<p>They are not etymologically related as other posters have noted, but it might not be a pure coincidence.</p>

<p>Many people have noted that words like "mama" and "papa" are similar across language families and suggested this is because they imitate the types of babbling sounds infants make.  See: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mama_and_papa" rel="noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mama_and_papa</a></p>

<p>It seems plausible that "baby" could also fall within this category (i.e., repeated simple syllables.)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-01T05:14:17.713Z
2018-10-01T05:14:17.713Z
Penguin2308
<p>宝贝 means "treasure" in Chinese. When use 宝贝 for babies it means babies are the treasure of families.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-12T06:10:10.557Z
2018-10-12T06:10:10.557Z
Eric Chen
<p>北鼻 is a loan word, we adopted this word from “baby”, so the pronunciation is so similar. 北鼻 is commonly used for calling friends or lovers on the INTERNET or TEXT MESSAGE.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-08T22:42:11.820Z
2020-09-15T17:43:25.103Z
2020-09-15T17:43:25.103Z
Survival Chinese with Simona
<p>Interesting, but this is a coincidence.</p>

<hr>

<p><em>Baby</em> comes from a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduplication" rel="noreferrer">reduplicated</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Germanic_language" rel="noreferrer">Proto-Germanic</a> root <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/b%C5%8D-" rel="noreferrer">*bō-</a>, which is cognate to English <em>boy</em>, appended with a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminutive" rel="noreferrer">diminutive</a> suffix <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-y#English" rel="noreferrer">-y</a>.</p>

<p><strong>寶貝</strong> comes from the meaning <em>rare/precious seashells</em>; this usage is attested at least since the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_dynasty" rel="noreferrer">Han dynasty</a>. As a term of endearment, this started appearing as early as in the novel <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_of_the_Red_Chamber" rel="noreferrer"><em>Dream of the Red Chamber</em></a>, written in the 18th century.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-14T09:27:02.037Z
So, is using 寶貝 for the similar meaning of baby comes in ~18th century? Or using it in this way in introduced after the word baby?
tsh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-14T09:36:31.750Z
@tsh I would say the usages are quite dissimilar. English “baby” is either the actual name for a baby, or a term of endearment for a lover; it is not a term of endearment for an actual baby or child (maybe it used to be?). Chinese 寶貝 is a term of endearment for a parent’s child, and can be used regardless of the child’s age - it is more similar to English e.g. in the phrase “you’ll always be my **little boy/girl**”.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-30T13:17:11.807Z
2018-09-30T13:17:11.807Z
dROOOze
<p>I am interested if the phonetic similarity between the English "baby" and the Chinese "宝贝" (baobei) is purely coincidental.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-30T22:45:24.173Z
Yet another false cognate.
Константин Ван
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-01T04:23:47.180Z
Pleco indicates loanwords.  That's not as obvious when you're looking at a suspected loanword like 宝贝 and it says nothing...
Ben Jackson
<mandarin><etymology>
"Baby" vs "宝贝" - coincidence?
# "Baby" vs "宝贝" - coincidence?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-09-30)

I am interested if the phonetic similarity between the English "baby" and the Chinese "宝贝" (baobei) is purely coincidental.

**Tags:** mandarin, etymology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Yet another false cognate.  
> **username_2**: Pleco indicates loanwords.  That's not as obvious when you're looking at a suspected loanword like 宝贝 and it says nothing...  

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## 4 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2018-09-30. Score: 19 | Accepted answer

Interesting, but this is a coincidence.

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*Baby* comes from a [reduplicated](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduplication) [Proto-Germanic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Germanic_language) root [\*bō-](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/b%C5%8D-), which is cognate to English *boy*, appended with a [diminutive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminutive) suffix [-y](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-y#English).

**寶貝** comes from the meaning *rare/precious seashells*; this usage is attested at least since the [Han dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_dynasty). As a term of endearment, this started appearing as early as in the novel [*Dream of the Red Chamber*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_of_the_Red_Chamber), written in the 18th century.

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: So, is using 寶貝 for the similar meaning of baby comes in ~18th century? Or using it in this way in introduced after the word baby?  
> **username_6**: @username_7 I would say the usages are quite dissimilar. English “baby” is either the actual name for a baby, or a term of endearment for a lover; it is not a term of endearment for an actual baby or child (maybe it used to be?). Chinese 寶貝 is a term of endearment for a parent’s child, and can be used regardless of the child’s age - it is more similar to English e.g. in the phrase “you’ll always be my **little boy/girl**”.  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2018-10-01. Score: 8

They are not etymologically related as other posters have noted, but it might not be a pure coincidence.

Many people have noted that words like "mama" and "papa" are similar across language families and suggested this is because they imitate the types of babbling sounds infants make. See: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mama_and_papa>

It seems plausible that "baby" could also fall within this category (i.e., repeated simple syllables.)


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### Answer by username_4 on 2018-10-12. Score: 1

宝贝 means "treasure" in Chinese. When use 宝贝 for babies it means babies are the treasure of families.


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### Answer by username_5 on 2020-06-08. Score: 1

北鼻 is a loan word, we adopted this word from “baby”, so the pronunciation is so similar. 北鼻 is commonly used for calling friends or lovers on the INTERNET or TEXT MESSAGE.


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