어미 (eomi, “mother”) + 아 (-a, “hey”, vocative particle). The final /i/ in 어미 (eomi) was dropped regularly; see Usage Notes in 이#noun suffix.
Korean colloquial family terms commonly stem from a fused vocative. See Category:Korean terms suffixed with -아 (vocative).
| Audio: | (file) |
| Romanizations | |
|---|---|
| Revised Romanization? | eomma |
| Revised Romanization (translit.)? | eomma |
| McCune–Reischauer? | ŏmma |
| Yale Romanization? | emma |
South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 엄마의 / 엄마에 / 엄마까지
Syllables in red take high pitch. This word always takes high pitch on both syllables, and lowers the pitch of subsequent suffixes.
엄마 • (eomma)
| How do you refer to your female parent? | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age cohort | 16 to 25 | 26 to 35 | 36 to 45 | 46 to 55 | 56 to 65 | 65 or above |
| 엄마 (eomma, “Mom”) | 68 respondents (99%) |
52 respondents (88%) |
28 respondents (85%) |
50 respondents (78%) |
12 respondents (52%) |
24 respondents (44%) |
| 어머니 (eomeoni, “Mother”) | 1 respondent (1%) |
5 respondents (12%) |
5 respondents (15%) |
14 respondents (22%) |
10 respondents (43%) |
29 respondents (54%) |
| Other | 0 respondents | 0 respondents | 0 respondents | 0 respondent | 1 respondent | 1 respondent |
Contrast with Usage Notes at 아빠 (appa, “dad”).