R. JAKOBSON REVISITED OR WHY MAMA AND...MAMA? Текст научной статьи по специальности «Языкознание и литературоведение»

ФИЛОЛОГИЯ И КУЛЬТУРА. PHILOLOGY AND CULTURE. 2021. №1(63)

DOI: 10.26907/2074-0239-2021-63-1-34-45 УДК 811

ЧАСТО ЦИТИРУЕМАЯ РАБОТА Р. ЯКОБСОНА ИЛИ ПОЧЕМУ МАМА

И ... МАМА?

© Анатолий Зельдин

R. JAKOBSON REVISITED OR WHY MAMA AND...MAMA?

Anatoly Zeldin

A closer look at the often cited Roman Jakobson's work "Why Mama and Papa?" reveals that the concept of 'mama' does not always refer to Motherhood. The paper focuses on some aspects related to the derivation of the basic maternal term and describes how it developed into 'father'/'dad'/'person', etc. social labels, which are a prevalent (although not an exclusive) part of the inchoative verbal development of baby speech. The lexemes, comprising similar semantics and phonological contours, were taken from 1000 languages from around the world and this phenomenon is studied globally and cross-linguistically. Among the parental terms, "mama" lexemes meaning "dad", "father", "husband", "male", "man", "person", and "human being'" (due to semantic shifts), manifest less of a worldwide tendency for cross-linguistic distribution than "mama" "mam" and "mother"; nevertheless, they are widely represented in lexicon on the global language map. The noted lexico-semantic universals of family terms' domains may serve as useful tools for semantic shifts' study in lexical-semantic typology. We argue that the mentioned greatly overlooked tendency bears world-wide significance, deeply rooted in human psychology, and influences the semantic development of an individual speaker and a language community. Thus, we assume that certain language paradigms are naturally determined.

Keywords: nursery words, development of baby speech, semantics and phonological contours, cross-linguistic, world-wide significance.

Внимательное прочтение часто цитируемой работы Романа Якобсона «Почему мама и папа?» показывает, что концепт «мама» не всегда относится к материнству. В статье рассматриваются некоторые аспекты, связанные с происхождением основного термина, относящегося к материнству, и описывается, как он превратился в «отца» / «папу» / «человека» и т. д., в социальные ярлыки, которые являются преобладающей (хотя и не исключительной) частью начального вербального развития детской речи. Лексемы, содержащие схожую семантику и фонологические контуры, были взяты из 1000 языков со всего мира и изучались с точки зрения глобального и кросс-культурного подхода. Среди терминов, обозначающих родителей, лексема mama в значении «папа», «отец», «муж», «мужчина», «мужчина», «человек» и «человеческое существо» (семантический сдвиг) в меньшей степени отражает общемировую кросс-лингвистическую тенденцию, чем mama в значении «мама» и «мать». Тем не менее, они широко представлены в лексике языковой карты мира. Отмеченные лексико-семантические универсалии доменов семейных терминов могут служить полезным инструментом для изучения семантических сдвигов в лексико-семантической типологии. Мы утверждаем, что упомянутая и в значительной степени игнорируемая тенденция имеет общемировое значение с глубокими корнями в психологии человека и влияет на семантическое развитие как отдельного говорящего, так и языкового сообщества. Таким образом, мы предполагаем, что некоторые лингвистические парадигмы природообусловлены.

Ключевые слова: термин материнства, развитие детской речи, семантический и фонологический контур, кросс-лингвистический, общемировой.

INTRODUCTION

Most scholars maintain that human language emerged somewhere 150-200,000 years ago [Bickerton, 1995], [Chomsky, 2002], [Fitch, 2010], [Hurford, 2011]. The diachronic depth, at which the comparative-historic method has been applicable, is no more than 10,000 years old; however, many ex-

perts in the field are more conservative, setting the limits of the comparative-historical depth at 5-7000 years before the present time. In other words, from 90% to 95% of the language evolution timescale is "a total mystery" (as Chomsky put it). The few attempts of proto-human etymologies [Bengston, 2010], [Bengston & Ruhlen, 1994] were met with

profound scepticism by mainstream researchers, because these results were neither confirmable nor refutable.

The search for the phonetic contours of certain primordial roots, which belong to the so-called "ultraconserved words" [Pagel et al., 2013], seems justified with respect to research into the origins of speech.

In this light, it is important to cite three premises: 1.The rate of word retention in vocabulary is in inverse proportion to its use in everyday speech [Pagel et al., 2007]; 2. The Gekkel principle is partly applicable to the emergence of language [Bickerton, 1995], [Jakobson & Halle, 1956], [Locke, 1994], [Szemerenyi, 1960], i.e. language evolution can be exhibited by the baby speech development - from babbling to a full-scale speech production; 3. Language evolution is conditioned, among other things, by the vocal tract anatomy and the cognitive abilities of a child who learns its native language from its environment.

Thus, it is reasonable to assume that certain language paradigms are naturally determined.

1. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH GEORGIAN?

Even within the most conservative layers of the human lexicon, parenting terms fulfill a special position. This position went as far as denying to mom and dad what would seem to be their intuitively privileged position in human mind. To wit: they are not included in Swadesh 100-word list. Although statistically mama and quite often papa or dad are usually found among the first ten words learned and used by babies [Tardif et al., 2008].

A classic theory of language origins [Jespersen, 1922] says it is quite plausible that mama/papa represent the natural sounds of human vocalism, like meaw or cockle-do.

The title of the paper is actually a paraphrase of the well-known work "Why 'Mama' and 'Papa'?" by R. Jakobson, which delves into the phenomenon of similar phonological contours within the confines of parenting terms in genetically unrelated languages [Jakobson, 1960]. Many researches were devoted to mama in baby talk, whereas papa (to pay homage to fathers as well!) was believed to be the first word in the primordial tongue of humanity, so called Proto-Human or Proto-Sapiens [de l'Etang & Bancel, 2005]. The raison d'etre of the present paper is to pinpoint another common regularity of such kind.

"Sometimes some quite specific correspondences have been noted, such as the tendency for languages to express 'mother' with a nasal, and 'father' with an oral front consonant..." [Crystal, 1991, p. 175]. The mentioned 'tendency' is global: J. Mur-

dock collected 1072 parenting terms (531 designates of 'mother' and 541 of 'father') to justify his thesis of the 'alleged tendency [italics are mine - A. Z.] of unrelated languages to develop similar words for father and mother on the basis of nursery forms' [Jakobson, 1960, p. 124].

