Who calls their mother "Ina"? The distribution of an ancient cognate word
Who calls their mother "Ina"
The distribution of an ancient cognate word
“Ina” is the most ancient form of address that human beings used to call their mother, although not so common in English speaking world. Nowadays different people have kept the cognate “Ina”, or “Ana”, and other similar words in their languages. Those people can roughly divide into six groups. Such as Austronesian, Central Asian, East European, Northern African, Middle Eastern, and American Indians.
The following list show how people call their mother in different regions:
Through comparing the cognates of “mother”, in Hebrew “Ima” and in Amharic “Inati”, we have found there was a fascinating ancient romance behind the words. 3000 years ago Queen of Sheba went to visit King Solomon and with a team of caravan brought gold, precious stone, and spices. She asked King Solomon some hard questions. And Solomon’s answer satisfied her. Then she returned to her country, the Kingdom of Saba, now Ethiopia and Yemen. She later gave birth to Solomon's son, who was named Menelik, meaning 'Son of the Wise'. So Ethiopians regard their country as God's chosen country, and that they are the descendents of Solomon. There are many different versions of this story told by the Jews, Ethiopian and Arabian. But from a linguistic point of view, we can ascertain that the relationship between Hebrew and Amharic is not far from truth. Just by the cognates of “Ima” in Hebrew and “Inati” in Amharic of Ethiopia. After 3000 years of evolution the Hebrew and the Amharic have developed their own writing systems. But they still have cognates depicting the same things. That version of relationship between Hebrew and Austronesian could be further enforced via another cognate, in Hebrew “Abba”, in Austronesian “aba”, and in Amharic “abati”, all depicting the same thing, “father”.
It is likely that the Hebrew “Ima” is a contemporary speech. Because 300 years after Solomon’s death, Israel was subjugated for over 2000 years, and Jews dispersed to other countries. Possibly Jews borrowed “ma” from the Arabic “ummah”,or “mama”, incorporated it with “Ina" and resulted “Ima”. That case of language assimilation we can also find on Igbo and Yoruba in Nigeria. In Igbo “nne” and in Yoruba “iya”, they just split “Ina” into two parts and take different part each. Both Igbo and Yoruba have a close relationship with Jews. (More information: “Meet the Igbo, Nigerias lost Jewish tribe” and “Yoruba, son of Ephriam”). Another language in Spain, the Galician also call mother as “nai”, is another example of Jewish influence. (See: “Galician Jews”).
Most European languages originates from Latin. So the root word “ma” from Latin “mater” can be found in most European languages, such as English “mother”, French “mere”, Irish “máthair”, Italian “madre”, Portuguese “mãe”, Spanish “madre”. In turn the Latin “mater” originates from Greek “μητέρα” (mitéra). But there are exceptions as Hungarian “anya” and Albanian “Nënë”. It is possible these two languages were subjected to the Ottoman influence. Since the expansion of Ottoman Empire had included Hungary and Albania in their territory. So Hungarian “anya” and Albanian “Nënë” are under the influence of Turkish “anne”. This is another example of language assimilation, “anne” splits into “anya” and “Nënë”.
In Central Asia almost all people belong to Turkic Ethnic Groups. The languages they speak are belonging to the Turkic language family. There are not big difference among their languages. We can check through their calling for mother. Such as Turkish “anne”, Azerbaijani “ana”, Kazak “ana”, Kirgiz “ene”, Uyghur “ana”, Uzbek “ona”.
In the region of Pacific Rim, including Taiwan, Malay Archipelago, and other Pacific islands, all people inhabitat in this region are belonging to Austronesian. According to the concept of “Out of Taiwan”, ancestors of all Austronesians departed from Taiwan 7,000 years ago and migrated to various islands spreading over Pacific Ocean. One of the basis of this concept is based on the linguistic evidences, many proto form of Austronesian languages are found in Taiwan. Just by checking the word “mother”, the indigenous tribes of Taiwan, as Amis, Bunun, Kavalan, Basai, Puyuma, Rukai,Taokas, all of them call their mother “Ina” or “ana”. As to other Pacific Islands: Saipan, Nauru, Waru “Ina”, Cebuano “inahan”, Filipino “ina”, Samoan “tina”, Tagalog “ina”, Malay, Indonesian, Javanese “Ibu”, Okinawan “ayah”.
Following the theory of “Out of Taiwan” , Taiwan must be the distribution centre of Austronesian languages. From the above descriptions we can find that “Ina” is used in Pacific Rim, “Ana” is used in Central Asia, and both are used in Taiwan.
As how long ago these words were already used in Taiwan, we must consider the geological fact that the last ice age ended 11,700 years ago. Taiwan then separated from Asia Continent. Austronesian people then divided into two groups, one in Taiwan, and the other one in Yangtze River Basin. There were no contact between these two groups for over 10,000 years until they had met again recently, just a few hundred years ago. Today these two group still have shared some cognate in their languages and some cultural aspects also. As the tapa cloth culture can find on both sides. Accordingly Austronesian history can trace at least 12,000 years ago. But human history has been always updated. The following discovery put the history of Austronesian further earlier. According to a recent article, “ From Taiwan to Chile: A Source of the Indigenous of the Americas/ Tim Lohrentz 2013”, As early as 14,800 years ago Austronesian from Taiwan along the shore of Americas had arrived Monte Verde of Southern Chile. Those people were the ancestors of Maya, the Ch'orti' tribe. They also called their mother “nana”. This is the most ancient and the farthest destination the cognate “ana” had distributed from its original cradle.
The most ancient use of “Ina” we can trace today is in the Khoisan language. But even though the meaning of “Ina“ in Khoisan is breast, it is still quite reasonable for the meaning shifting from breast to mother, since breastfeeding comes from mother. Maybe Africa is the cradle of cognate “Ina”. When human migrated out of Africa, they must already have the ability of speech. So the most ancient human words used in speech also came from Africa.
Even though the cognate words “Ina” and “Ana” are obviously spoken in Austronesian, Turkic, and Hebrew languages, their routes of evolution, either eastward or westward, are still quite obscure today.
Links for further information:
Who Is the Queen of Sheba in the Bible?
Similarities between Hebrew and Amharic
Meet the Igbo, Nigerias lost Jewish tribe
Yoruba, son of Ephriam
Galician Jews
Austronesian Tapa Cloth
Tongue and Language
From Taiwan to Chile: A Source of the Indigenous of the Americas
Is this how Eve spoke? Every human language evolved from 'single prehistoric African mother tongue'
Tree distribution supports ‘out of Taiwan’ hypothesis
Origins of Vanuatu and Tonga's first people revealed