Today’s word: baby.
Baby first showed up in the late fourteenth century as as babi, which is a diminutive of baban, which despite being English is probably a word you haven’t heard
of. Baban was shortened into the word babe, which
actually preceded baby. Some think it comes from the word babble, a
descendent of the Greek word barbaros
(barbarian)
which did showed up in English more than a century before babe or baby, and is also probably not related to the Tower of Babel. It’s
interesting to note that in other languages, words descended from barbaros are words for grandmother. Don
Sources
This is why English is just a really hard language to teach, haha. My Japanese students are always asking me stuff where the only thing I can say is "Because English." :P
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
Alex Hurst, fantasy author in Japan. "B is for Books" is my current post.
It makes sense that baby might come from babble and barbarian. Babies (maybe more toddlers) can sure act like little barbarians at times! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for shedding light on where the word 'baby' comes from. I always thought etymology was interesting. :)
ReplyDeleteI had no idea about baby's origins. I imagine I'll be saying that a lot this month. But I look forward to learning more.
ReplyDeleteSo what came first, the baby or the grandmother? THAT is the question! :)
ReplyDeleteEtymology is an interesting thing. I don't always go looking for the origin of the word, so this is excellent information.
ReplyDeleteI don't know...
ReplyDeleteBabies babble and they don't fall down. Or, actually, they do.
Wonder when it took on a sexy connotation?
ReplyDeleteI've met some grandmothers who'd qualify as barbarians.
ReplyDeleteHow fascinating. I didn't know baby was a relatively new word in the English language.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by the Untethered Realms blog today! :)
"Don't know why. Just reporting it." LOL. Fair enough! These are fun posts :)
ReplyDeleteI had an English teacher back in the day who used to break down words into their meanings and origins. He was so enthusiastic about words.
ReplyDeleteBut i have to say it's interesting stuff. Great choice for a theme.
Jen,
Doing the A to Z challenge at…
We’re Living a Full Life
Barbarian to babble to babe? Interesting. (For some reason this makes me think of infantry coming from infant. Not sure why.)
ReplyDeleteAwesome. I love the etymology of the word baby; I assumed it was a lot older than it is. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is A. Catherine Noon, visiting from my blog at http://acatherinenoon.blogspot.com for the A-Z Challenge, #327 on the list. Happy blogging!
I like the sound of Baban. It sounds like an exotic first name.
ReplyDeleteI guess it makes sense if the word comes from babble... babies babble all the time. And burble.
ReplyDeleteOh baby - glad someone else did B is for Baby too. Well done!
ReplyDelete