ماما

See also: Appendix:Variations of "mama"

Arabic

Etymology

From baby talk.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /maː.maː/

Noun

مَامَا • (māmā) f

  1. (childish, familiar) mum, mummy, mama
    تُحَضِّرُ مَامَا أَفْضَلَ كَعْكَةٍ بِٱلشُّوكُولَاتَةِ.
    tuḥaḍḍiru māmā ʔafḍala kaʕkatin bi-š-šukulātati.
    Mom prepares the best chocolate cake.

Declension

Declension of noun مَامَا (māmā)
singular singular invariable
indefinite definite construct
informal مَامَا
māmā 		الْمَامَا
al-māmā 		مَامَا
māmā
nominative مَامَا
māmā 		الْمَامَا
al-māmā 		مَامَا
māmā
accusative مَامَا
māmā 		الْمَامَا
al-māmā 		مَامَا
māmā
genitive مَامَا
māmā 		الْمَامَا
al-māmā 		مَامَا
māmā

See also

Baluchi

Etymology

Borrowed from Urdu مَامَا (māmā), ultimately Derived from Proto-Dravidian *māma.

Noun

ماما • (mámá)

  1. maternal uncle (some dialects)

See also

Brahui

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Dravidian *māma.

Noun

مَامَا (māmā)

  1. maternal uncle

Hijazi Arabic

Etymology

From baby talk.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmaː.ma/, [ˈmɑː.mɑ]

Noun

ماما • (māma) f

  1. mum, mom
    Synonyms: أم (umm), والدة (wālda)

Pashto

Etymology

Borrowed from Urdu مَامَا (māmā), ultimately from Proto-Dravidian *māma.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mɑˈmɑ/

Noun

ماما • (mâmâ) m

  1. maternal uncle

Declension

Declension of ماما
singular plural
direct ماما (mâmâ) ماماګان (mâmâgān)
oblique ماما (mâmâ) ماماګانو (mâmâgāno)
vocative ماما (mâmâ) ماماګانو (mâmâgāno)

Persian

Etymology 1

An Indo-Aryan borrowing, ultimately from Sanskrit माम (māma), itself from Proto-Dravidian *māma. Akin to Pashto, Baluchi, and Urdu ماما (māmā), Hindi मामा (māmā).

Pronunciation

Readings
Dari reading? māmā(y)

Noun

Dari ماما
Iranian Persian دایی
Tajik тағо

ماما • (māmā) (plural ماما‌ها (māmā-hā))

  1. (chiefly Dari) maternal uncle
    Synonym: دایی (dâyi)
    Coordinate terms: عمو ('amu), کاکا (kâkâ), کاکو (kâko), (archaic) افدر (afdar)
Inflection
Basic forms of ماما (Classical and Dari Persian)
singular plural
bare ماما، مامای△ (māmā́, māmā́y△) ماماها، مامایا△ (māmā-hā́, māmāy-yā́△)
definitive direct object مامارا، مامای‌ره△ (māmā́ rā, māmā́y ra△) ماماها را، مامایاره△ (māmā-hā́ rā, māmāy-yā́ ra△)
izāfa مامای (māmā́-yi) ماماهای، مامایای△ (māmā-hā́-yi, māmāy-yā́-yi△)
marked indefinite
or relative definite 		مامایی (māmā́-yē) ماماهایی، مامایایی△ (māmā-hā́-yē, māmāy-yā́-yē△)

△ Colloquial Dari.

Possessive forms of ماما (Dari Persian)
singular plural
1st person singular
(“my”) 		مامایم (māmā́yam) ماماهایم، مامایام△ (māmā-hā́yam, māmāy-yā́-am△)
2nd person singular
(“your”) 		مامایت (māmā́yat) ماماهایت، مامایات△ (māmā-hā́yat, māmāy-yā́t△)
3rd person singular
(“his, her, its”) 		مامایش، مامایْشِی△ (māmā́yaš, māmā́yšī△) ماماهایش، مامایاش△ (māmā-hā́yaš, māmāy-yā́š△)
1st person plural
(“our”) 		مامایمان، مامایما△ (māmā́yimān) ماماهایمان، مامایامان△ (māmā-hā́yimān, māmāy-yā́mān△)
2nd person plural
(“your”) 		مامایتان (māmā́yitān) ماماهایتان، مامایاتان△ (māmā-hā́yitān, māmāy-yā́tān△)
3rd person plural
(“their”) 		مامایشان (māmā́yišān) ماماهایشان، مامایاشان△ (māmā-hā́yišān, māmāy-yā́šān△)

△ Colloquial.

