John Cowan wrote:
>
> "Grandsire, C.A." wrote:
>
> > Yet it's true
> > that "ma" is a very spreaded way of kindly meaning "mother", even in
> > unrelated languages. Where does it come from? Areal influence?
>
> No, areola influence!
>
Ha ha ha! good pun :) !
> (The best guess is that /m/ is related to suckling.)
--
Christophe Grandsire
Philips Research Laboratories -- Building WB 145
Prof. Holstlaan 4
5656 AA Eindhoven
The Netherlands
Phone: +31-40-27-45006
E-mail: grandsir@natlab.research.philips.com