In today's discussion of what the kids will call their two mothers, someone thought Baba meant papa or dad. I thought that in Russian or another Slavic language, Baba means grandma, or at least little old lady. I think there's a bunch of stories about Baba Yaga, a witch who lives in a cottage with chicken legs-a mobile home? Baba Yaga flies around in a mortar.
That's true about "baba" being a name for grandma or little old lady, but it's not always the same in every country. In some languages in India, “baba†means “father.†Here's a bit of a comparison.
Also, the last paragraph on page 227 of this book explains something well-known to linguists: “It has been recognized for centuries that nursery formations, so-called Lallwörter (the mama-papa-dada-caca sort of words), should be avoided in proposals of linguistic affinity, since they exhibit a high degree of similarity in languages throughout the world that is not due to common ancestry.â€
My son, by the way, goes to a daycare here in New York City owned and run by two Byelorussian woman, a mother and daughter. For the first couple of months my son often played with the daughter's two boys, so he got in the habit of calling their grandmother "baba," too. 🙂
The German word for mother would make a fun choice for the 2 moms.
They say Mutti(moo tea).
Or how about the Ferengi(Star Trek) term Mugi(moo gee).
Just some thoughts.
I am the sperm donor to a lesbian couple with two little girls. They use Mommy and Mama...but, the older girl (now 4) sometimes just uses Mom. So, don't be surprised if the child chooses their own name as they get older!
cobaltdragon, I suspect you're right about the name-choosing.
soymoon, I do like Mutti - might work just fine in some cases.