In an earlier work, we discussed the psychological and physiological processes that gave rise to the vocal pattern mama and how it was secured in lexicon [Zeldin, 2018]. In the past, a number of researchers noted "a mystical belief in the weak m "suited to name a woman"..." [Jakobson, 1960, p. 130]. Additionally, an even more bizarre 'théorie du 'miam-miam'' was put forward, stating "on a constaté que tout autant que la A, le M avait de droit pour être considéré comme le son mere" [Quillier, 1996, p. 215]. Here we can cite also Jewish and Christian mystics who discussed the inherent quality of the /m/-phoneme to symbolize mother/woman [Ginzburgh, 1992], [Suarèz, 1992]. Still, "the pattern is not universal. In Georgian, mama means 'father' and in a number of South Asian languages (e.g. Tamil, Telugu), mama means 'mother's brother'" [Crystal, 1991, p. 175]. Or "... English has mama, French maman, German mama, Italian mamma, Swahili mama, and Chinese mah. But the sounds are not always given the same meaning by adults. In Georgian. mama perversely [sic! - A. Z.] stands for father, and dada [deda - A. Z.] for mother" [Wilkinson, 1971, p. 54].

It is appropriate to focus on another scolarly discussion regarding 'mother': "The initial syllable ma enters the Proto-Indo-European word for 'mother', which has given English mother, Spanish madre, Russian mat', Sanskrit mata. In Mandarin Chinese, the equivalent word is ma, while in Wigaw (Harui) (Papua New Guinea) it is mam... Presumably, the frequency of the syllable ma in the 'mother' word across languages simply reflects the fact that this is typically one of the first syllables that babies articulate clearly; therefore, it is interpreted by adults as the word for 'mother'. (In the South Caucasian language, Georgian, mama means 'father' - and 'mother' is deda - so there are other ways of interpreting the baby's first utterance)" [Comrie, 1987, pp. 8-9].

Needless to say, that the scholars, cited herein, called attention to the Georgian glosses due to the fact that they contradict the world-wide tendency to express parenting terms as syllables with the nasal m/n for 'mama' and with the stops for 'papa' (both groups are labial or coronal). However, if we view the lexicon of parenting terms cross-linguistically, we discover that the Georgian mama 'father' is not unique at all (the Georgian deda 'mother' will be considered later).

Austroasiatic: Pacoh a-ám 'father' (cf. ai 'mother'), Ong am 'father' (oy 'mother'), Ir um 'father' (oy 'mother'), Ta'Oih am'father'(ay 'mother'), Ngeq (Kriang) um, uam 'father' (ay, uy 'mother'), Car ma-ma 'daddy!' ('child's cry', cf. po-po 'mam-my'),Remo (Bonda) mamu, mamuG 'uncle', Gutob (Gadsaba) mama 'father-in-law (mother's brother, husband of father's sister)', Sora mamaG 'maternal uncle';

Austronesian: Amis mama 'father', Hoanya mau-o, mauwa, amau, ma'o, mau, mama id., Rukai mama id., Tsou amó id., Thao ?á:ma? id., Yami ama, ama? id., Cham amo id., Cebuano amáy id., Mansaka ama id., Ivatan ama id., Kalinga ama id.,Tboli ma id., Maranao amaq id., Muna ama id., Komodo mamo id., Alor mama id., Rongga ma id., Tetun ama id., Talur aman id., Luang ama id., Dai amon id., Imroing ume id., Waropen imai id., Motlav imam id.;

Penutian: Wasco-Wishram áma-ma 'father!' (voc.), Siuslaw mataa 'father', Takelma ma- id. (possessive form)';

Salishan: Bella Coola man 'father', Clallam man 'father', Saanich men id.;

Hokan: North Pomo a-mee 'father', Central Pomo me-de id.;

Kiowa-Tanoan: South Tiwa meme 'uncle', North Tiwa (Taos) mi-mí-na id.;

Uto-Aztecan: Tübatulabal ana• 'father';

Oto-Manguean: Mazatec Jalapa de Diaz na'mi 'father';

Mayan:East Q'anjob'al mam 'father', North Mam mamb'aj 'papá', Mam Todos Santos Chuchumatán man 'father';

Tucanoan: Guanano maí '¡papá!' (voc.);

Carib: Chaima amo 'your father', umo 'my father', yaman 'father', Apalai 'avó';

Arawakan: Yanesha moy 'papa', Chamicuro ma'kona 'papa', 'sacha-papa';

Witotoan: Ocaina moon 'tu papá', Huitoto Minica moo 'padre', '¡padre!';

Panoan: Matís ma'ma 'father';

Arauan: Dení ime'i 'pai';

Tupi: Xetá mai 'pai', Apaká oñma 'father';

Nambiquaran: Latunde mi 'father';

Seri (isolate) am 'her father';

Waorani (isolate) moempo 'papá';

Tsimane (Moseten) (isolate) mama 'father';

Yamana (Yagan) (isolate)ymú 'padre';

Pume (unclassified) amai 'father';

Andamanese:Aka-Kede ma 'father', Aka-Kora amaye id., Aka-Jeru -amai id., Jarawa mvma:t_t_£, -mo, ume 'father';

Australian: Banjalang ma:may 'father', Dyirbal yuma id., Ngarluma mama 'father', son of a son's son, Panytyima mama 'father', Nyungara mam 'fa-

ther','man', Ngaanyatjarra mama 'father', Pintupi-Luritja mama 'father', 'father's brother', Putijarra mama 'father', 'father's brother', Nhanda ama 'father';

Trans New Guinean: Baruya maanai 'father', Aeka mama id., Binandere mamo id., Ewage-Notu mama, mamo id., Orokaiva mamana, mama id., Suena mama id., Guhu-Samane mai id., Gobasi mam id., Mape mam-, mama id., Migabac mamac id., Kube maygi id., Tobo mam- id., Gende nomoa 'father', Siane me- id., Bau mem id., Mosimo mama id., Mirupi mam-, mama- id., Nake mama id., Rempi mam- id., Dimir may id., Bargam amam'father', Daga maman! 'father!', Kanasi mama 'father', Koiali mama id.,

Central Solomons: Savosavo mao, mau 'father', Bilua mama 'father';

East Bird' Head - Sentani: Demta (Sowari) mami 'father', Tabla memai, mamai id.;

East Geelvink Bay: Demisa amca 'father';

East New Britain: Quaqet mam, mamak, mamok 'father', Taulil mama, mamu id.;

Kaure: Kaure migye (dial.) 'father';

Pauwasi: Karkar-Yuri mom narbal, mam narbal 'father';

Ramu - Lower Sepik: Angoram amam, ano, apa 'father', Rao mama 'brother-in-law';

Sepik: Bahinemo mahuwa 'father';

South Bougainville: Siwai (bu)mo, umoka, umka 'father', Terei mo:ka, mo-kanu, mo-umo id., Koromira uma id., Naasioi ma, mma id.;

South-Central Papuan: Tabo mani 'father', Maklew yima id.;

Torricelli: Urim mamiin 'grandfather';

West Papuan: Galela ama (dial.) 'father', Loloda ama, ama id., Tobelo ama id., Kalabra

-eman- id., Moi -mam-, mom, mum id., Moraid nema id.;

Yele - West New Britain: Yele M: aa 'daddy', 'my father', Pele-Ata mami- 'father';

Abun (isolate) nyam 'uncle';

Kuot (isolate) mamo 'father';

Taiap (isolate) omo 'father'.

