--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Patrick Ryan" <proto-
language@...> wrote:
>
> > A nice theory, but in Georgia (Caucasus, not US) the father is
called
> > <mama> and the mother <deda> -- without any parental role
switching,
> > as far as I know.
> >
> > Piotr
>
> ***
> Patrick:
>
> I was aware of that and find it fascinating.
>
> I am sure that this terminological turnaround has a very
interesting cause
> but I have no idea how to find out what it is.
>
> The odds against an _unmotivated_ phonological transversal are
awfully high
> but not zero.
>
I think it probable, though, that primal sounds uttered from babies
have affected the words for parents and wetnurses, since
the words for these persons contain /ma/ /ba/ /pa/ in (almost?) all
languages independantly of our being able to determine if they are
descendant from a common protolanguage or not.
The distribution of ma ba pa da ta to the persons around the baby
varies.
My bet is that the most primal consonant-vowel contrast (labial + a)
would be given the mother/feeder/breast, if we bother to make a
statistical survey of this in the languages of the world. Next the
phonetically more sophistical da ta would be given to the bearded
one who starts to take an interest in his offspring at this stage.
(I will refrain, though, from claiming the following theory:
the less bearded or beardless smaller members of the household start
to mutually communicate with the baby at the even more sophisticated
stage when it is mastering aspirated stops combined with tremulants:
bhrrr...)
Lars