Origin of the word memsahib ...
Memsahib, I thought, was an Indian word ... A word that was used specifically to address European women in India. For example, here is a definition from the internet -
Sahib - Formerly a term of respect for important white Europeans in colonial India; used after the name
Memsahib - A woman sahib
Maybe the word was created by joining "maam" and "sahib" - The untrained Indian tongue would have struggled with "maam" and modified it to mem ..
Sahib of course was a common term of respect. Also, considering that the first women to arrive in India were likely the most adventurous/unconventional, its likely that they wore pants and drove Indians to call them by what was traditionally a male term - Sahib.
The word memsahib was also used in Afghanistan, which isnt surprising, considering that it was part of colonial India. I came across this while reading James Michener's Caravans.
However, I was surprised when I saw the word being used by Africans too - In the movie "Nowhere in Africa". The servants in the movie refered to the European women as memsahibs.
This got me thinking - How did the word memsahib travel so far away. Two possibilities struck me ...
1. The Europeans liked the word and transplanted it when they occupied Africa.
2. The Indians who were taken to Africa as servants spread the word to their African colleagues.
Maybe, it was a combination of both ....
Sahib - Formerly a term of respect for important white Europeans in colonial India; used after the name
Memsahib - A woman sahib
Maybe the word was created by joining "maam" and "sahib" - The untrained Indian tongue would have struggled with "maam" and modified it to mem ..
Sahib of course was a common term of respect. Also, considering that the first women to arrive in India were likely the most adventurous/unconventional, its likely that they wore pants and drove Indians to call them by what was traditionally a male term - Sahib.
The word memsahib was also used in Afghanistan, which isnt surprising, considering that it was part of colonial India. I came across this while reading James Michener's Caravans.
However, I was surprised when I saw the word being used by Africans too - In the movie "Nowhere in Africa". The servants in the movie refered to the European women as memsahibs.
This got me thinking - How did the word memsahib travel so far away. Two possibilities struck me ...
1. The Europeans liked the word and transplanted it when they occupied Africa.
2. The Indians who were taken to Africa as servants spread the word to their African colleagues.
Maybe, it was a combination of both ....
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