2. MAMA 'FATHER' IN A BROADER SENSE

Before considering these phenomena, it is worth taking a closer look at the Georgian (or Kartvelian) forms, which are frequently cited as spurious and regarded as statistical deviations.

"C(ommon)K(artvelian) *mama- 'father': Georg. mama- 'father'; Megr. muma-...; Laz [muma-]; Svan mu. ... The word belongs to the nursery lexicon. [Klimov, 1998, p. 114]. Furthermore: "G(eorgian) Z(an) *nana- 'mummy': Georg. nana- 'lullaby; Megr. nana- 'mummy'; Laz nana-'mother'" [Ibid., p. 137]. Later on we shall reex-

amine the Georgian (and Kartvelian) parenting lexicon, but first the answer to the question posed in the title should be provided. To put it differently, why and how 'mama', 'mother' (sometimes 'grandmother', 'aunt', '(elder) sister'), which is common on all continents and might even be called 'the vocabulary universal', gets another, and, in certain respects, the opposite meaning, i.e. 'dad', 'father'? Roman Jakobson studied how the dichotomy of meanings reflects the phonetic dichotomy (that is to say, the different places of articulation), and the results are noted in the statistics of parenting terms ("The first consonantal opposition is that of nasal and oral stop (e.g., mama-papa), which is followed by the opposition of labials and dentals (e.g., papa-tata and mama-nana). These two oppositions form the minimal consonant system of the languages in the world. These are the only oppositions that cannot be lacking everywhere" [Jakobson, 1968, p. 48]), thus, we can follow this phenomenon globally and cross-linguistically. Jakobson did not consider mama 'dad', 'father' at all. These lexemes did not escape the scholars' attention; however, surprisingly, they failed to attract great interest. Evidently, mama 'dad' was considered as a lexical unit existing within the limits of a statistical error. Still, mama 'dad' cross-linguistically occurs rather frequently, although by far, it is outnumbered by mama 'mam'. We may go as far as to posit that in a matrilinean society fathers are in charge of child-caring. It may seem extraordinary, however, that in Western Samoa "the primary care-givers may not be the parents at all" [Crystal, 1991, p. 235]. It should be noted that mama in the Samoan language, which belongs to the Austrone-sian family (Malayo-Polynesian branch, Oceanic sub-branch), stands for 'father'. The sound-gesture mama!, employed to signal the moment when a baby's physiological need arises, may easily go beyond the limits of the semantic domain mother and be directed towards her father or another close family member [Greenfild & Smith, 1976, pp. 91-92]. The nearest socium member may adopt 'mama' and semantically misinterpret it. Eventually, this semantic shift is anchored verbally. "The transitional period when papa points to the parent present, while mama signals a request for the fulfillment of some need or for the absent fulfiller of childish needs, first and foremost but not necessarily for the mother, is thoroughly described by Grégoire: "Edm. A paru réclamer sa maman, absente ce jour-là, en disant mam: am:am; or, c'est papa qu'il émet, lorsqu'il la voit rentrer...Edm. me voit lui preparer une tartine; il énonce mama, et non papa". Likewise, Smoczynski's children in the middle of their second year, when begging for something from their father, addressed him: mama ma-ma ma:-ma:-ma"

[Jakobson, 1960, p. 131]. Obviously, social stratification is very unstable, particularly when compared with such a conservative, intricate and slow-changing system as human language. As a consequence, a more logical explanation is demanded - a psycholinguistic one. Below, we consider the layer of Austroasiatic lexems in its extended version (not being restricted by the 'dad'/'father' semantics).

Austroasiatic: Jehai mural 'human being', Semai mniil, mnww?, mnaal, mnil, mnsl 'father', mai 'people', Tampuan mail 'mother', 'leader', 'boss', Cua manih 'person', Rengao manUyh 'person', Sedang mange 'person', Pacoh a-am 'father' (cp. a-i 'mother'), Ong am 'father' (oy 'mother'), Ir um 'father' (oy 'mother'), Ta'oih am 'father'(ay 'mother'), Ngeq um, uam 'father' (ay, uy 'mother'), Car ma-ma 'daddy!' ('child's cry', cf. po-po 'mammy'), Palaung Shwe i-me 'man', 'husband', Lawa mo 'group of people', Darang i-mai 'man', 'husband', i-me id., Remo (Bonda) mamu, mamuG 'uncle', Gutob (Gadaba) mama 'father-in-law (mother's brother, husband of father's sister)', mamaG 'maternal uncle'.

It is easy to verify that the cited lexemes phonetically appear quite similar (cf.: Jehay mnra? 'human being' and Semai mnii? 'father'), so it seems reasonable to form the semantic domain 'man', 'people', 'male', 'husband', 'father'. This domain (as well as other domains) is not strictly delineated - cf. Semai mai 'people', Tampuan mai 'mother', 'leader', 'boss' (sic! - an anthropologist or an ethnographer can draw some intriguing conclusions!). Other language families may offer similar cases. First of all, the Kartvelian glosses come to mind, due to the fact that the Georgian parenting terms are so often cited as an exception to the rule. The aforementioned Kartvelian Etymologic Dictionary provides:

"C(ommon)K(artvelian) *mama 'father'.

G(eorgian)Z(an) *mama-l 'male': Georg. mamal- 'male', 'cock'; Megr. mumul-; Laz mumul-, mamul-...

G(eorgian)Z(an) *mama-m-til- 'father-in-law'" [Klimov, 1998, p. 114].

We may compare the cited Kartvelian etymologies to the lexemes related to the woman semantic domain.

"C[ommon] K[artvelian] *deda- 'mother': Georg. deda 'mother'; Megr. dida-; Laz. dida 'old woman, grandmother'; Svan di- 'mother'...It is an obvious nursery word widely documented in Old Georgian where it also meant 'woman'...

CK(?) *deda-l 'female': Georg. dedal- 'female, hen', Megr. dadul-; Laz. dadul-; Svan dadw, dedw(?)" [Ibid., p. 39].

"CK *da- 'sister'" [Ibid., p. 36].

We posit that mV-(-mV) 'mommy' and dV-(-dV) 'daddy' essentially did not interchange their social status and/or semantics in some mystical way, but rather these lexemes (deda 'mother'/mama 'father') are just the evolutionary outcome of Proto-Kartvelian glosses 'woman', 'female'/'man', 'male' (as well as the affiliated units within the same semantic field - like 'husband', 'male', 'human', 'person'). Quite plausibly, the Car (Austroasiatic family, Mon-Khmer branch) pair of parenting terms ma-ma 'daddy! '/po-po 'mammy!' evolved diachronically in a similar way.

