Plural of sOdari?

Syamala Rao Tadigadapa (STADIGAD@us.oracle.com)
22 Jul 97 13:16:54 -0700


 
Sri kanneganti Rama Rao: 
   
  What is the plural of "sOdari" in Telugu? [I have been told that 
  it is "sOdaree maNulu" :-)]. 
 
The two primitives 'saH' , 'udara' combine to form 
   sahOdara 
meaning 'shared the womb', ie, born to the same mother. 
 
Now 'sahOdara' and'sahOdari' differ in the gender only, the later 
applied to refer a sister. (sodara and sodari are other forms of the 
same words.) 
 
The plural for both would be 'sahodarulu'( or sOdarulu). (Un)fortunately,  
this plural form does not imply any specific gender. 
 
So, sahodarulu ( sodarulu ) is a gender free way of referring to  
both sisters and brothers. 
 
Where required to specifically refer to sisters only collectively, the 
only way is to use a different term.  The word sodarImaNulu actually 
means " sisters who are also gems". If one wants to derive that way it 
could also mean "gems among my sisters" too. (But quite unnatural!) 
 
 
Thanks. 
-Tadigadapa Syamala Rao. 
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