Arabic

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Etymology

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From baby talk.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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

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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

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Baluchi

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Etymology

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

Noun

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ماما (mámá)

  1. maternal uncle (some dialects)

See also

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Brahui

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Etymology

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Inherited from Proto-Dravidian *māma.

Noun

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مَامَا (māmā)

  1. maternal uncle

Hijazi Arabic

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Etymology

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From baby talk.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈmaː.ma/, [ˈmɑː.mɑ]

Noun

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ماما (māmaf

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

Pashto

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ماما (mâmâm

  1. maternal uncle

Declension

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

Persian

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Etymology 1

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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

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Readings
Dari reading? māmā(y)

Noun

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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
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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

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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 () 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

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Noun

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ماما (mâmâ)

  1. (Iran) midwife

South Levantine Arabic

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From baby talk.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

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ماما (ṃāṃaf

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

See also

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Urdu

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

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Noun

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

  1. (mildly vulgar, colloquial, Hindu speech) maternal uncle
Usage notes
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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
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Declension of ماما
singular plural
direct ماما (māmā) مامے (māme)
oblique مامے (māme) ماموں (māmõ)
vocative مامے (māme) مامو (māmo)
References
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  • 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

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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

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Noun

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ماما (māmāf (Hindi spelling मामा)

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

Further reading

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  • 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

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Etymology

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

Noun

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ماما (māmā)

  1. maternal uncle