace the etymology to one source (Latin).
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"How wonderful it is that no one need wait a single moment before starting to improve upon the world." -Ann Frank
Mama to my "bright star" Clarisse Bituin and Wife to Julius. Mahal na mahal from our little family to yours!
The Japanese Mayumi and the Tagalog Mayumi may not be related, but I do know that Filipino language and naming is greatly influenced by the Spanish, Chinese and Japanese cultures. It has to do with it's position on trade routes and colonization by Spain. I would be more convinced that a Filipino name was influenced by a Japanese name than I would be that a Japanese name was influenced by anything other than Japanese language.
Mayumi is an established name in both languages, and pronounced the same with slightly less stress in Tagalog. Even though it means "gentle" in Tagalog... the people I know in the Philippines consider it both a Japanese and a Filipina name.
I don't think Asian names are more prone than others to assimilation. Honestly, I would assume that countries which use Romance languages to be the most likely to assimilate names from place to place, simply because they can easily combine or trace the etymology to one source (Latin).
______________________________________________
"How wonderful it is that no one need wait a single moment before starting to improve upon the world." -Ann Frank
Mama to my "bright star" Clarisse Bituin and Wife to Julius. Mahal na mahal from our little family to yours!
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Replies
You wrote: "...Filipino language and naming is greatly influenced by the Spanish, Chinese and Japanese cultures."
I agree with Spanish, but I am not sure at all about a "great" influence by Japanese. For example, check this Wikipedia article about loan words in Tagalog:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_loanwords_in_Tagalog
I speak Tagalog myself, and while the Spanish influence is present in every second sentence or so that I speak, and half of all common Philippine dishes seem to have Chinese names, I don't notice much Japanese influence.
The choise of common, everyday words with positive meanings like female "Mayumi" for "gentle" or "modest" is typical for traditional Philippine names. I thus see no problem at all with a native Philippine name of Mayumi, and no need to get help from Japan to name girls in that way.
That a Tagalog common word has the same pronounciation as a Japanese given name may well be a simple coincidence.
I agree with Spanish, but I am not sure at all about a "great" influence by Japanese. For example, check this Wikipedia article about loan words in Tagalog:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_loanwords_in_Tagalog
I speak Tagalog myself, and while the Spanish influence is present in every second sentence or so that I speak, and half of all common Philippine dishes seem to have Chinese names, I don't notice much Japanese influence.
The choise of common, everyday words with positive meanings like female "Mayumi" for "gentle" or "modest" is typical for traditional Philippine names. I thus see no problem at all with a native Philippine name of Mayumi, and no need to get help from Japan to name girls in that way.
That a Tagalog common word has the same pronounciation as a Japanese given name may well be a simple coincidence.
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Thanks for the detailed explanations.
Indeed, the Hindi word pari (long -i) means fairy, or rather a somewhat different concept, an angelic nymph, who often has wings and is benevolent, but, most importantly, is extremely beautiful; it is, though, etymologically quite unrelated to English fairy. Its etymology is from a Persian word that had an interesting evolution in meaning from a demoness to a very benign being (See http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/pairika for example). What I was pointing out was that the -na at the end is not a productive suffix in modern standard Hindi, though it certainly may be a dialectical form. So, parina meaning "like a pari" is not a standard grammatical construction from pari.
I agree with you that naming conventions in Philippines does borrow from a number of languages including Japanese. What I was getting confused about was that I thought you were suggesting that the Tagalog and Japanese names were etymologically related.
Indeed, the Hindi word pari (long -i) means fairy, or rather a somewhat different concept, an angelic nymph, who often has wings and is benevolent, but, most importantly, is extremely beautiful; it is, though, etymologically quite unrelated to English fairy. Its etymology is from a Persian word that had an interesting evolution in meaning from a demoness to a very benign being (See http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/pairika for example). What I was pointing out was that the -na at the end is not a productive suffix in modern standard Hindi, though it certainly may be a dialectical form. So, parina meaning "like a pari" is not a standard grammatical construction from pari.
I agree with you that naming conventions in Philippines does borrow from a number of languages including Japanese. What I was getting confused about was that I thought you were suggesting that the Tagalog and Japanese names were etymologically related.
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Too late to join but I have something to add.
Parina is a not-so-rare name here in India, and I doubt it has much to do with the word Pari(fairy) - that's now how Indian/Sanskrit names work. Not sure how this name made its way to Indonesia/Malaysia. But, Parin is also a common male given name in India, which also happens to be one of the names of Lord Ganesha (a Hindu God). Now, it's very common in India for male and female names to have a difference of an 'a' in the end.
In sanskrit Parina could mean 'of Parin' or 'by Parin' or simply a female equivalent of Parin (not entirely sure, maybe some Sanskrit scholar can tell better). But I think this is the best explanation I have come up with, though I could be wrong here.
P.S. My girlfriend shares the same name and she really wants to know the meaning of her name, hope someone can solve this for us :)
Parina is a not-so-rare name here in India, and I doubt it has much to do with the word Pari(fairy) - that's now how Indian/Sanskrit names work. Not sure how this name made its way to Indonesia/Malaysia. But, Parin is also a common male given name in India, which also happens to be one of the names of Lord Ganesha (a Hindu God). Now, it's very common in India for male and female names to have a difference of an 'a' in the end.
In sanskrit Parina could mean 'of Parin' or 'by Parin' or simply a female equivalent of Parin (not entirely sure, maybe some Sanskrit scholar can tell better). But I think this is the best explanation I have come up with, though I could be wrong here.
P.S. My girlfriend shares the same name and she really wants to know the meaning of her name, hope someone can solve this for us :)
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What is the spelling of parin meaning gaNeSa? i.e., can you write in an Indian script? Which language? It is not an obvious Sanskrit word: may be I am not thinking of the right spelling... If you think it is Sanskrit, best reference would be to a hymn in Sanskrit using it, or to a dictionary, but with the spelling I can try to find it.
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