Talk:doula

Etymology

I am surprised to read "Borrowed from Greek δούλα (doúla, “servant-woman”)" In modern Greek "δούλα" means female slave which was also the meaning in classic ancient Greek. Possibly in 1940s it meant "female servant", as suggested by the English and Greek wiktionary entries to the Greek word https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B4%CE%BF%CF%8D%CE%BB%CE%B1#Greek https://el.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B4%CE%BF%CF%8D%CE%BB%CE%B1 So perhaps you want to imply that when it was borrowed from Greek, it had the meaning of servant woman?

I think the etymology is important because based on my Greek bias, I find the term offensive for the trained support person. Alexander.mitsos (talk) 14:18, 22 January 2023 (UTC)

Ping @Sarri.greek, Saltmarsh. Jberkel 16:24, 19 December 2023 (UTC)

@Alexander.mitsos:, I have no idea how it ended up in English in the 1970s (already dated, and obsolete in sense 'servant' in Greece, where it might be used in some villages; elsehwere, used in literature). Probably, the English are not aware of the greek sense. ‑‑Sarri.greek ^♫ I 16:44, 19 December 2023 (UTC)