སྲིན་པོ།

srin po:

Damchoe Wangmo has posed a question on the facebook regarding whether Tibetan srin po is (semantically) equal to English “cannibal.” In English a cannibal is said to be “a person who eats the flesh of other human beings” (i.e. anthropophagite) or “an animal that feeds on flesh of its own species.” In Tibetan srin po appears to be often understood to be a demon who feeds on human flesh and blood. Names of some predators, parasites (e.g. arthopods), or some microorganisms in Tibetan contain the component srin. Carnivorous animals such as tigers and scavengers have obviously nothing to do srin. In short, there is a small commonality between cannibal and srin (po) but the two are not semantically coextensive.

1. chu srin

2. sdig srin

3. ’bu srin

4. srin ’bu/bu = dar gyi srin bu (e.g. gloworm, silkworm, etc.), cf. srin dar/bal “silk”

5. gshang srin

6. srin bya “owl” (lit. “demon-bird”)

7. shing srin

8. lha ma srin “neither-god-nor-demon”

9. lha srin

10. ’dre srin

11. srin po/mo

12. khong srin

13. khrag srin

14. rgyu srin

15. mngal srin

16. snying srin

17. bdud srin
18. klad srin 

19. khong srin
20. srin bu pad pa “leech”
21. srin skud “silk thread”
22. srin nad
23. phyi srin (e.g. lice)

24. nang srin

25. bad srin

26. mkhris srin

27. so srin

28. mig srin

29. pags srin

30. rlung srin

Why is ring-finger called srin lag?