See also

Dari Persian dialectal kinship terms
Family member Standard Dari Kabuli dialect Hazaragi dialect
mother مادر (mādar) ننه (nana) آبه (āba)
grandmother مادرکلان (mādar-kalān) بی‌بی (bī-bī) آجه (āja)
بی‌بی (bī-bī)
father پدر (padar) بابا (bābā) آته (āta)
grandfather پدرکلان (padar-kalān) باباجی (bābājī)
آغا (āġā) 		بابا (bābā)
sister خواهر (xāhar) خوار (xwār, xār)
older sister خواهرکلان (xāhar-kalān) — آغا (āġā)
باجی (bājī)
brother برادر (barādar) بیادر (biyādar) برار (birār)
older brother برادرکلان (barādar-kalān) لالا (lālā)
maternal aunt
(mother's sister) 		خاله (xāla)
maternal uncle
(mother's brother) 		ماما (māmā) ماما (māmā)
تغایی (taġāyī)
paternal aunt
(father's sister) 		عمه (amma)
paternal uncle
(father's brother) 		کاکا (kākā)
  1. When referring to older family members, both بزرگ (buzurg) and کلان (kalān) are correct, but the latter is more common in Afghanistan.
  2. In many dialects, cases of word final ـا (-ā) may be optionally shortened to ـه (-a), e.g. بابا (bābā) > بابه (bāba).
  3. In many dialects, terms ending in ـه (-a) or ـا (-ā) may have an epenthetic ـی (-y) added (unrelated to ezafe), e.g. عمه (amma) > عمی (ammay).

Etymology 2

Noun

ماما • (mâmâ)

  1. (Iran) midwife

South Levantine Arabic

Alternative forms

  • یامّا (yāmma)

Etymology

From baby talk.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mˤaː.mˤa/, [ˈmɑˤː.mˤɑ]
  • Audio (Ramallah):(file)

Noun

ماما • (ṃāṃa) f

  1. (childish) mom, mum, mama
  2. an affectionate form of address used by a mother to her child

See also

Urdu

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Inherited from Sanskrit माम (māma), from Proto-Dravidian *māma.

Alternative forms

Noun

ماما • (māmā) m (feminine مامی (māmī) or مُمانی (mumānī), Hindi spelling मामा)

  1. (mildly vulgar, colloquial, Hindu speech) maternal uncle
Usage notes

ماما (māmā) is considered colloquial, perhaps even impolite. It is often used by Urdu-speaking Hindus, although the term might be associated with Hindi due to it being highly colloquial. مامُوں (māmū̃) is more commonly used in Urdu.

Declension
Declension of ماما
singular plural
direct ماما (māmā) مامے (māme)
oblique مامے (māme) ماموں (māmõ)
vocative مامے (māme) مامو (māmo)
References
  • “ماما”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
  • Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “māma”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 578

Etymology 2

From ماں (mā̃), from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀫𑀸𑀤𑀸 (mādā), from Sanskrit मातृ (mātṛ, “mother”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *máHtā, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr.

Alternative forms

Noun

ماما • (māmā) f (Hindi spelling मामा)

  1. (endearing) mum
    Synonyms: ماں (mā̃), اَمّاں (ammā̃), اَمّی (ammī)
  2. (childish) mummy
  3. a household female servant
Declension
Declension of ماما
singular plural
direct ماما (māmā) مامائیں (māmāẽ)
oblique ماما (māmā) ماماؤں (māmāõ)
vocative ماما (māmā) ماماؤ (māmāo)

Further reading

  • “ماما”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
  • “ماما”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
  • Fallon, Platts, Qureshi, Shakespear (2024) “ماما”, in Digital Dictionaries of South Asia [Combined Urdu Dictionaries]

Ushojo

Etymology

Borrowed from Pashto ماما (māmā), ultimately Derived from Proto-Dravidian *māma.

Noun

ماما (māmā)

  1. maternal uncle
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