Re: New Scientist is at it again

From: Pierre Jelenc (rcpj_at_panix.com)
Date: 07/29/04 

Date: Thu, 29 Jul 2004 18:58:04 +0000 (UTC)

Miguel Carrasquer <mcv@wxs.nl> writes:
> [... ] It's obvious, for instance, that the
> English word "papa" cannot even be inherited from something
> as "recent" as Proto-Indo-European. PIE *papa would have
> given English *faf.

For any other word, undoubtedly. However if the argument is that this
represents the easiest sounds made by a baby, then the odometer would be
reset at each birth, counteracting the drift. There would be selective
pressure to retain "p" and "m" in those infancy words (and only those.) Is
there any evidence to the contrary?

Pierre 

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