Sri
Sri (Devanagari: श्री, IAST; Śrī) is a word of Sanskrit origin, often used as a title of veneration.
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[edit] Etymology
Sri has the original meaning of radiance, or diffusing light.[1] In Sanskrit grammar, Sri has the feminine gender. It is gender-specific in Sanskrit, but the assumption that it is masculine has resulted in the titles of Shrimati (abbreviated Smt) for married women and Sushri for women (independent of marital status).
[edit] Usage
The abbreviation Sri. (also Sree., Shri., Shree., श्री॰) is usually used as an honorific. The title derived from Sanskrit श्रीमन् (śrīman). This use may stem from the Puranic conception of prosperity.
Sri is frequently used as an epithet of some Hindu gods. When used as a title for gods, Śrī is sometimes translated into English as Lord.
Sri Devi (or in short Sri, another name of Lakshmi, consort of Vishnu) is the devi (goddess) of wealth according to Hindu beliefs.
Śrī is one of the names of Ganesha, the Hindu god of prosperity.
[edit] Other languages
[edit] South and Southeast Asia
Śri is used in most languages of the Indian subcontinent and Seri is used in most of the languages of southeast Asia:
- Bengali language: শ্রী
- Devanagari: श्री
- Indonesian: Sri, often used as a title of veneration, however "Sri" also the name of ancient Java rice goddess Dewi Sri
- Javanese language treats it as a common part of names in, for example, the name of former Indonesian finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.
- Kannada: ಶ್ರೀ
- Malay: Seri
- Malayalam: ശ്രീ
- Myanmar: Thiri (သီရိ)
- Tamil: ஸ்ரீ
- Telugu: శ్రీ
- Thai Siri (ศิริ) and Sri or Si (ศรี) (Thai place names below)
[edit] Place names
The honorific is incorporated into many place names. A partial list:
- Sri Lanka, an island country at the south tip of India.
- Sri Perumbudur, a town in the State of Tamil Nadu
- Sri Rangam, an island zone in the city of Tiruchirapalli, in South India.
- Sri Nagar where nagar means a city is the capital of the northernmost state of Jammu and Kashmir
- Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte the administrative capital of Sri Lanka.
- Srivijaya, a former kingdom centered on Sumatra, Indonesia.
- Sri (Thai: ศรี), pronounced and usually transliterated Si in Thailand place names:
- Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya (พระนครศรีอยุธยา), formal name of city and province of Ayutthaya
- Nakhon Si Thammarat (นครศรีธรรมราช) city and province
- Sisaket (ศรีสะเกษ) city and province
- Wat Si Saket in Vientiane, Laos.
[edit] Other current usage
Sri, along with the forms Srimati and Susri, is often used by Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains as a respectful affix to the names of celebrated or revered persons.
There is a common practice of writing Śrī as first word centralised in line at the beginning of a document.
Another usage is as an emphatic compound (which can be used in multiple: sri sri, or sri sri sri, etc.) in princely styles, notably in Darbar Sri, Desai Shri, and Thakur Sri or as in Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a Hindu spiritual Guru and leader.
The honorific can also be applied to objects and concepts that are widely respected, such as the Sikh religious text, the Shri Guru Granth Sahib. Similarly, when the Ramlila tradition of reenacting the Ramayana is referred to as an institution, the term Sri Ramlila is frequently used.
[edit] Indian Music
Its usage is common as a raga name, either as a prefix or postfix. Some examples are Shree, Bageshree, Dhanashree, Malashree, Jayantashree, Rageshree, and Shree ranjani.
[edit] References
- ^ Turner, Sir Ralph Lilley; Dorothy Rivers Turner (January 2006) [1962]. A comparative dictionary of the Indo-Aryan languages. (Accompanied by three supplementary volumes: indexes, compiled by Dorothy Rivers Turner: 1969. – Phonetic analysis: 1971. – Addenda et corrigenda: 1985. ed.). London: Oxford University Press,. p. 736. http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/contextualize.pl?p.4.soas.198140. Retrieved 22 Apr 2010. "śrīˊ 12708 śrīˊ feminine ' light, beauty ' R̥gveda, ' welfare, riches ' Avestan (Iranian) Pali Prakrit sirī – feminine, Prakrit sī – feminine ' prosperity '; Marāṭhī – s honorific affix to names of relationship (e.g. āj̈ā – s, ājī – s) Jules Bloch La Formation de la Langue Marathe Paris 1920, page 412. – Sinhalese siri ' health, happiness ' (Wilhelm Geiger An Etymological Glossary of the Sinhalese Language Colombo 1941, page 180) a loanword from Pali <-> See addendum śrḗyas – , śrḗṣṭha – . See Addenda: śrīˊ – occurring for the first time in Addenda : śrīparṇī – ."
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