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

• أُمّ (ʔumm)
• وَالِدَة (wālida)

Baluchi

Etymology

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

Noun

ماما • (mámá)

1. maternal uncle (some dialects)

See also

• ناکو (náko)
• کاکہ (káka)

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

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mɑː.mɑ́ː(j)]

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)	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 shortened to ـه (-a).
3. In many dialects, all family names ending in ـه (-a) may have an epenthetic ـی (-y) added, e.g. عمه (amma) -> عمی (ammay) (unrelated to ezafe).

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

• إم (umm, “mother”)
• بابا (ḅāḅa, “dad”)

Urdu

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /mɑː.mɑː/
• Rhymes: -ɑː
• Hyphenation: ما‧ما

Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

• مامُوں (māmū̃), مامُو (māmū)

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

• مَمّا (mammā), مَمّاں (mammā̃)

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