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: > *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html