Raquel Hernández SeguraWhy the Words for ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ Sound So Similar in So Many Languagesverified_publisherThe Atlantic - By John McWhorterThe story of a strange linguistic coincidence Is there anything inherently “doggy” about the word “dog”? Obviously not—to the French, a dog is a chien, to Russians a sobaka, to Mandarin Chinese-speakers a gǒu. These words have nothing in common, and none seem any more connected to the canine essence …