A Celebration of ‘Mother’ – The Word Connecting Cultures Across the Globe
We all love and cherish our mothers in our own, special way. Each bond is unique and personal, and yet motherly love is a feeling that resonates across the world. This year, to celebrate Mother’s Day, we asked the experts at language learning app Babbel (www.babbel.com) to delve into the concept of ‘mum’ or ‘mother’ and explain how the world is used across the globe, and how it first came to be.
From ‘Um’ to ‘Amma’
When comparing the languages spoken in far apart countries, like Wales and Egypt, or France and China, most would assume that the spoken word sees little overlap. Whilst this is largely true, one anomaly is the word ‘mother’, which is typically identifiable in almost any language, be it Arabic, French, Spanish or Telugu! Just take a look at a small snapshot below:
- ‘Um – Arabic
- Maman – French
- Maa – Hindi
- Mamma – Italian
- Eomma – Korean
- Mama – Mandarin
- Amá – Navajo
- Mamay – Quechua
- Madre – Spanish
- Mama – Swahili
- Amma – Telugu
- Mam – Welsh
Why is this? There are a few different theories about why these words for ‘mother’ all sound the same, despite coming from wildly different languages, culture and countries. Here are two of the most fascinating ones:
The word ‘mother’ is almost as old as language itself
Some believe that ‘mother’ is one of the 23 words considered to be the world’s oldest. This classifies ‘mother’ as an ultraconserved word – a term linguists use to explain that a word has remained unchanged for 15,000 years!
Fascinatingly, such words are thought to have originated from a mother tongue used during the ice age, which led to the creation of the seven language families. These language families went on to create the 700 modern languages used by more than half of earth’s population today. Talk about setting a precedent!
Some believe it reflects a sound, and sound is universal
Another theory is that as a baby develops and learns, it murmurs to communicate hunger. This means that the words like ‘mum’ or ‘mama’ are accessible to babies when they are still very young to help them communicate their main needs. So, to babies, ‘mama’ doesn’t literally mean ‘mother’. If anything, ‘mama’ is more directly translated from baby-talk to mean ‘food’. That doesn’t devalue the term, though! The sound has evolved from our tiny, baby cries for hunger to describe the beloved woman that ensured that we were fed and loved: our ‘mama’.
So, what can we learn from all this?
Regardless of the true evolution of the word ‘mother’, the term speaks to a baby’s first relationship with the outside world – the relationship it has with its mother. It has also evolved from the very first languages that were spoken and its sound and meaning has deviated very little, showing the importance of the word and, as such, the person and the relationship!
Now that you know just how fundamental the world ‘mother’ is, it’s time to make this Mother’s Day extra special and celebrate the woman who inspired one of your very first words!
