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The fact it's 'mi' in Chinese may mean that this word could be from Borean language family, possibly making it extremely ancient (together with 'mama' and some
by sedan_baklazhan 5y ago
The fact it's 'mi' in Chinese may mean that this word could be from Borean language family, possibly making it extremely ancient (together with 'mama' and some others).
And indeed some scientist say it is a Borean word!
- DonaldFisk 5y agoIt's possible it comes from a common ancestor, but it could also be a loan word, or more likely, given that it's so short, a coincidence (i.e. false cognate), like the word for dog in Mbabaram (a native Australian language), which is "dog". Better known, perhaps, are ありがとう and obrigado - same meaning, similar pronunciation, but known to be unrelated.
- sedan_baklazhan 5y agoNo, there are actually scientific papers claiming a common ancestor here.