As was noted above, the Proto-Kartvelian *nana- does not negate the overall picture of the worldwide distribution of the MAMA phonological contour, formed by the nasal consonants. The same could be argued about the Proto-Austronesian forms *ama 'father' [Blust, 1979, p. 206], *mamah 'mother's brother' [Blust, 1999, p. 362],*ina 'mother' [Blust, 1999, p. 361].

In an earlier paper, we have cited the instances of 163 languages related to 86 language fami-lies/macrofamilies or isolates, in which mama 'mother' root was expressed by the nasal consonants (/m/ or /n/ in 95,1% cases) [Zeldin, 2018]. The list of mama 'father' lexemes is less expansive, but sufficiently long anyway. This phenomenon is easy to explain - the parenting terms are very stable considering their ontogenic emergence in human speech. These glosses, as well as pronouns, seem to be the most conservative layers in the lexicon. They are rarely replaced by the affiliated lexemes within the scope of the same semantic domain (like 'father'^ 'male' ^ 'husband' or 'mother' ^ 'aunt' ^ 'grandmother'). To advance this conjecture, we composed a list of the genetically unrelated but pho-nologically similar forms with the semantics 'person', 'man', 'human being', 'male', 'husband'. The results are remarkably comparable in their size with the mama 'mother' list.

Indo-European: Sanskr. mánu-, mánus- 'man', Avest. manus, Proto-Germanic. *manna- , Old Church Slav.M,s^b.

Basque (isolate): maketo 'non-Basque', 'foreigner';

Afro-Asiatic: 'man', Ugaritic mutu 'man', Old Egyptian imy 'actor/doer prefix', Gadames iman 'man', Zenaga mm id., Hausa mutum id., Bole memu id., Baram nyam id., Oroma (Galla) nama id., Caffa anamo id.;

Mongolic: Dagur map, 'group of people';

Turkic: Chuvash ami 'friend', 'brother';

Tungusic: Nanai mana 'self;

Koreanic: mom 'body', 'self;

Japanese: mono 'man';

Yukaghir: South Yukagir (Kolyma Yukagir)

omni: 'people';

Dravidian: Kannada mandi, mande 'people', Tulu mandi, mandè id., Telugu mandi 'crowd', Kalami mandi 'men';

Burushaski (isolate): muuyar 'husband';

Kusunda (isolate): mandu, madau 'elder sister's husband', mom 'elder brother';

Kartvelian: see above;

Nakh-Daghestanian: Lezghi menseb 'provenance', 'clan';

Sino-Tibetan: Old Chinese S miën, mian 'people', Mandarin S min id., Ming S min2 , miy2 , msitfid., Sherpa mî 'man', 'people', Garo man-de, man-di 'person', 'human being', me-a, mi-a 'man','male', Boro mansi, Belhare ma?i 'person', manua 'human', Thulung mini 'person', mytsy 'human', 'man', Limbu mona, Bantawa muna 'people', Dhimal mi 'human classifier';

Hmong-Mien: Hmong Njua (Green Miao) moy 'Mong', 'Hmong', 'Miao', 'Meo', or Maeo (ethnic name);

Kra-Dai: Buyang ma°iy31 'person', Phu Thai muu3 'group', Lue (Tai Lu) muang 'nation';

Austronesian: Atayal: mama 'uncle', umas 'man', Siraya amama, ama 'man', 'male', Basai manaina 'male', Pazeh mamah 'elder brother', mamaleng, mamarun 'male', Saisiyat mae'y:aeh 'person', Puyuma mainaen 'man', 'male', Rukai umasa, umas 'person', omas 'people', Tsou mamameoi 'elder', 'old people'; mameoi 'old man', Bali muani 'male', 'man', Mualang mensia 'human', Wolio mia 'person', Wanukaka moni 'male', Kei mensia 'person', Alor ama 'man', Kabola ma'ms 'human being', Tetun mane 'male', Biak man 'male', Kurudu iman 'man', Kiribati mm'aane 'man', Kairiru mongan 'male', Manam moane 'man', Malango mane 'man';

Niger-Congo: Loko -mo 'person', Mende numu 'person', nu 'man', Bambara ma 'homme en général', 'homme de, gens de', mama 'humain', Avatime o-nyimé 'male', ô-nà 'man', Ewe âme 'person', Siya ànyimé id., Bangangte (Medumba) men 'man', 'person';

Nilo-Saharan: Kanuri âm'people', àmà 'fellows', Ik àm 'person', 'human', Moru managu, manuagu 'man', Logo m^ nd^à, mo_ndi 'person', Me'en ms?sn-it (pl. mslsn) 'people', self-name, Bodi melen id., Muguji umu 'husband', Mursi mai 'person', 'man', Tama ma 'homme', Merarit mo 'male', Dinka miony, muony 'man', Masai ol-Maâ 'traditional name of Maasai nation', Kadugli àmidi 'person', miids 'man', Katcha smidi 'person', miids 'man';

Hadza (isolate): lunu- 'person';

Sandawe (isolate): ylemese, 'person' (masc., sing.), y\emesu id. (fem., sing.), y\dmoso (pl.);

Khoe-Kwadi: lAni -ma masculine suffix;

Banggi Me (isolate): yamba 'people', yaame 'child';

Laal (isolate): muay 'people';

Chukotko-Kamchatkan: Alyutor nam 'man';

Eskimo-Aleut: Greenlandic Inuktitut nayminiq 'self, 'himself;

Wakashan: Nootka ma-, ma?as 'tribe', 'clan', malayil 'family';

Tsimshianic: Sm'algyax (Coast Tsimshian) mansm'ooygit 'leading chief;

Algic: North-East Cree moniyaw 'white person', Powhatan nimatew 'man',Cheyenne mahaeso 'old man', 'husband', mana 'band member', 'person of the group';

Maiduan: North-East Maidu mai'dum 'man', men', 'people', Nisenan majdyK 'man', mania 'boy';

Coosan: Coos \Hanis dial.\ me 'person';

Takelman: Kalapuya msinma', amim 'people'; Takelma ma- 'father (possessive form)';

Siuslaw (isolate) mataa 'father', mat'ii 'elder brother', muuskw 'younger brother',

f Alsea (Yakonan) (isolate?) am 'husband';

Sahaptian: Nez Perce -maaman 'people';

Miwok-Costanoan: North Ohlone \Soledad di-al.\ muhue 'man', mue 'person', mu'-we 'married man', \Rumsen dial.\ ama 'people', \Monteray dial.\ ama 'person';

Yokutsan: Yokuts mai, ndno 'man', 'person';

Salish: Bella Coola limlk 'man', -mx, nu-'human being', 'person', Squamish man 'father', Clallam man 'father', Saanich (Salish Straits) men id.;

