There must be a reason ... They dont refer to it as the Father Tongue, even though we live in a patriarchial society, and we inherit the name from the father. The tongue is still the Mother tongue. Why?
Is it because the tongue is the vehicle of all thoughts? That the tongue is the interface between us and the outer world? That the tongue leads us to an understanding of the world, and to a description of our own understanding of the world? Whatever be the reason (and I dont think I have been able to touch upon too many of them here, simply because I dnt know of any more ... anyone like to add to these?), the fact of the matter is that the child does hve a natural affinity to the tongue of the Mother. And, why not!
After all, is not The Mother the one who gives us sustenance? Is not She who gives us our identity. She who has loved us through the ages, and She who would love us for all eternity!
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4 comments:
Interesting - The kids of immigrants have accents markedly different from their parents. In some cases they are not able to speak comfortably in their mother's mother tongue. I believe their is more to your 'tongue' than just the 'mother'.
Point, Manu. What if we looked at Mother as the environment (Nature, Society) from which we learn in life, both in physical and spiritual ways.
I am not sure whether you are aware of it or not, the only exception to the "mother toungue" rule is the Germans. They dont refer to Germany as motherland, but rather as "fatherland"/ "deutsheland", and they dont speak mother tongue but father tongue
Interesting, Debbie ... Indeed, yes, they refer to the country as Fatherland ... If you ask me, I am more comfortable with the Mother concept! Though, if we look at it closely, in the ultimate analysis, there is not much difference ...
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