Dada (noun) - an informal word for father derived from 'babytalk'
So why is it usually Daddy who comes first when babies begin to burble?
No parent ever forgets their child's first word. However, for many mothers it comes as something of a surprise when a baby starts to utter the word 'dada' long before they manage to say 'mama'. But it is not because babies are expressing favouritism for doting fathers such as David Beckham. Experts have revealed that the reason is physical, not emotional. Dr Mary Fagan says that the natural development of babies' mouth and tongue means that the first sounds they can make begin with G and then D. As a result the familiar early calls of 'gaga' and 'goo-goo' tend to be followed by 'dada' - with the M sound taking several months longer to master. This explains why babies often say 'dad' first, despite the fact that most spend more time with their mothers.
"There are some constraints on the sounds babies can produce early on in their infancy," said Dr Fagan, a research associate at Cardiff University's School of Psychology. "The D sound just happens to be one of the first sounds babies can produce before M. It has a lot to do with the early structure of the face. "When babies are born their tongues are fairly large in proportion to the mouth, which helps babies breastfeed, so the tongue has very little range of movement.
"So it's usually nothing to do with a child's preferences. It is not favouritism - it is science." The situation is similar in other languages including Spanish, Italian and Chinese, she added.
(Daily Mail, 6.05.05)
Of course Dada is also a nihilistic art movement (especially in painting) that flourished in Europe early in the 20th century; based on irrationality and negation of the accepted laws of beauty......but we won't go into that now!!
For more weird and wonderful words, take a look at past Words of The Week
January 2 2007 | 
Strollerobics - This Week's Word
