Yet in the terms themselves there is, generally, nothing which
indicates that they imply an idea of consanguinity. Professor Buschmann
has given us a very interesting list of the names for father and
mother in many different languages.[444] The similarity of the terms
is striking. “Pa,” “papa,” or “baba,” for instance, means father in
several languages of the Old and New World, and “ma,” “mama,” means
mother. The Tupis in Brazil have “paia” for father, and “maia” for
mother;[445] the Uaraguaçú, respectively, “paptko” and “mamko.”[446]
In other languages the terms for father are “ab,” “aba,” “apa,”
“ada,” “ata,” “tata”; those for mother, “ama,” “emä,” “ana,”
“ena,” &c. According to Buschmann, there are four typical forms of
words for each of these ideas: for father, “pa,” “ta,” “ap,” “at”;
for mother, “ma,” “na,” “am,” “an.” Sometimes, however, the meaning
of the types is reversed. Thus, in Georgian,[447] as well as in the
Mahaga language of Ysabel,[448] “mama” stands for father; whilst the
Tuluvas in Southern India call the father “amme,” and the mother
“appe.”[449]
The terms used often fall outside of the types mentioned. In the Lifu
tongue, for example, one term for father is “kaka;”[450] in the Duauru
language of Baladea, “chicha”;[451] in the Maréan tongue, “chacha”
or “cheche.”[452] Again, among the Chalcha Mongols and some related
peoples, mother is “ekè.”[453] In the Kanúri language, of Central
Africa, the mother is called “ya”;[454] while the Kechua in Brazil
call the father “yaya.”[455] Among the Bakongo, as I am informed by
Mr. Ingham, “se” means father; in Finnish, “isä.” Again, by the
Brazilian Bakaĭri, the mother is called “ise”;[456] and, by the people
of Aneiteum, New Hebrides, “risi.”[457]
Similar terms are often used for other relationships. The Greek,
“πάππος” signifies grandfather, and “μάμμα” grandmother. In the
Kanúri language, “yaya” stands for elder brother;[458] and, in
Lifuan, “mama” and “dhina” are terms for brother, whilst mother is
“thine.”[459]
The origin of such terms is obvious. They are formed from the easiest
sounds a child can produce. “‘Pa-pa,’ ‘ma-ma,‘ 'tata,’ and
‘apa,’ ‘ama,’ ‘ata,’” Professor Preyer says, “emerge originally
spontaneously, the way of the breath being barred at the expiration,
either by the lips (_p_, _m_), or by the tongue (_d_, _t_).”[460]
Yet the different races vary considerably with regard to the ease
with which they produce certain sounds. Thus the pronunciation of the
labials is very difficult to many Indians,[461] on account of which
their terms for father, mother, or other near kinsfolk, often differ
much from the types given by Professor Buschmann.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account