How to say “father” around the world

418 languages · 418 in their own spelling

Like “mother”, “father” often grows from a baby’s first syllables — papa, baba, tata, dada — with m usually going to mother and p, b, t to father.

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Dots of one colour begin with a similar sound. Colours group words by the class of their first consonant (a sound-class method used in linguistics): words that begin alike share a colour. This shows resemblance, not common origin — proving relationship needs case-by-case comparison. Readable forms come from Wiktionary translation tables; many smaller languages come from the ASJP word lists, in ASJP’s simplified transcription.