© COPYRIGHT: 2024 Deccan College (Deemed University), Pune and Rajya Marathi Vikas Sanstha, Mumbai.
The lexical variants presented in the note below are arranged according to their frequency of occurrence in the survey data-from most frequent to least frequent. The words reported to refer to the kin relationship ‘mother’s elder sister’ or ‘mother’s younger sister’ show variation in different regions of Maharashtra. The kinship term mawši was reported widely in all districts of Maharashtra. In addition, the following words were noted for this concept in different dialects of Marathi: mauši, moṭʰi mauši maši, mosi, mɔsi, moṭʰi ai, ai, aimoṭʰi kʰala, ǰiǰi, ǰija, moṭʰya as, moṭʰas, ais, ǰiǰis, pʰuis, dʰaklis, dʰakli, məmmi, bəḍi məmmi, moṭʰi məmmi, waḍəy, waḍai, aya, moṭʰi ayo, bail, pʰui, aǰli, aǰibai, kaku, məyti, hirma, aṇṭi, dʰoḍawa, ḍʰalai, moṭʰi ma, moṭʰi may, malpi,kʰəlmay, dəhlǰa etc. The word malpi was reported only in Gondiya district and Tumsar taluka of Bhandara district. The use of the word kʰala was observed in a specific socio-linguistic group. In certain regions of the tribal belt, a notable pattern was observed wherein the words mauši, ǰiǰi, ai, moṭʰi ai, dʰakli, pʰui were suffixed with ‘-s’ as noted above. The word waḍai was mainly reported in Palghar district and Salokha village in Karjat taluka of Raigad district. The word hirma was found only in Chinchghar village in Murud taluka of Raigad district whereas the word pʰui was reported only in Baple village in Alibaug taluka of Raigad district. The word moṭʰi məmmi was noted in northern Maharashtra while the word bəḍi məmmi was observed only in Gondiya, Bhandara, and Nagpur districts. The word dʰoḍawa was reported only in Kasgi village in Omerga taluka of Osmanabad district. Similarly, the word mɔsi was noted only in Kasa-Tedhwa village of Gondiya district. The word kaku was received only in Baple village of Alibaug taluka of Raigad district whereas the word ǰiǰi was reported in Nashik, Dhule, Jalgaon, Raigad and villages adjacent to Raigad in Mulshi taluka of Pune district. Iravati karve (1953: 168) notes that the kinship term mawši is also used to refer to one’s father’s younger wife. This meaning has emerged as a result of the practice of marrying one’s wife’s younger sister.