Re: Odp: Re:the role of the mother

From: Piotr Gasiorowski
Message: 832
Date: 2000-01-10

 
----- Original Message -----
From: smith
To: cybalist@egroups.com
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2000 3:47 PM
Subject: [cybalist] Re: Re:the role of the mother

Children learn to speak their "mother tongues" because their parents spend
hours talking and listening to them. The parents correct any mistakes that
the child makes instantly "say I not me dear" or "butter not buuer". There's
a lot of cultural back up as well, playgroups, schools and so on sing
nursery rhymes, tell folk tales etc

helen
The expression mother tongue is reflects the commonsense awareness that every language is passed on from generation to generation. It may also reflect the observation that the mother usually spends more time with the kids and talks to them more often than the father (at least in most traditional societies).
 
Curiously, the Polish equivalent is język ojczysty, where ojczysty translates Latin patrius. However, it is derived from ojciec 'father' indirectly, via ojczyzna 'homeland' (literally 'fatherland').
 
Piotr