On the Facebook Polyglots page somebody asked why the mother language is called the mother language and not the father language.
In fact it is often called the native language.
We also refer to motherland in some languages and fatherland in other languages.
I started thinking about the word mother and wrote this piece of speculation.
Because a breastfeeding baby's first attempt to get food is to suck and demand food and attention by saying m m which is mother in many languages such as
1 Ma (Chinese)
Mum
2 Ima (Hebrew)
(The middle letter in the Hebrew lettering is M. The vowels are not shown but would be written in handwriting under or over the placeholder letter.)
3 Mama (Italian)
Also mama in Maori
Also mama in Serbian
Also mama in Solvenian
Also mam in Swahili
Spanish
Mamá
If you go to google translate and click on the sound symbol you will hear that the accent is on the second syllable.
4 Mum / Mummy (UK)
5 Mom (USA),
6 mater in Latin and
7 mutter in German
8 Mamma in Dutch
mamma in Norwegian
9 Mom in Filipino
10 Scottish Gaelic Mam
and so on.
If there is any question you want to ask about languages, you can ask on the Facebook polyglot page.
To translate individual words or sections, use Google translate.
You can also read Wikiedia in another language.
Or try a tourist board page. Many of them have tiny flags to cick on which turn the page into another language.
To learn a language, try Duolingo.
Or Memrise.
Useful Websites
Facebook polyglots
https://www.facebook.com/groups/polygotcommunity/
translate google
About the Author
I and my family have lived in the UK, Spain, the USA and Singapore. I am a trave writer and phtographer and teacher of English A level and English as a foreign language.
Please come to a Toastmasters International Club where the English clubs have a langauge evaluator or grammarian. We also have French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Tamil and clubs based in Singapore and many more online around the world which because of Covid-19 are now meeting online.
I am President of Braddell Heights Advanced, meeting every Wednesday, on zoom the first Wednesday of the month but the other wednesdays are workshops on app learncool.sg
Or quicker, tinyurl.com/BHACOOL
In Singapore we are on the same time zone as Malaysia, Hong Kong, and China (Beijing and Shanghai).
Please share links to your favourite posts.
In fact it is often called the native language.
We also refer to motherland in some languages and fatherland in other languages.
I started thinking about the word mother and wrote this piece of speculation.
Because a breastfeeding baby's first attempt to get food is to suck and demand food and attention by saying m m which is mother in many languages such as
1 Ma (Chinese)
Mum
2 Ima (Hebrew)
(The middle letter in the Hebrew lettering is M. The vowels are not shown but would be written in handwriting under or over the placeholder letter.)
אמא
3 Mama (Italian)
Also mama in Maori
Also mama in Serbian
Also mama in Solvenian
Also mam in Swahili
Spanish
Mamá
If you go to google translate and click on the sound symbol you will hear that the accent is on the second syllable.
4 Mum / Mummy (UK)
5 Mom (USA),
6 mater in Latin and
7 mutter in German
8 Mamma in Dutch
mamma in Norwegian
9 Mom in Filipino
10 Scottish Gaelic Mam
and so on.
If there is any question you want to ask about languages, you can ask on the Facebook polyglot page.
To translate individual words or sections, use Google translate.
You can also read Wikiedia in another language.
Or try a tourist board page. Many of them have tiny flags to cick on which turn the page into another language.
To learn a language, try Duolingo.
Or Memrise.
Useful Websites
Facebook polyglots
https://www.facebook.com/groups/polygotcommunity/
translate google
About the Author
I and my family have lived in the UK, Spain, the USA and Singapore. I am a trave writer and phtographer and teacher of English A level and English as a foreign language.
Please come to a Toastmasters International Club where the English clubs have a langauge evaluator or grammarian. We also have French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Tamil and clubs based in Singapore and many more online around the world which because of Covid-19 are now meeting online.
I am President of Braddell Heights Advanced, meeting every Wednesday, on zoom the first Wednesday of the month but the other wednesdays are workshops on app learncool.sg
Or quicker, tinyurl.com/BHACOOL
In Singapore we are on the same time zone as Malaysia, Hong Kong, and China (Beijing and Shanghai).
Please share links to your favourite posts.
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