On 9/24/05, Arnt Richard Johansen <arj@nvg.org> wrote:
On Sat, 24 Sep 2005, Sunnan wrote:
> Just for curiosity, what word would you use for a female parent who didn't
> give birth?
mamta.
mamta
mam mother
'mom' x1
is a
mother of x2; x1 bears/mothers/acts maternally toward x2; [not necessarily
biological]
What does it mean to act maternally? Unless we know this, we don't know what behavior the word specifies.
Is it to mean "parent whose behavior is, according to the speaker's opinions, stereotypical of women"?
Are the speaker and listener supposed to have an agreed-upon stereotype of women to understand this word?
Has common sense completely checked out?
Believe it or not in some cultures the mother and father assume
different roles. Mothers typically are more domestic because they have
less physical strength and hence are less equipped for taxing physical
tasks. Note too that fathers can't breast feed. This division is
universal enough to overcome political correctness. Who honestly is
offended?
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