I'm doing a class on etymology with my students today, and have decided 
to start with this one. I thought Lactnetters would enjoy it:
http://www.billcasselman.com/wording_room/mother.htm
> *English /mother/* and Latin /mater/ and many similar maternal words 
> contain the worldwide etymon /ma/ 'breast' + /ter/ an Indo-European 
> agent suffix, so that the etymological meaning of the word /mother/ is 
> 'breast-feeder.' For other words ending in the Indo-European /-ter/ 
> suffix, look at: brother, sister, daughter, /pater/, /frater/, German 
> /Schwester/ 'sister.' The dental /t/ sound often alters slightly to 
> become a dental /d/ sound, as in the German word for brother, /Bruder/.
>
> *Mamma* is the formal English medical word for breast. Mamma is a 
> reduplication of the much older Proto-Indo-European root /*ma/, breast 
> or mother. This is not only the first sound uttered by many human 
> infants, it may also be the most widespread word root in the world. 
> /*Ma/ forms the basis of the word for mother in many different and 
> possibly unrelated language families around the world:
>


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