Why is it in almost all languages "ma ma" (or in similar forms) is recognised as a synonym for "mother"?

Question

Of course different langauges have their own phrase/word for calling mother but "ma ma" (or similar) is nearly always the first one that is known to a young child. From a scientific point of view, could it be something to do with the ease of using the "m" sound? Or could it be a cultural influence, such as of a more popular language?

Answer 1

Well, in most of the Indo-European languages the word "mother" sounds similar.

But the sound "ma-ma" has nothing to do with that I think. The first sounds babies produce are ba-ba or ma-ma or pa-pa.

While acquiring the language there's a stage called "babbling".
It's one of the earliest stages in language acquisition. At this stage babies learn to produce sounds. The first sounds they usually produce are /b/, /m/ and /p/. These sounds are called bilabials (because they are articulated with both lips) in phonetics and they're the first sounds because babies' mouth muscles are developed earlier (from sucking even in the womb). That's why even babies of 6 months produce ma-ma pa-pa sounds. They do not mean "mom" or "papa" at that early stage but they're just the repetition of sounds.

And this is quite funny. In Turkish the word for mother is "anne" and it is quite difficult for a baby to produce this word. The word for father is "baba". Not surprisingly Turk fathers think that their babies learn to say dad before even they can say mom. They like to brag about it :) "Oh yay! He says dad but not mom!"

Answer 2

The m sound is the easiest for a child to mimic making it a given for ma ma to be the first word.

Answer 3

It is the ease of make the m sound. The infant makes an m sound and the proud parents are certain the infant is referring to them. Hence m becomes associated with mother. Similar phenomena for d sound and dad.

Answer 4

It is one of the first sounds that babies make. And since culturally, we have associated that sound with "mother" it is reinforced generation after generation. The baby makes its first sound, it doesn't have any meaning associated with it. Mother hears "mama" and then tells the baby, "Oh, you are asking for me!", picks the baby up and cuddles it, etc. The baby thinks "wow, when I make the sound 'mama' she treats me really special. I like that." So the baby learns that making the sound "mama" gets an immediate response from its mother. In this way, the "mama" sounds for 'mother' become engrained anew in children from generation to generation.

Answer 5

"Mum"/"mummy" (usually British English), "Mom"/"mommy" (usually American English), "mama" and "ma" are some familiar or colloquial words for a mother. In many south Asian cultures, the mother is known as "Amma" or "Oma" or "Ammi", or variations thereof. The "M" sound seems to be universal to the word mother in many different languages.[1] Many times these terms denote affection or a maternal role in a child's life.
That's because the "m" sound is the sound of a child sucking a breast.

Answer 6

The word came into use because it is innately one of the simplest sounds for an infant to make. Its meaning, "mother", arose naturally from the context in which it was used.

Answer 7

Its onomatopoeic related to milk sucking during breast feeding hence the name MAMALS for that animal
category

Answer 8

Like what most people have already mentioned here - kids have an easier time pronouncing it. (After watching my baby brother back then, and my baby cousin, i have to agree).

Answer 9

in Hebrew ma is what

ma na the manna is what is this stuff

Answer 10

I think you answered your own question.