Why are some words, like “mama and papa”, similar in many languages?
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Most languages in Asia and Europe (Well more in Europe than Asia) have a common root so share similar vocabulary. This ancestral language (called Proto Indo-European) had some word like mātr for mother and pātr for father. Which is where our words for mother and father come from.
Also ma-ma or pa-pa will be one of the first sounds a baby will make thus they are often associated with parents (mother and father respectively).
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