From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!torn!cs.utexas.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wupost!micro-heart-of-gold.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!minsky Wed Oct 14 14:58:54 EDT 1992
Article 7235 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: minsky@media.mit.edu (Marvin Minsky)
Subject: Re: Word Mechanics (was: parts of "Brain and Mind") 
Message-ID: <1992Oct12.174146.10180@news.media.mit.edu>
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Cc: minsky
Organization: MIT Media Laboratory
References: <1992Oct5.174528.20148@usl.edu> <1aqirgINN5u9@smaug.West.Sun.COM> <c99-aa.718545726@danube.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 17:41:46 GMT
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In article <c99-aa.718545726@danube.Berkeley.EDU> c99-aa@danube.Berkeley.EDU (c99 account) writes:
>dab@ism.isc.com (Dave Butterfield) writes:
>
>>The origin of the word "mama" (and its close relatives in other languages)
>>appears to contradict that statement.  "Ma" is one of the easiest syllables
>>to utter, and is one of the first spoken by infants.  The first entity that
>>an infant wants to refer to is his mother. 
>   Why not that it's wet or hungry?  Besides there is any number of acounts
>   of infants' first words being something else (papa or other)...

Not necessarily different.  The infant may not have much of an "object
concept" yet, and might first form a functional-representation for
"whatever-helps-stop-being-wet-or-hungry-or-cold,etc."  And it is
conceivable that there could be a hardware "OR" for several such
discomfort-detectors, and that they have better-than-chance
connections to some vocal actions.  Virtually all other mammals do!