Iroquoian: Huron (Wyandot) angmaiq 'oneself;

Siouan: Mandan numank 'man', Nakota mnoka 'male', Tutelo manki husband';

Chimakuan: Chemakum amaas 'grandparent';

Kutenai (isolate) -am- 'indefinite human affix';

fAtakapa (isolate?) mon 'all';

fKarankawa (unclass.) jamawe 'man', -mai 'body ('todo el cuerpo');

Chumash: Cruzeno al-amun 'man', Ventureno 'amama 'body', Chumash s-mano~i-mano 'man';

Cochimi-Yuman: Cochimi -mi, -ma 'man', 'male';

Palaihnihan: Atsugewi amun 'grandfather', 'grandson';

Pomoan: South-East Pomo umti-mfo 'person', mafo 'man', immek 'elder brother', East Pomo mex-a id., North Pomo a-mee 'father', Central Pomo me-de id.;

Washo (isolate) mé:Ln 'old man', mí:ílew 'everybody';

Kiowa-Tanoan: South Tiwa meme 'uncle', North Tiwa (Taos) mi-mí-na id.;

Chimariko (isolate) mV- (ma-, ma-, mi-, me-) 'kin and family members classifier';

Salinan (isolate) ama 'grandfather';

Uto-Aztecan: Pipil -manu(h)'brother', SouthEast Tepehuan ma'ncam 'person', North Tepehuan imóko 'someone (of a group)', Hopi mongwi 'leader', Shoshoni nüm 'person', Comanche numu 'Comanche', 'human being', 'the people', South Paiute numu 'Indian', Cupeño memye-m 'white person, people';

Tarascan: Purepecha uámba 'marido' (husband), 'esposo' (spouse);

Oto-Manguean: Chiapanec (Mangue) manku, mambo 'brother', manku 'friend'; Chinantec Comaltepec molia 'Comaltepec people', Mazatec Chiquihuitlan -mi2yoA 'friend (male)', Mazatec Jalapa de Díaz na'mi 'father', Zapotec Loxicha men 'person', 'people';

Mixe-Zoque: Mixe Popoluca Sayula máj tsuc 'hermano menor', masan 'gente de alta sociedad' (high society people), mu n 'gente de razon' (reasonable people), mu t 'yerno' (son-in-law), mu tna 'suegro'(father-in-law), Zoque Copainalá mbm 'man';

Huavean: Huave San Mateo del Mar miteataeran 'padre' (father), minoharan, mintaharan 'marido' (husband), 'marida' (one's wife), moel 'gente de fuera' (strangers);

Mayan: East Q'anjob'al mam 'father', Mam Todos Santos Chuchumatan man 'father', Q'eqchi mama 'grandfather', Central Kaqchikel mama 'old man', Central K'iche ama' 'male', mam 'grandfather', Classic (Hierogliphic) Maya mam 'grandfather', 'grandson', 'old man', 'ancestor';

Hinka: amu, lamu 'abuelo' (grandfather), -umu 'male';

Lenka: Salvador Lenka (Chilanga) máiu 'mari', máyu 'fils';

Misumalpan: Mískito manuka 'brother';

Jicaqueran: Tol mac 'non-Indian', 'ladino';

Chibcha: Kogi mama 'lider espiritual', Tunebo umá 'papa, mama (usado de la misma sangre)' (said of the members of the same family), Bribri yami 'pariente' (relative);

Chocoan: Emberá-Catío mákirá 'hombre'(man), Epena imi'khTra 'man', 'male', Emberá-Chamí mukhT_ra 'man', Emberá-Tadó imikhTra id.;

Guajiboan: Cuiba amo 'grandfather', monae 'people', 'family group', Guajibo -mónae 'familia de.', -momori 'descendientes de.', Guayabero lám 'grandfather';

Salivan: Sáliba imegudi 'hermano menor' (younger brother), embá 'mâle';

Tucanoan: Tuyuca umu 'hombre' (man), Wajiara umuarë 'hombres' (men), Carapana umua 'hombres', maja 'clan', 'gente', Siriano Ptmijji 'varon' (male), 'hombre',Koreguaj 'hombre'.

Siona ?ímígi 'man', Secoya ëmë 'hombre';

Puinavean: Hupdë moy ki' tœ_h dah 'nombre de un clan' (name of a clan), mo_h chah tœ_h dah id.; Puinave -tii-min-ak 'to beget (of father) (-tii 'to be born');

Yanomaman: Yanomámi yanomami 'person', 'human being', Ninam ninam 'person', 'human being', Yanomamoyah-no-mah-mah 'human being';

Barbacoan: Colorado mi'ya 'chief, 'chieftain', mapi 'uncle';

Cariban: Chaima amo 'your father', umo 'my father', yuaman 'father', Wayana omo 'man', Carib mati 'friend', 'black man', omo 'relative';

Paezan: Pa'ez nmi' 'esposo', 'marido' (husband);

Maipurean (Arawakan): Yavitero enami 'man', Piapoco minanái 'habitantes', Guana imam 'marido (husband)', Terêna îma 'her husband', Ashéninka noime, noimi 'esposo' (spouse), 'marido' (husband), 'mi esposo', 'mi marido', Irántxe miya 'man', Resígaro múúbe 'marido' (husband), 'hermano' (brother);

Witotoan: Muinane míyáminaa 'gente' (people), -minaa 'gente', Ocaina moon, móónjon 'tu papá', 'tu padre' (your father), ¡mónjonh! '¡hijo!' (son!), '¡padre!' (father!), Huitoto Minica moo 'padre', '¡padre!', Huitoto Murui iima, imie 'hombre', 'macho', Huitoto Nüpode ïima 'hombre', mo- 'papá';

Sapé (Caliana) (isolate) mino 'man', 'person', imone 'father-in-law';

Quechuan: Quechuan Huallaga Huánuco manyapita 'all (of a group)', Quechuan Tena Lowland minga 'reunión de gente invitada para algún trabajo' (group of persons assembled for a common labour);

Bororoan: Bororo imedu 'man', media, meduia, mede 'friend', Umotina mánapo' 'homens', mánondo' 'pai da esposa falando', manüdo', manondo' 'crianca (filho)' (son);

Jean: Kayapó memy 'man', Kaingang mén 'esposo';

Maxakalían: Maxakalí mün 'self, münopxop 'large group of people from the same category';

Panoan: Shipibo-Conibo -mee 'a (mí, ti, nos, sí) mismos' (for me myself, tu yourself, our ourselves, he/she himself/herself), Matís ma'ma 'father', Kasinawa (Cashínahua) mae 'caserío' (farm, small village), 'comunidad', 'pueblo';

Arauan: Dení ime'i 'pai', makhi 'masculino', 'macho', 'homem' (person), 'marido' (husband);

