In the old days among the Slavs, after the birth of their first child, a married woman was called either "young" or "woman", depending on the gender of the baby. If a boy was born, his mother automatically became a "young woman", ie. a young mother.
The woman who gave birth to a girl was called a "woman". This word had a completely different meaning among the Slavs than it does now. The particle "ba" meant "to be", "to exist", "to be here and now", literally "to live."
About the woman who gave birth to a baby, they said that she was "dumb", became the gateway to a new life. If she has become a gateway to other gates (a girl who will grow up and also give birth to a new life), then she is twice "ba-ba". This word contains a certain sacrament. Baba is a woman who gives life to another woman, who in the future will also give life to another person. This short, but such a capacious word symbolizes a certain continuous cycle of births. Baba is a respected woman, thanks to whom the family and all life on earth is not interrupted. It is for this reason that elderly parents are called "grandmothers" - the founders of a whole family.
Svetlana Sergienko
