mimi

Part of speech: verb; noun; infant-directed .

Short gloss:
Suckle; breast—baby talk

Usage:
Used between a caregiver and a nursing child. As a noun, it provides a gentle, child-appropriate alternative to the ordinary anatomical term soso ‘woman’s breast.’

Ethnolinguistic note:
The repeated mi-mi pattern contains the bilabial nasal /m/, a sound easily produced while the lips are closed. Its articulation closely accompanies the physical actions of sucking and nursing. The word therefore displays a strong sound-and-action association characteristic of nursery vocabulary.

Register note:
Infant-directed, affectionate, and euphemistic. It is not the ordinary adult anatomical term.

Related words:
soso; mamam; papa’

Semantic domains:
Child language; breastfeeding; body parts; eating and drinking; euphemisms