Harákmbut: Huachipaeri mi 'término para dirigirse a una persona' (a form to address a person), 'hermana' (brother), 'hermano' (sister);

Jivaroan: Achuar-Shiwiar umáim, umájim, májim 'tu hermano (de mujer)' (your brother, of a woman), 'tu hermana (de hombre)' (your sister, of a man);

Yaguan: Yagua may 'extranjero' (stranger), 'forastero' (foreigner), 'foráneo', 'gente blanca' (white people), munuñu 'nativos no civilizados';

Zaparoan: Arabela maanu 'grupo', 'miembros de una entidad' (members of a unity), 'manada' (horde, crowd), Záparo maníno 'a youth';

Tupian: Karitiana man 'marido' (husband), Aché ime 'husband', Tupi (Classic) mena 'marido', Asurini Tocantins ímena 'husband', Parakana men 'marido' (husband), Kayabí -men 'marido', Jurúna ama 'grandfather', 'people', uma 'friend';

Aymaran: Aymara malku 'chief, 'authority', Jaqaru mayni 'human counter', 'mate';

Chapacuran: Wari (Pakaas novos) mon 'sing., masc.', momon 'pl., masc.', mam 'sing., fem.', mamam 'pl., fem.', main 'neater';

Nambikwara: Latunde mi 'father', Mamainde mamaimsi 'Mamainde';

Tacanan: Araona mama 'hermano mayor de un hombre' (man's elder brother);

Mosetenan: Tsimané mintyi 'man', mama 'father';

Matacoan: Wichí Lhamtés Güisnay mam'se 'young man';

Chipaya-Uru: Chipaya mati 'offspring', mac 'son';

Mascoian: Guana emmanabie 'man';

Mapudungu (Araucanian): Mapadungun (Mapuche) mangel 'guest';

Kaweskaran: Qawasqar jema 'hombre blanco' (white man);

Chon: Tehuelche (Aoniken) iamenz 'raza';

Seri (isolate) am 'her father', amaac 'her older brother', amahaj 'his/her pat. uncle';

Warao (isolate) moana 'people', moanna 'persons';

Muniche (isolate) ñima, mima, malta 'esposo' (husband);

Pankararú (isolate) uma 'old man';

Cayubaba (isolate) ma'miasi 'young man (adolescent)';

Itonama (isolate) u-mu 'man (vs. woman)';

Kunza (Atacameño) (isolate) am-mu 'dueño', 'patron';

Movima (isolate) mah-mah-nina 'to beget (of father)', -mah les gens de', 'ceux de';

Urarina (isolate) enamanáa 'young man';

Yuracare (isolate) manchijsha 'self;

Yámana (Yagan) (isolate) ymú 'padre', yámana 'hombre' (man);

fJirajare: Ayaman ayoman 'husband';

fPucina miñ, mana 'hombre' (forma generica), Callajuaya mana 'person';

fCatacao: Colan -m 'human afiiix';

fHuarpe: Allentiak ñuchum yam, yam-ñuchum 'hombre' (man), yam 'varon' (male), Millkayak yam 'hombre';

Pume (unclassified) amaT 'father', ayi-maT 'older brother', ayT-maT 'younger brother';

Kunza (Atacameño) (isolate) am-mu 'dueño', 'patron';

Arára (unclassified) ymanoé 'fellow';

Andamanese:

- Great Andamanese: Aka-Bea maia 'uncle', mama 'brother-in-law';

- South Andamanese: Jarawa mvydials 'brother', mammaysttay 'husband';

Trans New-Guinean: Ankawe a'ma' 'man', 'person', 'human', Hamtai ama'a 'man', 'person', Menya ama 'uncle', Suena ema 'man', Orokaiva namei 'brother', mamei 'friend', Damal me, me, meal 'man', Erave ame 'brother', Kewa amé id, mae 'uncle', Finongan ama 'man', Rawa mine 'head man', Nukna ámna 'man', Awara Amin 'person', Wantoat amin id., maan 'cousin', Dedua muna 'younger brother', Hoyahoya ama 'man', Mubami ama, ami 'man', Tamagario nim 'man', Ndom namun 'husband', Amele manahal 'man', Rapting me, msl 'man', Malas may 'brother', munu 'man', Bargam amam, mam 'father';

Border: Imonda yima 'person', Waris mundil 'mature man';

Central Solomons: Bilua maba, mamba 'man';

East Bird's Head-Sentani: Meyah mona 'man', Sentani ma 'father';

East Geelvink Bay: Demisa amca 'father';

Fas: Fas yims- 'man', Baibai yimsni id.;

Kaure: Kosare nimiréka 'man';

Lower Mamberano: Warembori mambuate 'brother', mando, man-do 'man', Yoke mamb, maomba 'man';

Nimboran: Kemtiuk mamdat 'grandchildren';

Pauwasi: Karkar Yuri numaroph 'person', mvw na^ap, mom nsn\ph, mam nshAph 'brother';

Piawi: Haruai nAmba 'man';

Ramu-Lower Sepik: Yimas nama-awt 'person', Kire ma 'husband', Awar mamúsughat 'man';

Senagi: Angor anamindi 'male', 'husband', amonggo 'older sibling';

Sepik: Ngala amu, amw, pamwac 'brother', Nukuma ma 'husband', 'man', Bahinemo ima, ?uma 'man', Mehek mam 'uncle', nemna 'husband';

Skou: Isaka mini 'man', Skou moe 'person', 'Papuan';

Somahai: Momuna meé aroo 'person';

South Bougainville: Siwai nommae? 'person';

South-Central Papuan: Agob maun, mocen, mosen, muina, munyen 'brother', monde, ^umua'husband';

Tor-Kwerba: Kwerba manna, ana, ana? 'man';

Torricelli: Mufian ama 'men', Kombio msntit, msndith 'man', minkan 'husband', Yambes mingan 'husband', Buna ami 'man', Elkei monol 'man', One-Molmo mama, mana 'man', Seta oma id., Seti manyko, mayko 'man';

West Papuan: Tidore manusia nonau? 'man' (dial.); Moi naa-molo, na-molo, ne-molo, msmolo 'person';

Yele - West New Britain: Pele-Ata mene 'friend', Yele moo 'husband';

Abinomn (isolate): moi 'father's father';

Abun (isolate) mendjetu (dial.) 'person';

Kuot (isolate) miga-na, miymA 'man';

Mawes (isolate): mammta 'father';

Mpur (isolate) mamir, menip, minip 'man';

Sulka (isolate) mea, mhad, mhel 'person';

Taiap (isolate) mun-dzhár, mung-ro, mun, mun-je-num, mun^ar, -mür 'man';

Australian: Maringarr meme 'man', Buararra mumurna 'elder(s)', 'leader(s)', 'important persons(s)', Djauan muygui 'man', Dyirbal muyygul 'brother', Kuuku-Ya'u mu:yu 'husband', Atampaya ama 'man', 'person', Ngarluma mayaga 'person', Yindjibarndi -man 'person', Burduna mimi 'father-in-law', 'mother's brother', 'uncle', Nyunga mam 'father', 'man', Umbugarla mama 'brother', Matuyhunira mimi 'uncle';

3. A POSSIBLE IMPACT OF SOCIAL PATTERNS - PRO ET CONTRA

The cited forms are enough, in our opinion, to prove that the distribution of the mV-(-N-) lexeme (N stands for a nasal front labial consonant), which possesses the 'man/ 'husband/ male/ person/ human being' semantics (including the variants thereof like 'brother/ uncle/ grandfather/ son/ son-in-law/ chief/ chieftain/ people'; as for 'father' - see above), is world-wide in scale. Likewise, the 'person/man' ^ 'father' metonomic substitution within the limits of the same semantic field can be ontogenetically considered as a kind of lexical-semantic universal.

