Happy Mother's Day

I just sent this image out my mom for mother's day, and I thought I'd share it with the rest of you. It's from Tricycle's e-card site (the image links to the site...).

Lately, Fina's been phrasing the word, "mama" in an appropriate enough manner that I believe she understands the (her) meaning. What amuses me is that she'll also call me "Mama," especially after nights that I'm alone with her, and then on weekends when we're together the whole time.

What it makes me think (and I understand if some would rather not agree with me, but please don't take this as any offense...) is that the word "mama", from the mouth of an infant, doesn't necessarily depend on gender as much as the qualities that a baby associates with the word. It seems to me, the word "mother" was taken from the the early speech of babies and made into a word with a given definition by adults. In the languages of the world, it's amazing how similar many of the words for mother are.

I found this list of the word mother in several languages. I noticed Korean (Ohmma) and Thai (Mae) aren't on the list, so there they are.

Language	Mother
Afrikaans	Moeder, Ma
Albanian	Nënë, Mëmë
Arabic	Ahm
Aragones	Mai
Asturian	Ma
Aymara	Taica
Azeri (Latin Script)	Ana
Basque	Ama
Belarusan	Matka
Bergamasco	Màder
Bolognese	Mèder
Bosnian	Majka
Brazilian Portuguese	Mãe
Bresciano	Madèr
Breton	Mamm
Bulgarian	Majka
Byelorussian	Macii
Calabrese	Matre, Mamma
Caló	Bata, Dai
Catalan	Mare
Cebuano	Inahan, Nanay
Chechen	Nana
Croatian	Mati, Majka
Czech	Abatyse
Danish	Mor
Dutch	Moeder, Moer
Dzoratâi	Mére
English	Mother, Mama, Mom
Esperanto	Patrino, Panjo
Estonian	Ema
Faeroese	Móðir
Finnish	Äiti
Flemish	Moeder
French	Mère, Maman
Frisian	Emo, Emä, Kantaäiti, Äiti
Furlan	Mari
Galician	Nai
German	Mutter
Greek	Màna
Griko	Salentino, Mána
Hawaiian	Makuahine
Hindi -	Ma, Maji
Hungarian	Anya, Fu
Icelandic	Móðir
Ilongo	Iloy, Nanay, Nay
Indonesian	Induk, Ibu, Biang, Nyokap
Irish	Máthair
Italian	Madre, Mamma
Japanese	Okaasan, Haha
Judeo Spanish	Madre
Kurdish Kurmanji	Daya
Ladino	Uma
Latin	Mater
Leonese	Mai
Ligurian	Maire
Limburgian	Moder, Mojer, Mam
Lingala	Mama
Lithuanian	Motina
Lombardo Occidentale	Madar
Lunfardo	Vieja
Macedonian	Majka
Malagasy	Reny
Malay	Emak
Maltese	Omm
Mantuan	Madar
Maori	Ewe, Haakui
Mapunzugun	Ñuke, Ñuque
Marathi	Aayi
Mongolian	`eh
Mudnés	Medra, mama
Neapolitan	Mamma
Norwegian	Madre
Occitan	Maire
Old Greek	Mytyr
Parmigiano	Mädra
Persian	Madr, Maman
Piemontese	Mare
Polish	Matka, Mama
Portuguese	Mãe
Punjabi	Mai, Mataji, Pabo
Quechua	Mama
Rapanui	Matu'a Vahine
Reggiano	Mèdra
Romagnolo	Mèder
Romanian	Mama, Maica
Romansh	Mamma
Russian	Mat'
Saami	Eadni
Samoan	Tina
Sardinian (Limba Sarda Unificada)	Mama
Sardinian Campidanesu	mamai
Sardinian Logudoresu	Madre, Mamma
Serbian	Majka
Shona	Amai
Sicilian	Matri
Slovak	Mama, Matka
Slovenian	Máti
Spanish	Madre, Mamá, Mami
Swahili	Mama, Mzazi, Mzaa
Swedish	Mamma, Mor, Morsa
Swiss German	Mueter
Triestino	Mare
Turkish	Anne, Ana, Valide
Turkmen	Eje
Ukrainian	Mati
Urdu	Ammee
Valencian	Mare
Venetian	Mare
Viestano	Mamm'
Wallon	Mére
Welsh	Mam
Yiddish	Muter
Zeneize	Moæ