ماما

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Arabic

Etymology

From baby talk.

Pronunciation

Noun

مَامَا (māmāf

  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

See also

Baluchi

Noun

ماما (mámá)

  1. maternal uncle (some dialects)

See also

Hijazi Arabic

Etymology

From baby talk.

Pronunciation

Noun

ماما (māmaf

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

Pashto

Pronunciation

Noun

ماما (mâmâm

  1. maternal uncle

Declension

Persian

Etymology 1

Akin to Pashto, Baluchi, and Urdu ماما (mâmâ), as well as Sanskrit and Hindi मामा (māmā). All with the same meaning. Ultimately Derived from Proto-Dravidian *māma.

Pronunciation

Readings
Dari reading? māmā(y)

Noun

Dari ماما
Iranian Persian دایی
Tajik тағо

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

  1. (chiefly Dari) maternal uncle
    Synonym: دایی (dâyi)
    Coordinate terms: عمو ('amu), کاکا (kâkâ), کاکو (kâko), (archaic) افدر (afdar)
Inflection
    Basic forms of ماما (māmā)
(Classical and Dari Persian)
singular plural
bare ماما
(māmā́)
مامای
(māmā́y)
ماماها
(māmā-hā́)
مامایا
(māmāy-yā́)
definitive direct object مامارا
(māmā́ rā)
مامای‌ره
(māmā́y ra)
ماماها را
(māmā-hā́ rā)
مامایاره
(māmāy-yā́ ra)
izāfa مامای
(māmā́-yi)
ماماهای
(māmā-hā́-yi)
مامایای
(māmāy-yā́-yi)
marked indefinite / relative definite مامایی
(māmā́-yē)
ماماهایی
(māmā-hā́-yē)
مامایایی
(māmāy-yā́-yē)
Colloquial Dari.
    Possessive forms of ماما (māmā)
singular plural
1st person singular
(“my”)
مامایم
(māmā́yam)
ماماهایم
(māmā-hā́yam)
مامایام
(māmāy-yā́-am)
2nd person singular
(“your”)
مامایت
(māmā́yat)
ماماهایت
(māmā-hā́yat)
مامایات
(māmāy-yā́t)
3rd person singular
(“his, her, its”)
مامایش
(māmā́yaš)
مامایْشِی
(māmā́yšī)
ماماهایش
(māmā-hā́yaš)
مامایاش
(māmāy-yā́š)
1st plural
(“our”)
مامایمان
(māmā́yimān)
ماماهایمان
(māmā-hā́yimān)
مامایامان
(māmāy-yā́mān)
2nd plural
(“your”)
مامایتان
(māmā́yitān)
ماماهایتان
(māmā-hā́yitān)
مامایاتان
(māmāy-yā́tān)
3rd plural
(“their”)
مامایشان
(māmā́yišān)
ماماهایشان
(māmā-hā́yišān)
مامایاشان
(māmāy-yā́šān)
Colloquial.

See also

  1. عمه ('amma) (paternal aunt)
  2. خاله (xâla) (maternal aunt)

Etymology 2

Noun

ماما (mâmâ)

  1. (Iranian Persian) midwife

South Levantine Arabic

Alternative forms

Etymology

From baby talk.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mˤaː.mˤa/,
  • (file)

Noun

ماما (ṃāṃaf

  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 (māmām (feminine مامی (māmī) or مُمانی (mumānī), Hindi spelling मामा) (colloquial)

  1. maternal uncle
Usage notes

ماما (māmā) is considered colloquial, perhaps even impolite. It has been labelled as "Hindu" in old dictionaries, or in the modern context "Hindi". 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 (māmāf (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 , Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2024.
  • Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “ماما”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
  • Platts, John T. (1884) “ماما”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
  • S. W. Fallon (1879) “ماما”, in A New Hindustani-English Dictionary, Banaras, London: Trubner and Co.
  • John Shakespear (1834) “ماما”, in A dictionary, Hindustani and English: with a copious index, fitting the work to serve, also, as a dictionary of English and Hindustani, 3rd edition, London: J.L. Cox and Son, →OCLC

Ushojo

Etymology

From Pashto ماما (māmā).

Noun

ماما (māmā)

  1. maternal uncle