Apparently, the long-standing question, raised in this paper's title, has yet to be answered. Is it plausible that the similarity of the phonological contours of the lexemes that belong to the semantic domains mommy and dad/father/man/person should be considered fortuitous? Considering the world-wide distribution of these lexemes, the conclusion must be negative. The similarity of this kind, reiterated so many times on all continents, could hardly be coin-

cidental. Quite possibly, there are two scenarios of semantics transformations. According to the first one, in a matrilinear society, men occupy the position traditionally reserved for women. Thus, citing Jakobson, ".in Gregoire's parlance, la grande dispensantrice" (i.e. no one else but mother) [Jakobson, 1960, p. 30], a baby's father ('le grand dispensaitre') takes her place. The results of changing gender roles are manifested in semantics and lexicon. The process can be schematically depicted as follows:

'ma!' (sound gesture)

(sound ge

$ caretaker 'ma! ' (nursing sound)

'ma' (verbal response) t

$ 'ma-(-ma)' (designation)

^ <- S caretaker

'ma-ma!' S

This conjecture seems both reasonable and logical, in my humble opinion. A number of anthropologists have indeed detected such a pattern in some culturally isolated communities. For instance, among Aka Pygmees (20,000 in Western CAR and NW Congo), the social structure, including family responsibilities, is subdivided according to the following pattern: women hunt, and men take care of babies (their nipples serve as dummies) [Hewlett, 1991]. Another case is provided by the Yakuana Indians in Venezualan Amazon - a mother cares for her baby for only four months of the neonate's life, whereupon the burden of rearing the child is given over to her elder children - from 4 to 12 years old [Liedloff, 1989]. In addition, we have the ritual of fosterage (formerly common in the NW Caucasus). According to this custom, a newborn baby (sometimes only three days old!) is adopted by a stranger's family, known as "Atalyk" in the Caucasus, then it is raised up until his/her adolescence and finally returned to the biological parents upon reaching a mature age, ranging from 7 years old or 12 - 13 or 17 -18 or prior to his/her marriage, depending on the local traditions [Koswen, 1935]. The French explorer Taitbout de Marigny noted in 1818: "Il est fort rare qu'un garcon receive son education sous le toit paternal. L'Atalik emporte le noveau né, parfois secrètement, le confie à une nourrice; et aussitôt qu'il peut se passer de ses soin, son education commence." [Taitbout de Marigny, 1821]. This tradition existed in Abkhaz-Adygh (Abkhaz, Abazin, Adygh), Kartvelian (Svans), Turkic (Balkar, Karachai) and Indo-European (Ossetic) ethnic groups. A few European nations practicised a similar tradition - fosterage could occur among Irish, Scotts,

Welsh and Icelanders [Chonaill, 1997], [Hansen, 2008], [Parkes, 2006].

These cases, albeit fascinating by themselves, are not a rule of culture, but rather exceptions to the rule. The fact is that changes in language, especially the basic parenting terms which make up the most conservative domain, occur very slowly taking hundreds of years; and the social matriarchal/matrilineal patterns like the aforementioned ones could hardly be preserved for such a long period of time, especially, on a global scale.

A different version of semantic shift seems much more probable. In the previous paper, the writer discussed the metaphorical verbal syncretism in a baby's mind and speech, and its influence on the lexicon spreading along the vectors toward the adjacent semantic domains mother/feeder ^ feeding/suck/breast/milk/nursing [Zeldin, 2018].

Here, we consider the process of the formation of a language semantic hierarchy due to a semantic shift from mama on to a closely related semantic domain, when the basic phoneme (/m/ is the case) is retained. Nota bene: the cognitive scope continues to widen and comprises basic functions such as 'to suck', 'to eat', 'to drink', 'to lick' etc., as well as such designates as 'mouth', 'lips', 'gums', 'teeth'. Regarding the problem treated here (mama 9 vs. mama $), another kind of semantic shift and the verbal syncretism associated with it should be emphasized. Still, we have the unpersonificated sound gesture ma! or mama! (i.e. not semantically grasped as 'alma mater'), which is conventionalized with a secondary semantics 'I/me' as contrary to anything else, 'not-I/not-me'. Thus, we both hear a simple verbal response against the natural stimulus '(I) want - eat!' and witness the growth of idiosyncrasy of a more profound sense - i.e. a new semantic field with the nucleus 'ego sum' being formed along with the creation of a dichotomic separation of the 'me' and 'not-me' domains. "Everyone knows how, in the first years of its life, a child loves to repeat the words it hears, to imitate syllables and sounds, even those whose meaning it hardly understands . But from the point of view of personality, imitation would seem to be. a confusion between the I and the not-I, between the activity of one's body and that of other people's bodies. At its most imitative stage, the child mimics with its whole being identifies itself with its model" [Piaget, 1959, p. 34].

To put it differently, by dealing with the semantic categorization of the 'I/person' concept, we view the conceptualization of a baby's cognitive realm. "The first things that are learned are principles - not items: principles of categorization and pattern perception. The first words refer to classes, not unique objects or events" [Lenneberg, 1968, p. 32]. A baby,

by the end of the first year of its life, forms new designates and integrates them into its own existing concepts [Cheney& Seyfarth, 2005]. Clearly, both verbal syncretism and metaphoric thinking function as the supplement to its rudimentary lexicon - in both phonemic and semantic terms [Bybee, 2006]. Anna Wierzbicka proposed calling this mechanism 'the universal thought-saving device' [Wierzbicka, 1996]. It is most likely that after a toddler's basic needs are fulfilled (i.e. hunger prompts a verbal response which will later be conceptually anchored as a sound symbol/sememe ma- and realized lexically as mama); its cognitive realm absorbs the semanti-cally indivisible concept person/someone which is, according to Wierzbicka, 'among the best established semantic primitives' [Goddard & Wierzbicka, 1994]. This process is well described in the context of Piaget's "egocentric thinking" which is inherent in a baby up to pre-puberty, a period of seven years [Piaget, 1959]. The important outcome of this process is 'the need for justification at any price" [Ibid., p. 156] (i.e.'to establish connections between the most heterogeneous objects' [Ibid.]) and "syncre-tism...which is the negation of analysis, [that] calls for this effort by which every new perception is connected somehow. with what immediately precedes it" [Ibid., 158].

