| From: | Clinton Moreland-Stringham <arachnis@...> |
|---|---|
| Date: | Friday, December 3, 1999, 22:21 |
I've heard that "ma" comes from the fact that those are the first two phonemes
that a child masters.
Clint
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!
>
> (The best guess is that /m/ is related to suckling.)
>
> --