LL-L "Language varieties" 2002.07.25 (05) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

======================================================================
 L O W L A N D S - L * 25.JUL.2002 (05) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
 Web Site: <http://www.sassisch.net/rhahn/lowlands/>
 Rules: <http://www.sassisch.net/rhahn/lowlands/rules.html>
 Posting Address: <lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org>
 Server Manual: <http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html>
 Archive: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html>
=======================================================================
 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian L=Limburgish
 LS=Low Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
=======================================================================

From: globalmoose at t-online.de (Global Moose Translations)
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2002.07.25 (01) [E]

Here's another wild hypothesis. I have three children; the two older
girls
grew up trilingual (first German and Dutch, then English), and the
youngest bilingual (German and English).

I first noticed with my own babies, and later with others, too, that the
special little grunting moan even very young breast-fed babies utter
when
they need a refill, best described as "ungh - aah", sounds a LOT like
English "hunger", German "Hunger" and Dutch "honger". I firmly believe
that that is where the word is derived from.

Similarly, the first syllables babies anywhere utter are usually "mam"
and
"da". The former came to denote "mother" or "breast" in many if not most
languages; "da" in German and "daar" in Dutch mean "there", which again
makes sense, since the time babies start "saying" this is also the time
when they start pointing at everything they take an interest in. I have
always been highly amused that in English-speaking countries, however,
fathers are vain enough to think that it means THEM... (please take this
with a grain of salt).

Greetings,
Gabriele Kahn

==================================END===================================
 You have received this because your account has been subscribed upon
 request. To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l"
 as message text from the same account to
 <listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org> or sign off at
 <http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html>.
=======================================================================
 * Please submit postings to <lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org>.
 * Postings will be displayed unedited in digest form.
 * Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
 * Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l") are
   to be sent to <listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org> or at
   <http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html>.
 * Please use only Plain Text format, not Rich Text (HTML) or any other
   type of format, in your submissions
=======================================================================