The third scenario of the semantic shift mother ^ breast ^ feeding ^ food/to eat/to drink ^ arm/hand (stretched to get some food) ^ me ^ human being ^ man/male/husband/father is also possible. It will be elaborated in a paper to come.

The realization of the lexeme in question in 100-some language families (including isolates), according to the XXIII Ethnologue edition [Eberherd et al., 2020], leads us to believe that the formation of the aforementioned semantic domain, centered around the S mama lexeme (which is phonetically similar and frequently not distinguishable from $ mama), is a determined process. This verbal process is cogni-tively conditioned in terms of both the baby's perception and the verbal activity of its adult environment. Taking into consideration the world-wide usage of the parenting terms like mama$ and mama S, we must posit for the universal tendency of their emergence.

In conclusion, it is pertinent to cite the treatise on language origins, advanced by the renowned French economist, philosopher and reformer Anne Robert Turgot (the 18th cent.) before the French Academy: "Un home seul, tel que le suppose ici Maupertuis (a French mathematician, philosopher and man of letters; the Director of the Académie des Sciences), ne serait pas tenté de chercher de marques pour designer ses perceptions; ce n'est que vis-à-vis des autres qu'on cherche" [Turgot, 1971].

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

As is evident from the ensuing account, the mama 3 lexeme cross-linguistically appears almost as frequently as mama 9 (bearing in mind not only the 'mother' glosses but also the closely related ones 'granny', 'aunty', '(elder) sister', etc., i.e. lexicostatistically the values are of the same order. It seems clear that this phenomenon has psychological roots. The first and foremost is the idiosynchrasy of the childish mind [Piaget, 1959], which expresses itself in the overextension of a particular word [de Villiers & de Villiers, 1979]. The global distribution of mama 3 as well as mama 9 has its origins in the following processes:

- the transformation of the purely emotional sound symbol mama! into the referential 'mama' lexeme;

- the metaphoric shift mama 'mother' onto the persons of the immediate vicinity i.e. the close kin family members, males included;

- the anchoring of the mama 9 and mama 3 lexemes in the vocabulary (not childish!) as the last stage of the sequence: mama! sound-symbol ^ mama 'mother' ^ mama9 ^ mama 3;

- the mama 'dad', 'father' may appear in some languages; this is not a statistical deviation, but a sequence found in a psychological tendency to fill up the empty slots in the lexicon as a result of multiplicity of speech acts in the micro-community, to wit:

baby <-► mother

\ ^

close kin

We also argue that such a tendency is universal; indeed, lingua-geography supports this premise. We conclude by noting two facts:

- mama 9and mama 3 coexist in the vocabularies of many languages. To cite just a few examples: Rukai (Austronesian) ninaa 'mother' - mama 'father'; Aklanon (Austonesian) mánang 'older sister' -amá 'father'; Bonda (Austroasiatic) miG 'elder sister' - mamu, mamuG 'uncle'; Siuslaw (Oregon Penutian) mala 'mother' - mataa 'father', misii'ai 'elder sister' - mat'ii 'elder brother'; Esselen (isolate) ma't-si 'mother' - maatc 'father', mechix 'aunt' - mi'its 'elder brother'; Northern Pomo (Pomoan) a-mite 'mother' - a-mee 'father mamüak 'father's sister'; Soutern Tiwa (Kiowa-Tanoan) nana 'mother' -meme 'uncle'; Eastern Hacalteco (Mayan) mi 'mother' - mam 'father'; Okaina (Witotoan) muntyoonco 'man's sister' - moon, móónjon 'tu papá', 'tu padre';

Salinan (isolate) nene 'grandmother' - ama 'grandfather'; Kanoe (isolate) müj 'mother', mu 'mother!' -müjoteñae 'uncle (paternal or maternal)'; Pume (unclassified) ami 'older sister' - amai 'father'; Suena (Trans New Guinean) mía 'mother' - mama 'father'; Kuaket (East New Britain) mai-xi 'mother', 'woman' - mam, mamak, mamok 'father'; Sentani (E. Bird's Head-Sentani) ana, menace, menake 'mother' - ma, meko 'father'; Yele (Yele-W.New Bratain) m:aam:aa 'auntie', 'my aunt' - M:aa 'daddy', mi 'father'; Angoram (Ramu-Lower Sepik) mari, nana, nengo, naye, ni'nge, nungor 'mother' - mam, ano 'father'; Tabo (South-Central Papuan) maia, maier 'mother' - mani 'father'; Kol (isolate) mo:nay 'mother' - mo:may 'father'; Gunwinggu (Gun-winggu, Australian) makka 'father's mother'-mamamh 'father's father'; Putijarra (Pama-Nyungan) manumal 'mother and child' - mama 'father'; Aka-Kora (Great Andamanese) amimi 'mother' - amaye 'father'. These terms belong to adjacent semantic domains, evidently diachronically penetrating to lexicons at different periods;

- there is a wide representation of parenting terms based on affricate consonants (Russian baba 'granny', deda 'grandfather (voc.)', dyadya 'uncle', 'adult male', tyotya 'aunt', 'adult woman', Turkish baba 'father', Georgian da 'sister', bebia 'grandmother', babua 'grandfather', deida '(maternal) aunt'), which is due to the impact of speech acts on human primordial lexicons (this process can be phylogenetically illustrated by soothing a child after breast-feeding - da-da, ta-ta).

CONCLUSIONS

Besides the abundant lexical evidence cited above, we endeavoured to sketch the broad outlines of parenting terms' emergence in human language. Specifically, the issue of mamaS ('male' semantic domain) vs mama9 ('female' semantic domain) was considered.

The general picture, which emerges, is that both lexemes enjoy the world-wide and cross-linguistic distribution. If the mama9 arises due to the breastfeeding process, vocal tract anatomy and speech physiology, the arising and propagation of the mamaS (which is antonymic in a certain sense) is based on the psychological prerequisites, such as a metaphoric shift, and interpersonal liaisons in a limited and close-knit society - the family, first and foremost. These data inherently enable us to refine our understanding of the human mind and speech production, especially during the earliest stages.

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Зельдин Анатолий,

соискатель,

Управление государственной службы, Реховот, Израиль. 76300 anatolyz@moia.gov.il

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The article was submitted on 02.04.2021 Поступила в редакцию 02.04.2021

Zeldin Anatoly,

PhD applicant, Civil Service Commission, Rehovot, Israel. anatolyz@moia.gov.il