There&#x27;s a joke in a Marathi children&#x27;s book, which goes roughly as follows:<p>A: Know why we call our mothers &quot;Aai&quot;?<p>B: No, why?<p>A: The reason is because &quot;aaaaa&quot; is the sound you make when hurt or in trouble, and it&#x27;s your first instinct to call to your mother for help in such cases.<p>B: Nonsense. Do English-speakers^ say &quot;maaaaaaaa&quot; when hurt?<p>I think Indic languages have almost every permutation of &quot;a&quot; and &quot;m&quot; for &quot;mother&quot; -- we have &quot;Aai&quot;, &quot;amma&quot;, &quot;maaa&quot;, &quot;mamma&quot;, ...<p>^Might have been Hindi speakers, I forget now.