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Baby's First Word Filled Stone Age Papa With Pride
The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 7-22-2004 | David Derbyshire

Posted on 07/21/2004 6:31:50 PM PDT by blam

Baby's first word filled Stone Age Papa with pride

By David Derbyshire, Science Correspondent
(Filed: 22/07/2004)

One of the first words to be uttered by Stone Age babies was probably "papa", according to scientists trying to piece together the origins of human language.

Researchers believe the word may have been passed down through the generations from a "proto-language" spoken 50,000 years ago.

However, other linguists have argued that "papa", "dada" and "mama" are common in many languages simply because they are the first noises made by babbling babies.

A new French study has found that the word "papa" is used in almost 700 out of 1,000 languages - and in 71 per cent of cases it means father or a male relative on the father's side.

"There is only one explanation for the consistent meaning of the word 'papa': a common ancestry," said Dr Pierre Bancel, from the Association for the Study of Linguistics and Prehistoric Anthropology in Paris.

He presented the findings at the Origins of Language and Psychosis conference in Oxford this month, New Scientist reported yesterday.

Linguists are divided over the origins of languages and the roots of family words. Some claim they stem from a common language spoken 50,000 years ago or more. Others say the idea of a single "proto-language" is nonsense and that different languages have sprung up independently.

Across the 14 major language groups, the words for mother and father are similar. In Swahili and Mandarin they are mama and baba, in Malay they are emak and bapa, in Apalai - spoken in the Amazon - they are aya and papa, while in Bengali they are ma and baba.

Supporters of the common origins believe these words are proof of a common ancestry. But others say the first noises babbled by babies tend to be ma-ma-ma followed by da-da-da or pa-pa-pa, because of the way the human brain is programmed.

Dr Don Ringe, a linguist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, said parents associate the first sound babies make with themselves. That could lead to a word like "papa" acquiring a similar meaning in many languages.

Some words of similar sound and meaning, such as the English "day" and the Spanish "dia" are known to have arisen independently.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: age; aurignacian; babys; chatelperronian; cromagnon; epigraphyandlanguage; filled; ggg; godsgravesglyphs; mousterian; multiregionalism; neandertal; neandertals; neanderthal; neanderthals; papa; pride; stone; uluzzian; word
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To: tophat9000
... then the meaning would tend to random Good point. You're very astute.
21 posted on 07/22/2004 10:06:15 AM PDT by Marie (I'm your huckleberry...)
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To: SunkenCiv

Thanks for all the pings! For the last two weeks, it's been like Christmas!


22 posted on 07/22/2004 10:09:13 AM PDT by Marie (I'm your huckleberry...)
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To: blam

In North Carolina it's "Diddy".


23 posted on 07/22/2004 10:09:41 AM PDT by Hatteras
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To: Marie
Well, I have been trying to lose weight, but... ;')
24 posted on 07/22/2004 10:17:04 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Unlike some people, I have a profile. Okay, maybe it's a little large...)
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To: Ciexyz
"Ema" is mother in Hebrew, "aba" is father.

In Klingon, mother is "SoS" and father is "vav".

A particularly rude insult in Klingon is "Hab SoSlI' Quch" which means "Your mother has a smooth forehead"

25 posted on 07/22/2004 12:41:26 PM PDT by ElkGroveDan (If you can read this, thank a teacher....and since it's in English, thank a soldier)
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To: tophat9000
the meaning would tend to random

...unless there were some other constant involved, such as the sounds a baby makes when nursing; i.e "mama" or similar. That would tend to create a bias towards mama being assigned to the mother, leaving "papa" or "dada" to be assigned to the father.

26 posted on 07/22/2004 12:45:37 PM PDT by ElkGroveDan (If you can read this, thank a teacher....and since it's in English, thank a soldier)
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To: SunkenCiv

Verry punny... heh heh heh!


27 posted on 07/22/2004 1:12:09 PM PDT by Marie (I'm your huckleberry...)
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To: Redcloak
In Sindarin, they are Nana and Ada respectively.

What about in Quenya?

28 posted on 07/22/2004 1:15:08 PM PDT by JenB (Colorado or Bust: 7 Days)
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To: JenB
What about in Quenya?

Nana and Atto.

29 posted on 07/22/2004 1:49:34 PM PDT by Redcloak (This tagline closed for remodeling. We apologize for any inconvenience.)
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To: ElkGroveDan
unless there were some other constant involved, such as the sounds a baby makes when nursing; i.e "mama" or similar. That would tend to create a bias towards mama being assigned to the mother, leaving "papa" or "dada" to be assigned to the father.

Hmmm, I could see that... Interesting variable to consider

30 posted on 07/22/2004 5:43:39 PM PDT by tophat9000
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To: blam

in Vietnamese mom is me- pronouncet like "mat" without the "t". Dad is "ba."


31 posted on 07/22/2004 7:30:55 PM PDT by ThanhPhero (Ong la nguoi di hanh huong den La Vang)
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To: tophat9000

Ma or ma-ma for mother is simply the first sound a baby tends to make and the first association is the mother's breast, thus the word "mammary" in English and Mama.


32 posted on 07/22/2004 7:32:54 PM PDT by ThanhPhero (Ong la nguoi di hanh huong den La Vang)
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To: tophat9000
I.E. Papa and Dada would be found to mean Mother as often as Father and conversely Mama would be found be Father as often as Papa and Dada

Perhaps not. Ma is the probable sound when baby is nuzzling at the breast.

33 posted on 07/22/2004 7:34:53 PM PDT by ThanhPhero (Ong la nguoi di hanh huong den La Vang)
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To: tophat9000

If the first babbling is ma-ma-ma that would bias it towards the mother, because Daddy is rather unlikely to be suckling the child.


34 posted on 07/22/2004 7:36:27 PM PDT by The Red Zone
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To: ElkGroveDan
In Klingon, mother is "SoS"

So Klingon babes learn to spit real early?

35 posted on 07/22/2004 7:38:29 PM PDT by The Red Zone
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To: ThanhPhero
My daughter's first word was Da da. It is in her baby book.

I am sure I read somewhere that da da is the most common first word.

36 posted on 07/22/2004 7:42:28 PM PDT by yarddog
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To: Abcdefg
Were the Frenchmen cunning linguists?

It depends upon what kind of animal is available...

37 posted on 07/22/2004 7:47:48 PM PDT by solitas (I just want to hear three words from kerry: "Oh, my heart!")
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To: U S Army EOD
Texas A&M builds one of these every year.
• And, every once in a while, quite badly.
38 posted on 07/22/2004 7:49:42 PM PDT by solitas (I just want to hear three words from kerry: "Oh, my heart!")
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To: Abcdefg

"Were the Frenchmen cunning linguists?"

Don't know but the difference between French women and Asian women is:

Asian women are cunning runts!


39 posted on 07/22/2004 7:54:19 PM PDT by TRY ONE (NUKE the unborn gay whales!)
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To: ThanhPhero
Perhaps not. Ma is the probable sound when baby is nuzzling at the breast.

Babies aren't the only ones...

40 posted on 07/22/2004 7:54:58 PM PDT by Ichneumon ("...she might as well have been a space alien." - Bill Clinton, on Hillary, "My Life", p. 182)
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