--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Wordingham" <richard@...>
wrote:
> My point was why /d/? My idea was that something like /dada/ might be
> an acceptable approximation to _fæder_, whereas /tata/ has nothing
> going for it.
The earliest examples of <dad(de> and <daddy(e> come from ca. 1500. In
the 15th c. the formal word for 'father' had the approximate
pronunciation ["fad&r] (still with /d/), and of course something like
[dad&] might easily be a nursery version of that. Another early word
for 'dad' is <bab(a> (1598, or even 1426, but the meaning of that
occurrence is uncertain). <papa> seems to be a late word (1681,
according to the OED), with evident Romance connections. ME pap(pe
'nipple, teat' is a loan (ultimately <-- Lat. papilla) rather than an
English nursery term.
Piotr