ämmä

Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæmːæ/,
• Rhymes: -æmːæ
• Syllabification^(key): äm‧mä

Etymology 1

From Proto-Finnic *ämmä, cognate with Estonian ämm and Livonian ǟma.

Noun

ämmä

1. (archaic) wife, woman
2. (derogatory) hag (old woman)
3. (derogatory) bitch (contemptible woman)
4. (derogatory, colloquial) wife
5. mother of all (on a spinning wheel)

Declension

Synonyms

• (old woman, wife, derogatory) akka
• (wife, derogatory) muija

Derived terms

Further reading

• “ämmä”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-01

Etymology 2

Variant of äm.

Noun

ämmä

1. The name of the Latin-script letter M.
2. (colloquial) magna cum laude approbatur

Usage notes

In sequences of letters (such as initialisms), the shorter form äm is considerably more common (except perhaps for the final letter).

Declension

Alternative forms

• äm (letter)

Ingrian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *ämmä. Cognates with Finnish ämmä (“old woman”) and Estonian ämm (“mother-in-law”).

Pronunciation

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈæmːæ/,
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈæmːæ/,
• Rhymes: -æmː, -æmːæ
• Hyphenation: äm‧mä

Noun

ämmä

1. grandmother
   • 1936, D. I. Efimov, Lukukirja: Inkeroisia alkușkouluja vart (ensimäine osa), Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 12:

     Kuhu laatiit? - kyssyy ämmä.

     Where are you going? - grandma asks.

2. old woman
3. midwife
4. mother-in-law

Declension

Synonyms

• (grandmother): ämmö
• (old woman): ämmö, akka, staruhha
• (mother-in-law): ämmö

Coordinate terms

• (grandmother): äijä (“grandfather”)
• (old woman): ukko, äijä, starikka (“old father”)
• (mother-in-law): äijä (“father-in-law”)

Derived terms

References

• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 697

Karelian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *ämmä. Cognates include Finnish ämmä and Estonian ämm.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæmːæ/
• Hyphenation: äm‧mä

Noun

ämmä (genitive ämmän, partitive ämmyä or ämmiä)

1. (dialectal) Synonym of ämmö (“grandmother”)
2. (dialectal, derogatory) Synonym of akka (“hag”)

Declension

Derived terms

References

• Pertti Virtaranta, Raija Koponen (2009) “ämmä”, in Marja Torikka, editor, Karjalan kielen sanakirja‎, Helsinki: Kotus, →ISSN