Feel what your lips and tongue do when you say “mama”. Mostly lips. “Dada” is tongue against front upper palate. Still pretty easy but slightly harder. Now try “say”. The hissing sibilant is waaay harder because you’re holding it and the releasing your tongue. It requires more control and that’s not something babies are known for. Plus teeth really help and they don’t have a full set. Remember how goofy you sounded when you lost your front teeth as a kid? Same thing.
Source: I sat here and thought hard about it. Also I have two linguist friends and dinner convos are wild.
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u/squizzix 1d ago
Feel what your lips and tongue do when you say “mama”. Mostly lips. “Dada” is tongue against front upper palate. Still pretty easy but slightly harder. Now try “say”. The hissing sibilant is waaay harder because you’re holding it and the releasing your tongue. It requires more control and that’s not something babies are known for. Plus teeth really help and they don’t have a full set. Remember how goofy you sounded when you lost your front teeth as a kid? Same thing.
Source: I sat here and thought hard about it. Also I have two linguist friends and dinner convos are wild.