Re: Does every language family contain one with "ma-" "da-" "ta-" words for parents?

Benct Philip Jonsson wrote:
<<
Yes, that's what the famous Russian linguist
Roman Jakobson thought.  In a paper named,
IIRC, "Why mama and papa" he pointed out that
babies' first articulations are like [m6m6m6],
then comes [p6p6p6], then [n6n6n6], then
[d6d6d6].
 >>

Well, since you brought him up, I've got to share my Jakobson
story.

Whether he was an attendance, or whether it's legend, I can't
say.  But John Ohala (Berkeley phonetician) tells a story of Roman
Jakobson giving a talk at a conference about just this issue.  He
said that because the first articulators the baby can manipulate
are the lips, which they can open and close, the first sound they
will pronounce is [p].  And since they can do voicing at an early
age, but it takes awhile to be able to control the tongue, the first
vowel will be an open low vowel, something like [A].  And since
a CV template is easier to pronounce than a VC or CVC template,
the first sound the a child will produce is [pA].

At this point, a gentleman stood up and said, "I just had a baby,
a few years ago, and his first word was 'cheek'."

Jakobson: "Are you sure that the first sound in the word was [tS],
and that your baby pronounced no other sound before this one?"

Man: "Yes."

Jakobson: "Are you sure that the vowel pronounced was [i], and
there was no other vowel that your baby pronounced?"

Man: "Yes."

Jakobson: "And finally, are you sure that the coda was [k], and
that your baby produced no other coda?"

Man: "Yes."

Jakobson: "Ah.  Phonetically, [tSik]; phonologically, /pA/."

:)

-David
*******************************************************************
"A male love inevivi i'ala'i oku i ue pokulu'ume o heki a."
"No eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn."

-Jim Morrison

http://dedalvs.free.fr/

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