Re: Common words for man & husband, woman & wife
| From: | R A Brown <ray@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Sunday, May 7, 2006, 5:47 |
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Philip Newton wrote:
> On 5/6/06, Yahya Abdal-Aziz <yahya@...> wrote:
>
>> And BritE "Mum", as well as, AFAIK, USE "Mom", also
>> derive from "Ma'am".
>
>
> I'd be surprised if this were the case.
I am absolutely certain that this is not the case!
I would imagine this is simply
> "standard" baby-talk: bilabial consonant + open(ish) vowel.
>
>> But where did "Dad" come from?
From the same source as Welsh & Breton 'Tad' (Cornish is 'tas' or 'taz'
according to your preferred spelling convention).
Also BritE is not universally 'Mum'; 'Mam' is used in some parts of Britain.
In Welsh, Breton & Cornish, 'mam' is not just a hypocorism for one's
mother; they are the standard word for "mother". Likewise the standard
word for "father' is 'Tad' (Tas/Taz).
These words are derived from Romano-British 'mamma' and 'tata' both of
which pre-date the Norman French 'madame' by several centuries.
--
Ray
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"A mind which thinks at its own expense will always
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